Sunshine's 1st surgery

We arrived at the hospital at about 9:45am (that was after it took us 30 minutes to figure out where to go from the parking garage - sheesh!). Once we got Sunshine checked in and changed into her pretty peach gown, we had some waiting to do before surgery. I am SO glad I brought the sling with me to walk the halls with her. By the time we were waiting for surgery, Sunshine was really starting to get uncomfortable and upset ... we couldn't explain to her why she couldn't eat or drink anything and she was getting mad. I felt so bad for her. Fortunately a long walk in the sling got her to sleep ... of course that was right before surgery. LOL. She got about 20 minutes before the anesthesiologist came in to help me get dressed in my awesome pre-surgery outfit. I think blue is a good color for me!

Only one of us was allowed to take her into the operating room while she was being sedated/put to sleep ... wow that was so, so, so difficult. She was so scared, tired and hungry already and was crying to the point that I couldn't calm her down ... and then I took her into the operating room and laid her on the bed where the anesthesiologist put a mask over her mouth for her to breath the gas in. She screamed that blood-curdling scream - the one that tells me she is so frightened ... it was awful ... it seemed like an eternity as my tears were falling on her. Ohhhh I am not looking forward to doing that 3 more times. I've always been good at keeping it together, even for those traumatic blood draws! But this ... this was a totally new experience for me and it was emotionally draining. The nurse, God Bless her, kept telling me it was going to be ok and that she was in good hands. I *KNEW* she was in good hands and wasn't worried about the surgery, but unfortunately that doesn't make it any easier.

When I made my way back to DH we went to the family waiting room for the ENT, who was looking at Sunshine first. We heard from her after about 25 minutes - they cleaned her ears and did end up putting tubes in. At that point, it was about lunch time AND Chick-Fil-A was doing a free lunch for parents. Ummm, are you kidding?! God's grace shining down on us! They only come once a month and yesterday was the day! woohoo! THANK YOU CHICK-FIL-A!

When we finished eating, we headed back up to the family waiting area where Ryan from church was waiting for us. It was so great to see a familiar face and he totally took our minds off of the surgery while we stood and chatted and prayed in the hallway. After that, the surgeon came by to tell us that he was finished and that everything went perfectly and Sunshine was waiting for us in recovery! We walked back to find her sort-of-peacefully sleeping. The nurse told us she was "fussy" when she came out of the anesthesia, so they sedated her again. I had to laugh though - I know our girl and I think "irate" was probably a better adjective. LOL. I sat and held her while she came in and out of sleep, mostly angry. Poor thing ... I felt terrible - she had no idea what was going on and had all of these wires coming off of her. She was also wearing no-no's, which she HATED. The nurses let me take them off as long as we kept her hands away from her mouth, and she did really great with that. She was able to take a bottle here and there, and actually did really awesome considering what she had just been through!

The surgeon said that as long as she was taking her bottle ok, she could be discharged the same day! So excited! She slowly started to come around and be awake more than asleep, although she was soooo out of it. It's amazing what being put under general anesthesia will do for you! We waited around a bit longer until we were sure she was feeling good and then got her discharged! She was in and out of sleep the rest of the day ... she mostly just laid on my chest, which was fine with me! She was (and still is) being given pain meds around the clock - tylenol, motrin AND oxycodone all at the same time. I'm sure the oxycodone was helping to make her sleepy but toward the end of the night, she started to perk up a bit and was on the floor playing. She even wanted to walk with Daddy! AND, she tried to smile! Ohhhh, bestill my heart! My eyes teared up when I saw that!

She slept awesome last night - we woke her up at about 2:30am for more pain meds, but she went right back to sleep. She was still swollen when she woke up, but it's amazing what a good night's rest will do for you! Wish I could say the same for myself, but I am so glad that Sunshine got some sleep!

So now, when she isn't napping, I feel like all I do is chase her around. She has super-energy today and is EVERWHERE. I am so afraid she is going to hurt herself! She also has a fabulous houdini trick and can get her no-no's off. Oy. LOL. We take them off here and there so she can have a break though, and also because I don't feel like she has good control over her body when she has them on. But really, they don't fit ... someone, if you are out there reading, please come up with a better solution!!

So overall? Overall, God was really shining down on us yesterday and continues to do so. Sunshine is remarkable ... after everything we put her through yesterday, she still had a smile for us at the end of the day. Pure sunshine. I can't wait to see her really start to smile once those stitches dissolve!

Thank you, thank you, thank you EVERYONE for all of your prayers and kind comments. Seriously, we have received so much amazing support through this process, we feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!