Daniel's Surgery

 Our little Daniel had to have surgery last month due to a hypospadias.  It was a crazy, busy month and this just seemed to fit right in our stressful month.  I was so worried because I have never had surgery, nor has Josh.  I didn't really know what to expect, even though the doctors told us.  I was worried about how he would do with anesthesia and how he would do with not eating all morning before his surgery.

 The night before, I tried to feed him as much as I could.  We don't usually let our kids eat right before bed, and Anna and Andrew were jealous.  I think I was most worried about how fussy he would be as we waited to go back for surgery due to hunger pains.
(I know this picture below is super fuzzy but it is hilarious to me!  Daniel is ALWAYS making this face, especially when strangers talk to him.)

It was truly a tender mercy from God that Daniel didn't wake up until 6:45 that morning.  He NEVER wakes up that late, so I knew it must be divine intervention helping to calm my nerves.  He actually did okay without eating that morning.  Thank goodness.  We arrived at the hospital at 8:15 and everyone was so friendly.  We had to go to lots of different rooms where they took measurements, asked us lots of questions, and we got our hospital bracelets.  Finally they took us to our waiting room where we waited for close to an hour and a half for the surgery to begin.  Daniel started to get more and more fussy and kept trying to get into my purse to find snacks.  He knows I always keep food in there and was really mad that I wouldn't let him eat.  We played with toys the hospital had and sang songs and just waited.

 He started getting really fussy at one point and so I tried to get him to go to sleep and MIRACULOUSLY it worked!  He fell asleep in my arms and slept for almost an hour.  I was thrilled!  The whole morning went so much better than I thought it would.  Finally around 9:50 they came in to take him back.  They were going to try and not wake him and just roll him back so he wouldn't freak out when he left me.  Someone apparently didn't tell one of the nurses the plan and she came in being super loud and touched him, which of course woke him up.  He cried pretty hard when they took him back and it was harder for me than I thought it would be.

 They had a nice waiting area for me and a screen I could watch with his initials on it so I would know the progress of his surgery.  I was so impressed with everyone.  We went to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, and even though they see TONS of kids go through surgery every day, they treated us like we were the only ones there.  All of the nurses kept commenting on how cute he was, even though I know they probably say that to all the kids.  I just loved how their jobs didn't seem to get too routine for them.  They really showed care and concern for all of the patients.

 I went down the cafeteria to eat lunch and when I came back up, the computer screen said that he was recovering from anesthesia.  I freaked out and called Josh to tell him to come up to the hospital as quickly as he could.  The surgery was supposed to take two hours and instead it took a little over one.  I really didn't want to be at the hospital alone when I went back to help him wake up.  I knew I would need Josh there for moral support.  I also knew that all of my emotions probably came from me being pregnant and that never helps anyone stay calm.  A few minutes later they told me I could come back and I felt really nervous and anxious.  I wanted to hold him so badly that it hurt.  When I saw him, he was awake with his head on the nurses shoulder.  He looked kind of out of it.  He saw me but it took him a second to register who I was.  It felt so good to scoop him up, as if I could make any hurt he was feeling go away.  Josh got there just a few minutes later and Daniel loved being held by his daddy.  Daniel really did well coming out of anesthesia and didn't seem to be in much pain.

Later that day when we finally got home, he looked super happy and was pretty calm.  He still had a lot of drugs in him which was helping with that happy feeling.  ;-)  They gave him some type of spinal block to help with the pain.  He kept trying to walk and every time he would try to stand up, his legs were too weak and numb to support himself.  I could tell it was frustrating for him because he knew he couldn't walk but had no idea why.  Even though he couldn't walk for a while, he was super happy.  That makes for one HAPPY mama!

Overall, the whole experience was great.  The surgery was less complicated than they thought.  He had a mild case and it wasn't as intrusive as it could have been.  Everything healed really well and super fast.  I only had to give him pain medicine once.  He was such a champ.  We know that Heavenly Father really looked after all of us during that time and we are so grateful!