Well, today Annie had her ear surgery (as evidenced by the hospital band, above). For me it was a harrowing experience; for Annie it was simply about 10 minutes of discomfort afterwards. What a trooper Annie was!
We got the call the day before that Annie needed to be at "Day Op" at 8 AM. She would be the second surgery of the day. That was supposed to mean that the first kid was younger, . . . she wasn't, but I won't get into that. We left Leia Rose with Daddy and arrived at 7:50 or so to check in. Then we just waited there until we were called. Annie was in the stroller and happy as a clam. I just kept cycling through her toys to keep her interested. Ironically, I was really relaxed at this time as well.
When they called us, about 8:30, they took us into "Pre Op" which is just a little room where the nurses and anesthesiologists come and talk to you to make sure Annie was in basically good health and that she hadn't eaten since last night. Everyone was surprised at how calm I was. I tried to explain that my other daughter had a birdseed removed from her ear the year before and that the procedure was the same. I was so glad they were going to allow me to go back with Annie until she was asleep. Everyone was commenting on Annie's good nature and her bright blue eyes. She was just a little love.
It was when I had to change her into her, what do you call them, "scrubs," that I kind of lost it. The pants, shirt, and socks were so big for her that they just let her wear the shirt part of it (and her diaper, of course). They had little tigers on them and were really cute, but it just suddenly hit me that my daughter was going to be operated on in just a minute or two and the tears just stared rolling out of my eyes. I tried really hard not to completely lose it because I knew that would mean they wouldn't allow me back there with her, so I composed myself as well as I could, and carried her into the operating room. The whole room just gave off such a scary vibe with so many machines and contraptions that I had no idea what they did. Annie was still just fine. She was with Mamma. I simply held her on my lap and told her I loved her again and again while they put the gas mask over her nose and mouth. I was a bit concerned because I was breathing in the escaping gas as well (and every time I took a whiff I felt a bit woosy), so I had to turn my head away every few seconds to take a breath. Anyway, Annie just sat there happily until her eyes got heavy and she went into what looked like a restful sleep. Then two of the nurses took her from me, let me kiss her on the cheek, and I went back to the waiting room where I just broke down crying. I just couldn't control it by this point.
Then began the hardest thirty minutes of my life. The lady next to me tried to talk to me, but I just wanted total quiet while I said my Rosary. I decided to focus on the Joyful Mysteries because they focus on Mary having a baby and s0me of the difficulties of Jesus' childhood (like losing him on the trek back to Nazareth and finding him in the temple). Mary was no stranger to heartbreak with her little babe, so perhaps she would understand my worry. After the
Rosary, I asked for intercession specifically from Saint Anne, Saint Katharine Drexel, and Saint George (Grandpa of Oma, Annie's guardian angel). And after that I just talked to Jesus personally. By 9:30 I was getting a bit beside myself (she had been in there a half an hour), so I could only repeat, "Jesus, please help my little love. Jesus, please help my little love. Jesus, please help my little love." Again and again.
They called my name to go back, and I followed the directions (right at the lockers, left at the sink) faster than I knew I could, to find what I expected: myAnnie crying in a nurse's arms. She was trying to give her some sugar water from a bottle. As soon as I held her and gave her some mamma's milk, she was just content and fine. The only other time she cried a little was when she scratched her nose. (I just clipped her nails! How the heck did that happen!) She looked a little sleepy still while on the breast (I guess they weren't happy with her oxygen saturation or something) and so they had me hold the oxygen mask near her face. Then she perked right up. Dr. Drake came by to tell me about the fluid she had to drain from Annie's ears before the tubes went in and to explain about the drops I had to put in her ears. (Thank God they wrote it down, because I just couldn't concentrate by this point.) Then we were free to go!
And when we got to the car, I noticed that Annie turned toward me quicker when I called her name! Yay! No more impeded hearing, . . . and hopefully no more ear infections! Thank you Dr. Drake!
And, more importantly, thank you Jesus for taking care of my baby!
