I wanted to offer another Baby Joseph update. Joe had yet another surgery yesterday, this one a "jaw distraction". Seems he has a tiny chin—tinier and more recessed than it should be—which does not allow him to breathe well on his own. They've had to reintubate him several times, so this is supposed to put his jaw where it's supposed to be. The details aren't pretty. They inserted screws into his jaw and will turn them over the next few days, moving the jaw into place. Then he has to wear a rather freaky looking headgear get-up for several weeks until bone grows in and makes his jaw movement permanent.
Checking Joe's blog every day, sometimes several times a day, has become part of our routine. We show Henry pictures of his little cousin and talk about Baby Joe often. We think about him constantly. And our hearts go out to Kerry and Jason. All they want to do is get their little one well enough to go home, well enough to breastfeed and to snuggle and to be held by his big brother Jack. Now they're facing days, even weeks, in this same pattern—their lives split between home and the hospital.
But they endure. They treasure the time they do spend with him and focus on the present, knowing that just being there and loving him are priceless ways they can help him recover.
UPDATE: I learned that Joe's surgeon on this latest procedure is the surgeon who worked to separate those Egyptian conjoined twins a while back. Little trivia there.
Checking Joe's blog every day, sometimes several times a day, has become part of our routine. We show Henry pictures of his little cousin and talk about Baby Joe often. We think about him constantly. And our hearts go out to Kerry and Jason. All they want to do is get their little one well enough to go home, well enough to breastfeed and to snuggle and to be held by his big brother Jack. Now they're facing days, even weeks, in this same pattern—their lives split between home and the hospital.
But they endure. They treasure the time they do spend with him and focus on the present, knowing that just being there and loving him are priceless ways they can help him recover.
UPDATE: I learned that Joe's surgeon on this latest procedure is the surgeon who worked to separate those Egyptian conjoined twins a while back. Little trivia there.
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