A work in progress

Tomorrow is Emmeline's surgery.  I'll be updating this post throughout the day as the procedure happens so that friends and family can get an update.  We're supposed to be at the hospital at 7:30am with the procedure set for 9:30am (and no nursing after 4:30am -- oh no!).

6:59AM -- Not a great night of sleep for anyone.  Emmeline is waking up on the couch, where we slept for an hour or two this morning.  I'm pumping, hoping to empty my body of the thing she can't have until after surgery.  It's cold and gray and wet outside.  Heading to the hospital in about 15 minutes.

9:13AM -- Just handed Emme off to one of the anesthesiologists to go back for surgery and am now camped out in the waiting room until I get an update.  We got to the hospital around 7:30, checked in, did a few laps of the waiting area, and went back after not too long for vitals and such.  I've told about twenty people now that she doesn't have allergies, asthma, or a runny nose.  She even got enrolled in a pneumonia study (as a control, of course) that Wes is a part of (the CTA had to call and make sure it was okay!).  I was fine handing her off but had a moment of pause watching her walk down the hall with the team.  I'm sure she'll be fine, but it's always weird watching somebody cart your kid off.  She did manage to keep it together sans milk though she got pretty worked up for about 10 minutes near the end.  She for sure won over all the nurses and techs and doctors who saw her with her grins and spit bubbles.

Dr. Chester said probably 1-2 hours for the surgery, and the anesthesiologist said at least 1-2 hours after surgery before we can go home, so we'll be here for a little while.  She also said she's probably going to put her in a plaster cast afterwards just to speed healing.

11:00AM -- Nurse from the operating room called to say everything was going well.  Nothing specific to update, and no timetable for when they'd be done, but so far, so good.

1:56PM -- And home.  Right around noon, I was taken to a consult room and told that surgery was wrapping up.  Probably ten minutes later, Dr. Chester came in to tell me how things went.  She had pictures on her iPhone of before and after.  Emme is in a plaster cast clear to her hip, so we won't see the finished product for two weeks.  She took 2 1/2 cm off of the nevus, plus one larger one on her knee.  The anesthesiologist had a little trouble getting an IV in, but ultimately it was fine.  As soon as I left the consult room they were ready to take me to the PACU.  She was already waking up and had demanded something to eat, evidently, so they'd given her some Pedialyte.  Wes showed up shortly thereafter (is it just me, or is he always there right at the end of the excitement?) to see how she was doing.  She's been hungry and fussy.  She'll be okay for a minute, relax in my arms, and then get kind of upset -- a mixture, I think, of pain her leg, the anesthesia drugs and tube down her throat, and even maybe the IV site.  Because she woke up so well and ate so quickly thereafter, they let us leave pretty quickly.  She fell asleep on the way home, so I left her in her car seat, but we'll see how long that lasts.  My guess is that the afternoon (and next few days) will involve a lot of baby holding, Tylenol, and general soothing until she gets used to the cast and initial pain wears off.  Many thanks to those who sent prayers and good thoughts our way!