Pre-op, My Birthday

Yeah, same day- can you believe it? What luck, right?

So for my PRS families, here is how our day went:

We started the day at the plastic surgeon's office. We noticed a lot of babies in the waiting room. We went back and met with our surgeon's PA. She seemed very smart and knowledgeable (and very nice!) and would be assisting during Ellie's surgery so it was reassuring that we were talking with someone who actually knew what was about to go on. My concern was that we would meet with a nurse or someone who would repeatedly answer the equivalent of "I dont know." The PA also told us that our surgeon sees, on average, 70 babies every Thursday. This is disheartening, to know that so many babies need help. It's also helpful because it reassures me that clearly our surgeon does this a lot, and he's good at it. She also gave us a few pages of instructions and FAQs, some of which I had on my own. For the benefit of those parents who do NOT have such a sheet, I will post them here. And wow, brace for a ton of paperwork!

The surgery should last 45 minutes. Yep, no multiple hours. I was shocked but relieved. She will be in recovery for about another hour before she is brought back to her room, where we'll be waiting. She doesn't have to be weaned, per se, but no more paci post-surgery. I really can't think of anything that's gonna suck worse for me lol (no pun intended)!! They have said we may have to syringe feed her post-op, but most likely will just continue with the haberman feedings for the next 2-3 weeks. I asked about feeding solids, and got an iffy reply, even when I explained we had a rubber-tipped spoon. So just to be safe, we're going to regress to bottle-only for a while. Its not like its going to hurt her. She's not likely to develop oral aversion at this point, and only for a few weeks of feeding via haberman. Her tongue will be tied down but is likely to be untied during her recovery period. We will be using the no-nos for about 2-3 weeks, but only when I can't watch her to make sure she's not putting things- like her thumb- in her mouth. Guess that goes for sophie too? We're getting a double repair- he will repair the floor of the nasal cavity and create a palate. I am hoping this will help decrease nasality in the future. The chances of needing a second repair for this procedure across the board is 20%. They will watch for apnea in the hospital and if it comes up we will deal with it then. We will also need to watch for infection. We will be given tylenol with codeine and nystatin to deal with the possibility of thrush. We were also told be prepared to spend 2-3 nights (not days, nights).

Then we went to the hospital for their pre-op. It was almost entirely paperwork, then they took her BP, heartrate, measured her head, and weighed her. Her weight has stalled at 11 lbs. The hospital told us they will call and tell us what time our surgery is and what time to arrive. We were told by the desk clerk (because I asked) that our surgery is scheduled for 8 am and we should arrive at 6 am (at first I was like oh thats so early but then quickly realized- cmon, am I gonna sleep that night anyway?). He told us that we could get "bumped" if a smaller baby needing surgery comes in. I laughed hysterically on the inside. Trust me, dear sir, there ain't no smaller baby comin in here than my baby. Especially before the crack of dawn.

So it was long, and mostly uneventful. More like a pain the butt. All that time and paperwork so we can agree to let our little girl have surgery. But now we must focus on the weekend, which will entail doing laundry so we can pack for next week. Mostly I look forward to next year when I can honestly not remember what I did this year for my birthday. Although perhaps skipping ahead even a month would be enough!