Dear Baby

Jumping Another Hurdle.

Tomorrow, we will take Arlo to Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham where he will undergo a urology-based surgery. It’s something that I hoped we wouldn’t have to do, but our last appointment with his Urologist confirmed that it was necessary.  Sometimes blessings come disguised as the oddest things - and for me, the small silver lining to the amount of stress I’ve been under lately has been that it has filled my head with so many things that I’ve had very little time to obsess about all the details and what-ifs of this surgery for my sweet boy.

But now the time has come to focus all of my energy on supporting Arlo through his first procedure and I am pulling out my bravest face. This is the hardest part of parenting. When you want to be scared and allow yourself to be enveloped in the vulnerability of loving another person so much - but that same love forces you to buck up, pull out your courage reserves and stay present and focused so that you can care for your child as best as possible.

I teeter between thoughts about how young he is, how scary it will be to have him put under anethesia, worrying that he will be afraid when he is away from us- surrounded by doctors and nurses he doesn’t know and so worried about the pain that he will feel as he recovers. On the other side of that spectrum, I am encouraged by how many children undergo successful operations at even younger ages . I know he has the best team of doctors and caregivers possible and most of all, I know that God is watching over him and will be there with him when I can not be.

I know I’m being intentionally vague about his procedure(s) but trust me when I tell you that I am so ready to check this off Arlo’s list. I look forward to getting these things behind us so that we can focus on raising up this beautiful boy to be healthy and happy. I keep reminding myself that he won’t even remember any of this once he is older.

We will be in the hospital from Wednesday morning through Thursday as they are doing some additional monitoring of his heart post-op.  We should have internet access and I will do my best to provide an update afterwards/

If I could request a favor, dear readers. Please pray for my sweet Arlo. Pray that his surgery is quick and successful. Pray that his body reacts appropriately to the anesthesia and that his recovery is fast and his pain is minimal.  Ask God to watch over him and guide the hands of the surgeon and the medical care team to do their very best.

Thank you so much.

Love,

M