Exhausted, but very happy

DD's surgery lasted 5 hours. It snowed most of the time we were in the waiting room. The surgeon came out and asked to speak to us privately which made my heart drop. He just wanted to be in a quieter room so we could ask questions. DD's surgery went well. They repaired the cleft in her mitral valve. An esophageal ultrasound performed right after the surgery showed that there was no regurge. The surgery seems to be a success in the best possible way.

I felt everyone's prayers during the surgery. I was calm for the most part. I didn't cry when they took DD away. It wasn't the worst day of my life as I predicted. I cried a little when we were told that she was on the heart/lung bypass machine and that the surgery had started. I crocheted a few more baby hats. After the surgeon spoke to us about the surgery results, twin sis and I counted the baby hats I had worked on the past 6 weeks. 64 baby hats. We took them down to the front desk where donations are dropped off. The form they asked me to fill out asked for the reason for the donation. I wrote down that DD had open-heart surgery today and this service project was my thanks to the hospital. I was teary as I handed the hats over. I hope they cheer up the families of the babies they go to.

Right now I am posting from the PICU. DD is in and out of consciousness. She has woken up and was a bit ornery because she wanted to get up, she wanted to eat, she wanted the canula OFF. She isn't allowed to drink until she really wakes up and we have to wait about 24 hours for that. Along with the morphine, they will start a diuretic to help drain the surgical areas. She has three tubes in her chest right now and two should be removed by tomorrow. She has a few pace wires that are expected to be taken out as well. Her color is good.

The nurse assigned just to her is a darling. I am amazed by this Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. It is bright and there are so many hospital workers. They found Lauren a quilt with color to cheer her bed. There is a rootbeer slushie that she can have just a tiny bit of. (PapaAfrica, she is your granddaughter, she loves rootbeer. I will make sure she still has Sneaky Snake memorized when you come home).

I had a 1 1/2 hour nap in the PICU waiting room. I am tired but not as bone tired as I was. Hopefully, DD will be put in her own room in a day or two. I might be able to rest better. Just knowing that my Love-Magnet is okay will make it much easier to relax tonight.