Friday, October 12, 2012

The day of surgery - looking back

This is a very LONG post.  

So I want to post about Naomi's surgery mostly for us to remember but also for other families who might be considering a cleft kiddo or who have not walked down the surgery road yet.  

We sent Naomi to preschool the morning of her surgery.  At first I thought no way would I send her to school but after chatting with a friend and her teachers we decided it might actually be a good thing.  Keeping it "normal"  We did pick her up early, before snack time considering our girl could not eat.  

Speaking of snack and not eating.  Our girl has her routines and likes her food but she not once complained about not being able to eat.  Rock Star!!


After school we took the special bath with the disinfectant soap that the hosptial gave us.  It made her cry I think anything "surgery related"  made her anxious. 


I wanted to snap a picture of her cleft gumline before she went in.  They ended up closing the hole via her nose basically the floor of her nose was closed but not her mouth.  Though it should still close up the hole and help with speech.

Once we got to the hospital we waited then waited a bit longer.


She finally went back just before 2pm.   She got her loony toons gown on and I got my marshmallow suit on.  We walked out the doors then down and around the long hall into the O.R.  She clung to me like a baby monkey.  It was time to lay her down on the table.  She screamed  I fought back tears then she screamed "I need you momma" over and over.  Oh my heart.  We put the gas on it took a bit but she was out and I was escorted back down the hall.


We got a few updates saying everything was going well.

We finally got our girl around 8pm.  She was still very out of it.

Then the vomiting started, all the blood that drained down the back of her throat was coming back.  Oh poor baby!!  That lasted until about 2am.

We were admitted to an old exam room (hospital is remodeling)  so the bathroom was down the hall.  Try getting the oxygen censor off and IV poll ready to take down the hall . . . Good thing I brought extra panties.

I got to "sleep"  with my sweet girl.

The next morning she felt well enough to watch me put together her legos "play" legos.

She loved getting the gifts that were sent. You can't tell because she can't smile yet.


We got home around 1pm then next day.

It is hard to see your baby feel so YUCKY.

We are about a week and a half post surgery.  She is very protective of her nose and mouth,  she won't look in the mirror, needs big necked shirts that won't touch her face when getting dressed or undressed, we are looking at soft foods for 6-8 weeks, stitches are out but nose stints in for hopefully a full month, she is still very needy.

Speaking of needy.  For the first few days I fed my girl she just looked at me like a baby bird with her mouth cracked open, took her to the bathroom, dressed her, held her, just loved on her.  It was kinda like those first few months home from China.  Great for attachment and bonding.  A hidden gift.

Being my girls mommy for this surgery was PERFECT really the only way I would want it.  So many grateful moments mixed in with the pacing and worry.  Last time she had surgery was in China with no mommy probably no pain meds.  I am so incredibly blessed to have this girl.




4 comments:

Sandy said...

You are blessed to have each other! Praying that she heals quickly and without complications.
Blessings~

Jenn said...

Sweet baby!! Glad to hear she is recovering so well! It's soooo hard to see our babies go through surgery, isn't it?? So much so that you start thinking crazy thoughts like they really don't need it. sigh. So happy she has her mama this time!

foreversistersforeverfriends said...

Thanks for sharing. My daughter will need a bone graft in the future ( she's 4). Now I have a better idea of what to expect.
Poor baby girl, wishing her a speedy recovery.
Anne

Unknown said...

Thanks for your valuable information. It really gives me an insight on this topic. I'll visit here again for more information.
Back Surgery China