Outpatient surgery for the little guy

Today was Elijah's surgery, I will give you a run down of how our day went from the time we woke up until now. I woke up at 4:30 to get ready for the day, I knew it was going to be a long one and I wanted to make sure I wasn't late. I always hated those people who were late for their scheduled appointments when I worked at the hospital. So BJ and I were both ready by about 5:15 and then got the dog ready as well as packed everything that we thought we would need for the day at the hospital. We got Elijah up around 5:30 and put him right into his car seat. He was very confused with us and still very sleepy. We used our new Gamin to get us to the hospital even though I could have probably gotten us there half asleep and with my eyes closed. After a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and Breakfast we made it to the hospital with plenty of time to spare. We checked in and by this time Elijah had woken back up from his nap in the car and was very fascinated with where we were. We were called back for the Pre-Op stuff around 7:00 and that is when the fun began.

Elijah had to put on the hospital pajamas which were just the cutest things ever and we met with all the nurses, doctors that would be in the operating room with Elijah. Then we got to sit and wait for a while while everything got ready.

I do have to say that Little E looked even littler in the giant bed they had.

We eventually went through all the toys I brought for Elijah and we passed our time by watching all of the nurses, doctors and registration people walking around outside our door. That was much more interesting. Plus we were now getting close to 7:30 and Elijah usually takes a nap about 2 hours after he wakes up so he was getting sleepy.

Around 7:30 they came and got Elijah and took him back to surgery and BJ and I went back out to the waiting area. I have to say that that was the hardest part of the whole day, not being with him. I knew BJ and I would have a hard time passing the time so I had brought a deck of cards to play WAR with. Mindless game that could take a very long time to play. After about 45-60 minutes they came to take us back to meet with the surgeon and have him tell us how the surgery went and how to take care of our little man when he went home. Then they put us in a recovery room to wait for him. This was the second hardest part of the day. I knew he was out of surgery but I could not yet see him. Then they finally brought him back in a giant metal crib with little wires and tubes everywhere.

Right when he got to the room he got very confused and really got mad at all the people and started to cry, but they told us we could get him and hold him. That made everything better.

We then gave Elijah his first food of the day around 8:30-9 with his last feeding at 7:30 the night before. He had the tightest death grip on the bottle that I have ever seen. He did not want to let that thing go. He was also really sleepy so he basically slept through his entire feeding.

Then he slowly started to wake up more and more and become himself. But all day I could tell that he was off. He slept a lot today and for real long periods of time too. Dressing his new and improved bottom is fairly easy but I say that without having to clean up a poopy wound yet. Let's see how tomorrow goes before I say that it is easy to care for. Doc says that the whole they created to remove the hole that was there should take about 3-4 weeks to close up. That is a real long time to care for a wound on a bottom of a little poopy, wiggly, baby.

Overall, the day went well and I was very proud of myself for not crying. I think it helped too that this was a butt and there are no major important organs anywhere near where the surgery was taking place. Anything like this on the belly, chest, neck or face I would have been a horrible wreak. Thank you to all who prayed for us today it helped us get through the day. Tomorrow BJ goes back to work and I will be with baby to make sure he is all good.