A Different Kind of Christmas {Davis 6 Months}

At first, we were disappointed at the thought of spending Christmas with Davis in the hospital. As it turns out, it was one of the most special Christmases we will ever celebrate! Not only was it Davis' first Christmas, but it was extra special, because he was still with us and doing so well. It was truly a Christmas miracle!

Due to delays with the stomach doctors, Davis was unable to get his g-tube right away. First, they told us they wanted to do the ph probe to determine the severity of his reflux. Turns out it was pretty severe, but that wasn't anything we didn't already suspect. Davis would need a fundolication to help prevent reflux in addition to the g-tube. A fundolication is where they wrap the top part of the stomach around the esophagus, making the opening into the stomach smaller. Before they could do the ph probe, Davis would need to be off of his stomach meds for a week. This meant we were spending Christmas at the hospital.

On Christmas Eve, the whole family came to celebrate with us at the hospital! Emily (Tucker's sister), cooked a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, and they brought everything to us. We had a grand time in the 8th floor waiting area! There was a Christmas tree at the end cap of the 8th floor, and we opened presents there. Phyllis and Al stayed with Davis that night, so that Tucker and I could spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Hudson at the apartment. After Hudson opened his presents, we headed to the hospital to celebrate Christmas with Davis. Phyllis made homemade waffles in the waiting room. She even made waffles for some of the other parents spending Christmas with their babies at the hospital.

 Hudson standing in front of our tree at home.

It was pajama day at daycare.

 Davis loved being able to stroll in the waiting room!

 Christmas Eve fun!

Daddy helping Huddy slam dunk!

 When you spend Christmas at the hospital, 

you find ways to make it fun!

 Auny Honey, Mymama, Kate and Will with Davis

 Uncle Andy, Aunt Honey, Mymama, Will, Aunt Emmy, 

Hudson and Prudence with Davis

 Shug, Aunt Honey, and Mymama with their favorite baby!

 Shug and Big Al with the grands!

 Hudson checking out what Santa Claus brought him Christmas morning.

 Thanks to Red Mountain Grace, our boys had the best Christmas!

Not only did they provide an apartment for us for six months, 

they also bought our boys Christmas presents.

Hudson loves his Ninja Turtle gear!

 Sitting with both of my boys Christmas morning!

 Shug making her famous waffles!

 Breakfast in the waiting area Christmas morning!

 Davis adores his big brother, Hudson!

 Davis with his Christmas loot from Santa Claus!

 This was our attempt to get a family picture Christmas morning.

What a blessed day!!!

 This picture was taken on Thanksgiving day, pretransplant.

This was our Christmas card picture for 2015.

 My babies.

The love I feel for them is overwhelming!

With celebrating Christmas, that week went by pretty quickly. The day before Davis was scheduled to have the fundoplication and g-tube surgery, the stomach doctor told us he would also need to be off aspirin for a week before they could do the surgery. Many heart patients are on aspirin, because it's a blood thinner. Performing the surgery with Davis on aspirin increased the risk of bleeding.  We were extremely upset to say the least! It was obvious that the two teams of doctors weren't communicating. Our cardiac doctors told us they didn't know Davis needed to be off aspirin. They had certainly had patients before that were on aspirin and had the surgery. However, they didn't know in order to do the fundolication, he would need to be off aspirin. We used that week to continue to work on feeding by mouth, in hopes that Davis wouldn't need the surgery.

On January 5th, he finally had the g-tube and fundolication procedure. As much as we didn't want him to have to have a g-tube, it has turned out to be such a blessing. All of his meds are given through the tube. We don't have to worry about whether he spits them out or not, and because of the fundolication surgery, we don't have to worry about him throwing up his meds. He can still get sick with the fundo, but it makes it much harder. It has also taken the pressure off as far as getting him to eat by mouth. It's something we are still working on daily, but we certainly don't stress about it like we did before.

Finally, on January 8th, after spending six months of his life in a hospital, Davis was discharged. What a wonderful day it was!!! We celebrated with a party hosted by the cardiac team at Children's. Many of our family and friends came to celebrate that joyous day with us. All of our doctors, nurses, and therapists came. Many even came to celebrate with us on their off day! We are so thankful to the staff at Children's. God has used them to administer His healing touch, not only to Davis, but to many others as well.

I cannot end this post, without thanking the family that made this possible. We were able to spend Christmas with Davis because of our donor family's precious gift. The gift of life. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult Christmas must have been for them without their sweet babe. Please join us in continuing to pray for them. There's not a day that goes by that we aren't overwhelmed with gratitude for the heart that is beating inside Davis' chest.

Amanda