Andrew's Surgery

I really don't have much blogtime right now. I have a mile long to-do list and can't even really get to it because Andrew requires some extra attention right now. But I did want to report on Andrew's surgery.

Everything went very smoothly. After we shipped Ellie and Luke off to my parents house on Monday night, Steven and I tried to make ourselves go to bed early because we had to be up at the wee hour of 4:00 on Tues. morning (in order to leave the house @ 4:30). Andrew's surgery was scheduled to begin at 7:30 and we were told to be at the hospital at 5:30. Andrew slept the last 15 min. of our trip to the hospital, but after that was awake up until they took him back to surgery. That was one of the main things I was dreading-all of the wait time with an empty stomach and not much sleep. But he did surprisingly well and after about an hour and a half of walking him up and down the hall, and about 30 min. in the pre-op room, the nurse carried him off. :( Not fun, but really, that was a blessing, because he was starting to get pretty miserable by that point.

I continue to be impressed with the children's center at the hospital there. The doctors and nurses were very thorough in explaining exactly what would happen after they took him back. And pretty much the first thing they said would happen was knocking him out. Before they tried to get an IV in him!! So glad to hear that.

So then we just waited, but with several updates from the nurse throughout the surgery-which ended up being about 2 1/2 hours. Everything went as planned and then I was able to go back to recovery and see him. Soooo good to see him and hold him. He was very groggy and hungry. They let me nurse him right away and he fell fast asleep. He had a shot for pain that numbed him from about his waist to his thighs (kind of like an epidural :). So they informed me he wasn't in any pain at that point, just feeling yucky from the anesthesia.

It really didn't take long for us to leave after that point. They give us medication instructions and took his IV out and we were set.

We were at home by about 2:00. Not bad. They told us he would be pretty sore and grumpy and they were right. The first time I opened his diaper, it made me a little nauseous. It looked ROUGH. He has a catheter in that he will wear for a week. It comes out the top of his diaper and goes into another larger diaper to collect his tee-tee. A little difficult to change, especially now that he is feeling a lot better and tries to grab the catheter.

Alright, so these are a lot of details-sorry, but some of this blog is for my records. I forgot my camera, so mom brought hers. Mom and Dad came to the hospital after they got Ellie and Luke off to school and then they headed off to Auburn for Sarah's senior show. {Congratulations, Sarah! She's almost an Auburn alum.}

Right after I nursed him. O-U-T

Kinda nice to hold him while he sleeps. Don't ever get to do that anymore. Notice his little hospital gown. Awww.

His little IV band-aid and gauze.

Getting a little juice from our friend, Lanna. She so kindly came and brought Steven and myself plenty of Starbucks treats. (Remember what time we got up?)

Because mom and dad were in Auburn, Ellie and Luke spent the second night with some of our dear friends from church. They had their first Chuck E. Cheese experience and apparently loved it.

So last night was our church's Christmas dinner. I didn't think I would be attending this year, but mom graciously insisted that I go and she stay with Andrew. She also sent me with her new camera.

We love our church family. So grateful for them! Here are some highlights from the night. Thanks mom, for letting me go.

Beautiful tables.

Ellie and Luke obviously enjoyed it!

Ellie loves these girls. Aren't they cute? And so sweet.

I have a few more things I could tell you, but you probably don't care (that is if you are still reading at this point) and this post has taken me FORever. So hope to be back soon with pictures of a house decorated for Christmas (we're about halfway there).