We got the call the day before that Annie needed to be at "Day Op" at 8 AM. She would be the second surgery of the day. That was supposed to mean that the first kid was younger, . . . she wasn't, but I won't get into that. We left Leia Rose with Daddy and arrived at 7:50 or so to check in. Then we just waited there until we were called. Annie was in the stroller and happy as a clam. I just kept cycling through her toys to keep her interested. Ironically, I was really relaxed at this time as well.
When they called us, about 8:30, they took us into "Pre Op" which is just a little room where the nurses and anesthesiologists come and talk to you to make sure Annie was in basically good health and that she hadn't eaten since last night. Everyone was surprised at how calm I was. I tried to explain that my other daughter had a birdseed removed from her ear the year before and that the procedure was the same. I was so glad they were going to allow me to go back with Annie until she was asleep. Everyone was commenting on Annie's good nature and her bright blue eyes. She was just a little love.
It was when I had to change her into her, what do you call them, "scrubs," that I kind of lost it. The pants, shirt, and socks were so big for her that they just let her wear the shirt part of it (and her diaper, of course). They had little tigers on them and were really cute, but it just suddenly hit me that my daughter was going to be operated on in just a minute or two and the tears just stared rolling out of my eyes. I tried really hard not to completely lose it because I knew that would mean they wouldn't allow me back there with her, so I composed myself as well as I could, and carried her into the operating room. The whole room just gave off such a scary vibe with so many machines and contraptions that I had no idea what they did. Annie was still just fine. She was with Mamma. I simply held her on my lap and told her I loved her again and again while they put the gas mask over her nose and mouth. I was a bit concerned because I was breathing in the escaping gas as well (and every time I took a whiff I felt a bit woosy), so I had to turn my head away every few seconds to take a breath. Anyway, Annie just sat there happily until her eyes got heavy and she went into what looked like a restful sleep. Then two of the nurses took her from me, let me kiss her on the cheek, and I went back to the waiting room where I just broke down crying. I just couldn't control it by this point.
Then began the hardest thirty minutes of my life. The lady next to me tried to talk to me, but I just wanted total quiet while I said my Rosary. I decided to focus on the Joyful Mysteries because they focus on Mary having a baby and s0me of the difficulties of Jesus' childhood (like losing him on the trek back to Nazareth and finding him in the temple). Mary was no stranger to heartbreak with her little babe, so perhaps she would understand my worry. After the
Rosary, I asked for intercession specifically from Saint Anne, Saint Katharine Drexel, and Saint George (Grandpa of Oma, Annie's guardian angel). And after that I just talked to Jesus personally. By 9:30 I was getting a bit beside myself (she had been in there a half an hour), so I could only repeat, "Jesus, please help my little love. Jesus, please help my little love. Jesus, please help my little love." Again and again.
They called my name to go back, and I followed the directions (right at the lockers, left at the sink) faster than I knew I could, to find what I expected: myAnnie crying in a nurse's arms. She was trying to give her some sugar water from a bottle. As soon as I held her and gave her some mamma's milk, she was just content and fine. The only other time she cried a little was when she scratched her nose. (I just clipped her nails! How the heck did that happen!) She looked a little sleepy still while on the breast (I guess they weren't happy with her oxygen saturation or something) and so they had me hold the oxygen mask near her face. Then she perked right up. Dr. Drake came by to tell me about the fluid she had to drain from Annie's ears before the tubes went in and to explain about the drops I had to put in her ears. (Thank God they wrote it down, because I just couldn't concentrate by this point.) Then we were free to go!
And when we got to the car, I noticed that Annie turned toward me quicker when I called her name! Yay! No more impeded hearing, . . . and hopefully no more ear infections! Thank you Dr. Drake!
And, more importantly, thank you Jesus for taking care of my baby!
1 comment:
Hoooray!!! I'm so glad she's ok! :) I'm sure that was very hard for Mamma! (I wish I had thought to offer that Leia could have come to our house so that you & Brian could both go together!!)
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