Emmy's Surgery

Emmy's surgery was this morning, and it has certainly been a roller coaster! Emmy was pretty brave on the drive up there and while we were checking in, but the second the receptionist tried to put a hospital bracelet on her, she freaked out and clung to my leg. The weighing, measuring, blood pressure, etc went better, but she was still pretty uncooperative. We asked for Versed which made her pretty loopy since we were sure she wouldn't go away from us willingly. It helped - mostly just made her sleepy. But she still looked out of the wagon the anesthesiologist was pulling her in and cried out "Mama!" as I had to leave her. It just about broke my heart! (In fact, I'm tearing up thinking about it now.) It's not fair to ask a pregnant mommy to watch her child go through something so traumatizing. The comforting thing is that she doesn't remember that part. (I think so. When I asked her what she remembered from before the surgery, big tears welled up in her eyes as she said, "I remember I cried.")

Brett went back to be with her as she woke up because I was pretty sure I'd lose it again if I had to watch her be so out of it and sad. She was still pretty drugged up and very uncooperative when the called me back 15 minutes later. She was only calm while lying on the hard, cold floor. Remember when she used to sleep on our kitchen floor under the highchair? Yeah, she likes it cold and hard. The nurse assured us the floor was the cleanest floor anywhere, and we let her sleep. (Apparently our sweet nurse had to answer a lot of concerned questions from other staff when they saw her patient on the floor!) After an hour nap, though, Emmy woke up her regular, sweet self. When she'd drunk more of her slushy, they took the IV out of her foot (which drove her crazy pre-nap and didn't even bother her post-nap - the negative side effect of Versed). The nurse let her choose a Beanie Baby which Emmy has snuggled with ever since. It's name is Christy, and it is the bright spot of the whole experience for her. Then they offered her a wagon ride to the car. Her eyes lit up, and she accepted wholeheartedly. (Again, opposite of pre-surgery when that wagon was the most horrible thing in the world.)

When we got home, Emmy wanted to sleep on the kitchen floor, so we both got a little nap. (I slept on a couch, of course!) We read the rest of our last Little House book, and she ate some food. She was nervous about feeling nauseated (a new word she learned so we can differentiate between, "My tummy hurts because I want to throw up" and "My tummy hurts where I just had surgery"), and she ate a Ritz cracker bit by bit for 20 minutes. She got a bit braver after that and was very excited when she ate an entire piece of bread with big bites! Gratefully, she hasn't felt nauseated since the hospital.

After watching a Little House on the Prairie and taking nasty-tasting liquid Loritab (all it took was the promise of a jellybean - ONE jellybean!), Daddy came home and we ate dinner in the family room so she could lie down. (A perk of Abby still being at Grandma's house) Now she's resting on the couch watching yet another Little House. Here's hoping recovery continues to go well!

Thank you for all of the well-wishes and advice. I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers. We are certainly feeling them!