Hungry

Evie was so fussy all afternoon. It didn't take long to realize that nursing just wasn't enough for her and did not make up for not eating between 3 am and 1 pm. We sat her down in her booster seat and she went crazy (in a good, cute way) - like she was screaming, "Feed me!"

And we did. That girl ate 6 slices of cantaloupe, a slice of cheese, some sweet potatoes and green beans,  about a quarter-pound of turkey meatloaf. Wowzers. I truly don't know how her stomach held it all.

And then she got tired and put her head down on the table. She does this often when she is done eating. It is super cute.

Home

We got home from the hospital about an hour ago. Evie had a rougher time with recovery this time (last time she was unhappy for a moment but calmed down quickly once she got some food in her). Today, she screamed inconsolably until Steve finally rocked her to sleep. She slept for about an hour (such a deep sleep we had the anesthesiologist come check her and make sure she was okay) and then woke up, nursed, and we took her home (finally more content at this point). Now she is sleeping in her crib, and I'm hoping that, like last time, she is back to her normal self quickly.

This cast is pretty much identical to the last one, except her legs are more symmetrical and at a slightly different angle. She is pretty swollen, so it's somewhat challenging to change her diaper. This happened last time and the swelling went down within a day or two. [Medical-friends - what makes her swell? What about the anesthesia does that?]

You can see that the cast is very similar (and that she is really sad).

Mr. Monkey got an ID bracelet too ...

Never slept so soundly in her life.

All in all, we are pretty pleased with today! We were praying that the outcome would be good, and this is as good as can be, according to the doctor. I am about to call the orthopaedic office to make an appointment to get the cast off - I'm excited to have that on the calendar!

UPDATE: Cast is coming off on Wednesday, July 13 at 8 am. Wooo!

Four weeks!

And today begins the real countdown ... Four weeks left in the cast! The doctor said that her hip looks great ... It is as good as he could have expected. She will have this cast until July 14 (happy birthday to my dad!), and after that his expectation is that she will be all done. There is a chance that she wears a brace at night, but they will do an x-ray when she gets the cast off (in the doctor's office, not at the hospital) and see how things look. She is being taken to recovery now and we will see her soon.

A pink cast

They just called from the OR to ask what color cast we want. Yes, pink again. We assume this means they were able to get the hip in with no problem and are casting her now.

It's a little later than we anticipated (her surgery just got started but was scheduled for an hour and a half ago) - and she was not a happy camper for the extra 90 minutes we were in pre-op. Sweet thing was so hungry and tired. But fortunately she enjoyed waltzing with Dad and that cheered her up a little while we were hanging out in the playroom.

While there, we had a pretty awkward conversation with a chaplain and her sidekick (who, also awkwardly, just sat and listened to us talk). They prayed for Ev, which was sweet - and called her Emily. Haha.

Waiting. She looks scared!

Waiting :)

We are checked in and waiting to be called back in for prep. Just like last time, we have been surprised by Evie's resilience in dealing with her hunger! She has enjoyed looking at the fish and playing with dad and grandma so far this morning!

Almost Ready

I am sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast while Steve & his mom are outside with Ev (trying, so far successfully, to distract her from her from hunger). Her last time to eat was 3 am last night. I picked her up at 2:40 to nurse her - and she wasn't hungry. At all. So we did the best we could, and then she woke up at 7:15 this morning (very hungry, but too late for a cup of pedialyte).

We'll leave for the hospital in 15 or 20 minutes - I will update from there how her surgery is going! Thank you for praying for her :)

Surgery: Almost-plans and Actual-plans

We got a call this morning from Evie's surgeon's office. It was the surgery scheduler. She tells Steve that Evie's surgery on Thursday is scheduled. For 2 pm. So she launches into the "She can't have any food or breastmilk after  7 am, no clear liquids after 11 ..."

It took us a second to really understand what she was saying.

"You mean the surgery's not in the morning?"

"You mean she can't eat all day? She's only 8 months old. Not sure we can do that."

