Surgery is Over

Well, we made it! Surgery is over. Thank the Lord that he took care of Caroline (and Jon and I) all day.

We were worried about the beginning of the day, because Caroline could have no food or liquid until after surgery. Thankfully, she slept late, but it was still over a four hour wait until she could have the ‘happy juice’ (first level of anesthesia…we got some video of her being quite silly!). She was absolutely wonderful during this time! I guess the whole new experience of the hospital was enough to keep her mind off of her hunger. Jon and I just kept thinking of the parents all around the world that have to wait many more hours or even days to provide food for their little ones. It breaks our hearts.

Some of the highlights…Caroline and Daddy saw a bird building a nest in the courtyard while waiting and we all watched part of Happy Feet in Spanish. Then it was Caroline’s turn to go up…

It was, as promised, quite fast. The doctor explained to us that both ducts were completely clogged at the bottom. After surgery Caroline was almost shockingly swollen, and she was in a pretty bad fog because of the anesthesia. She cried a bunch, but finally Jon and I both sang to her, and then she fell asleep while I held her. When she woke up after about 45 min (when a nurse’s assistant tried to take her blood pressure), she was again in the fog. But this time, thirst prevailed and she drank an entire juice cup with fervor. She was a little happier then, and she was even able to feed herself some jello (yum!) and a couple of crackers. Before we knew it, the nurse said it was time for us to go. This felt a little weird to us, since after Caroline’s first two surgeries, we stayed several nights, and although she had infections, she was able to ‘recover’ from those first effects of surgery. So, we made our way home with a swollen, pitiful baby. She seemed thankful to be home, though, and played relatively well for the rest of the evening. Then, she slept for almost 13 hours!

Today has been a restful one for all three of us. I guess we didn’t realize how much that one day would take out of us! Caroline is almost her old self again, and her swelling has gone down almost completely.

Thank you so much for your prayers! Please continue to remember her recovery (there’s a very small chance that the ducts would re-clog). Love to you all!

-Beth