I'm so excited!

Well, we waited for almost 40 minutes for the doctor to come talk to us after they told us they were done with Hudson's surgery, but it was worth it. We went in and got to meet with Dr. Healey who is such a sweet man and we got to hug him and everything. He was so nice to us and he just kept smiling at us because we were so excited at everything he was telling us. I guess it wasn't so much "we" as it was "me" (Donny kept it all in and I couldn't even finish all my sentences). I even hit my head on the wall when I was rejoicing. I couldn't believe it I was so excited. He told us that he took out the first kidney, the right one, and it was super small and full of cysts and that Scott's kidney was a good looking kidney and a good size for Hudson. The kidney was only out of commission for 2 hours and Hudson is already peeing really well. Everything was a step forward, he said, and it all went really smoothly. He was happy to tell us about changing the mickey feeding tube and taking out the dialysis catheter. He said Hudson was awesome and we are just super thankful for Dr. Healey.

After that we got to go back to see Hudson and he looked like my little tiger. He was extubated already because he is breathing so well that he didn't need any help with a machine. His new feeding tube looks awesome and I haven't seen the incisions yet (I couldn't do it), but Donny said it just looks like a red Sharpe pen from below his belly button to under his upper ribs on his right side. His dialysis catheter is also out and just needs to heal naturally, but now once it heals and with the new feeding tube, I can get to give Hudson a bath and he can swim with Ty and Rustin which I have waited his whole life for. I can't wait! The other doctors were really surprised that all this extra stuff was done, but I don't care. Deal with it, he's my Hudson. Bam!

Oh, and it was the cutest thing EVER. When Donny and I went back to see my boy, he was just laying there with his eyes open just a bit and he was making a little bit of noise. So I started to sing to him and Donny asked him, "Who loves Hudson?" He whispered super softly, "Mama" and then closed his eyes again. That's my boy! I love you so much, Hudson. He's in pain but will be on drugs for probably a day or two and he really doesn't look puffy at all. He looks just like he did for all of the other surgeries and I am so proud of him. Right now he is getting a scan to see how much the kidney is filtering his blood and then we are moving to the PICU for a few days. They only let one parent stay the night, so Donny will be there while I will be at the hotel nearby with my mom and Bailey. This will be REALLY hard for me because I never leave my Hudson after surgery, but God has been working on me to just trust Him and trust Donny too. I do, but please pray for me that I won't get too nervous.

I am so thankful! Thank you God! I didn't even tell you yet but this last night we were rooming right next to a little boy and his family who had a kidney transplant last week and I have always thought he was just the cutest kid in the world. I wanted to adopt him, so I asked the nurse, but she told me he already had parents. To be honest, I was a little bit bumbed out b/c I love his fro. Amazing, but I am glad that he has super nice parents. But anyway, I was able to talk with the parents a bunch yesterday and see their son and it really helped me to relax and trust God for this surgery. And also, God gave us one of our favorite nurses in Seattle (My most favorite nurse in Chicago - you know who you are!) and she was a really big encouragement too. Side note: she was the one who helped me name Bailey. I even slept better last night than I expected and I have really been feeling the blessing of all your prayers. Please thank the Lord Jesus for protecting and helping me and my Hudson and please keep asking for more help to get him home as soon as possible.

One other prayer request is really important, though, and that is that the University of Washington hospital does not have any room for Scott so he is stuck in one of the recovery rooms with almost no privacy and in a pretty uncomfortable bed. This is ridiculous that they won't just make room for somebody who just gave up a life saving organ, but it is what's happening right now and I'm sure its disheartening for both Scott and Kim. I guess Scott's not in pain right now but he's still pretty medicated. Anyway, this is important, so please pray for him.

Thank you all!
love Kristi