"Um, are you sure there is not any other way, because this is not acceptable. We're going to have to figure something else out."

Fortunately, this lady is about one of the nicest people ever so she called back about 20 minutes later to let us know that she talked to the hospital and they were able to get an OR open at 10 am. So now it's just no eating after 3 am. Not quite as bad (let's be clear - not as good as just not eating between midnight and her surgery time of 7:30, like the last time), but that's the time - surgery at 10 am. 46 hours and counting!

End of Day 1

Well, Ev is asleep (not in her crib. That did not go so well. She is on a bed upstairs snoozing away) and I wanted to give more details about the day (mostly because we have a few really sweet pictures).

After we talked to her doctor, we waited for another hour until they called us back to recovery. The nurse told us that she was smiling a lot and seemed pretty happy. We waited back there for about 15 more minutes until they brought Evie out.

We were VERY anxious to see our little girl!

She came out with her little breathing tube (they put oxygen through here while she's waking up from anesthesia). Looks pretty happy, right?

And then she recognized us. Very, very unhappy.

They suggested that she drink water or apple juice first because she was likely to vomit due to the anesthesia. We gave her a sippy cup with apple juice, but she was only interested in getting some milk. And she didn't throw up at all. Yay!

Then we went home. She nursed and slept most of the afternoon, then played for a little bit. 

Audrey was kind enough to offer her toes for Ev to play with. 

And Judah was so, so sweet to her. 

And, of course, Dad got her to smile and laugh while singing the chicken dance song.

So one day down. And it was a pretty good day! Steve got some great news from work, Evie seems to be adjusting well, and she is finally asleep (and not in someone's arms).

We are grateful that God has brought us through today. I was, admittedly, a total wreck last night and this morning. It was terrible when they took her away from us to do the surgery. But I have never breathed as big a sigh of relief in my life when the nurse called from the OR to tell us that they were casting her and only needed to manually put the hip back in place. I laughed and laughed when she first clapped (while we were getting into the car - she had a balloon, and she loved it). And I was still able to cuddle up to her as she was nursing. So it was a good day. Now for tomorrow ...

PS. You can see how well she is doing in this video from this afternoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9no380_6b4 

Home!

We are at home. It wasn't particularly fun or easy, because Ev does not fit into the new car seat very well. The angle seems to be awkward for her, so we'll have to figure that out. On the bright side, we did get some smiles and some claps from her!


Since we have been home, she has been sleeping while I nurse her. When we tried to put her in her bed, she would just scream. At least this way, we are all getting much-needed rest.

We will check back in later.

Update #4

We are in recovery. She is a bit groggy and cranky but otherwise pretty good.

Update #3

We just talked to the surgeon, who is all done with her. Ev is being taken to recovery and we will seek her in 45 minutes or so.

The doctor said it went really well, that as soon as she was relaxed under the anesthesia her hip went right back into place easily, and that when they looked at it with the dye under the x-ray, the socket looks great. He said that there is a good chance she doesn't need the full 12 weeks in the cast, so we will see what it looks like at the 6 week mark (when we come back and do all this again).

We can't wait to see her and will update with a picture when we do!


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Update #2

We just heard from the OR ... They are putting the cast on right now. They did not need to cut at all. This is what we were praying for!!







This is our lovely view from the waiting room. It will still probably be a couple hours until we see her. They will put the (hot pink) cast on and then she will be in the recovery room for about 30-45 minutes before we see her.

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Update #1

Not really an update, except to say that they took her back to the OR. She took some medicine before she went back so that she won't remember anything and won't have anxiety being separated from us. She seemed to like the doctors and nurses, and we were thrilled that she didn't seem too hungry or miserable.

We will probably hear in about an hour what kind of procedure they will need to do. Please pray! Thanks :)

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Waiting

We got to the hospital right on time at 6 am. Since then we have been waiting. Fortunately, Evie is pretty chipper and not having eaten since before midnight does not seem to be bothering her too much.