Surgery and Pictures

James couldn't eat anything after 5:15 the morning of his surgery, so he needed to have his last bottle at about 4:30 to make sure he was done eating on time. Luckily that's right when he got up, so we didn't have to wake him. He ate his bottle right up, and then needed a diaper and clothes change (the diaper had soaked through a bit). We got his diaper changed and he was being so pleasant that I decided to put him in his blessing outfit and get some pictures. We didn't get any pictures of him on his blessing day, so I really wanted some pictures of him in his blessing outfit with his cleft. We didn't get around to it yesterday, so I was really glad that he was so happy this morning. Not only did we get some pictures of him in his blessing outfit, but we also got some smile pictures as well! This made me doubly happy as we hadn't been able to get his smile on camera yet, and his cleft smile is super cute. :D







By this point it was about 5:15, so I just got in the shower. We got ready and packed up and left just before 7.

We didn't hit much traffic on the way up, and we got to the hospital around 7:45, then waited around to check in.

James dozed off for a while, then woke up and realized that he was hungry, and didn't appreciate that he wasn't being fed. They finally called us back and got him weighed and got James changed into his hospital clothes.


Once we got him changed we let him have his binky, and that calmed him right down.



He relaxed and chilled with dad, and at around 9:45 they took him back for surgery. I teared up a bit when we handed him off anesthesiologist, but she was very sweet and we knew he was in good hands. Then began the waiting. I went and pumped while Chris got us some breakfast from the cafeteria downstairs, we ate, and then Chris worked on writing a test while I just hung out and gave people updates. About 11:45 the Dr. came out and said that everything had gone well and that as soon as he woke up a bit we'd be able to go see him. They only let one parent come back to the recovery room, and I went back so Chris could finish things for his class. When I got there he was sleeping pretty well, and he was doing well enough that they very quickly moved him upstairs into his room.


Once we got to his room we gave him some snuggles and loves, and he did really well. He had a dose of Morphine right then, and then another right before his first bottle, which he took at about 4:30. He drank the whole thing without any trouble! We spent the day hanging out and helping him relax, and then Grandma and Grandpa Y. came up to visit and brought us some dinner. Right before they left Grandma gave him his second bottle.


He took it really well, but wasn't so sure about being burped...

After his bottle everyone headed home but me and James. We had a pretty good night, but James did have some troubles keeping his oxygen levels up. The nurses suspected that it was because the narcotics were relaxing him too much, so we decided to try him out on just Tylenol to see how he did. Because of the oxygen issues we ended up staying at the hospital until around 3 in the afternoon, but he did great once we took him off the heavy painkillers. Dr. Warnock came and checked him out, and then we were good to go home! The nurse helped us get him dressed, arm restraints and all.


James has been doing great since we got home! We've given him a couple doses of Lortab, but mostly he's just been on regular Tylenol. He's eating great, and has even given me some good smiles. He's not so fond of the arm restraints, and has managed to wiggle out of them several times! Overall he seems to do better being swaddled instead of wearing the restraints, though he sometimes gets out of the swaddle too. I'm so glad that he's being such a trooper, and I feel very blessed that we live at a time and place where he can be so well taken care of.