Thursday, May 01, 2008

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.

9 comments:

Ginger Johnson said...

Hurray! I'm so relieved! I'll keep praying for her recovery and for you too!

xo

heather said...

So glad to hear the update. I have been thinking about you and DD all day! Sooooo Glad to hear everything went so well! Big kisses to that sweet doll! We will be up to see you both within the next few days...hopefuly she will have her own room by then. I hope everything continues to go well and she heals quickly!
XOXO

Tammy and Parker said...

Have you been getting my emails?

We'll be up on Monday if that is okay!

Yea! Everything went so well!

Anna said...

oh I'm so happy. we've been praying for you today too and I will keep praying until your baby is home and happy. what a blessing that things went so smoothly

Soozcat said...

Thanks for letting us know! We'll keep praying through her recovery time as well. Give her loves from us (when she can get them).

The Country Mouse said...

Praise God! I am so thankful everything went well. Give yourself a big, long, tight hug from me. And get some sleep. :)

Haley said...

We've been thinking about you and are so happy to hear that things went well. We have had nothing but good experiences at that hospital. Hooray for rootbeer slushies! YUM.

Michelle Johnson said...

Yeah! We heard the news at school! I'm so happy that it went well. We prayed all day! :) I'm glad you got a nap this afternoon too. I'm sure that helped.

I wish I could check your blog when we're at school!

Lauren will stay in our prayers!

The Mom said...

Carrie - you and Lauren have been in our prayers. Soooo happy the surgery went well! I can imagine how terrifying it was for you to hand your sweet girl over to the surgeons. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father watched over her and her heart is all fixed up for good. Keeping you both in our prayers for a continued recovery.

Sending lots of love!