goosey goose and the double hernias

lil miss gemma has always had a funny little belly button. her cord fell off early (she actually ripped it off around 8-9 days old) so she had to get it sealed at the docs. her belly button always stuck out like an sorta outie innie. plus she has a buddha belly to boot.

as she has gotten older and taller, many people in my family noticed a little indentation above her button. finally at her 18 month check up, it was confirmed that it was a hernia. she was referred to a peds surgeon.

i waited to take her to the specialist till after calder was born.

the doctor was an older man, thick accent, but apparently one of the best. he really quickly found a second hernia in her belly button. so she had an epigastric and umbilical hernia. it would require 2 little incisions, only one that would be visible. they scheduled us for surgery for the following week.

my poor little goosey would have to go under. the surgery itself wasn't scary to me. just the anesthesia.

then gemma came down with a boogery cold and we had to reschedule for another week out.

she had her surgery yesterday. i got up around 330 to take care of calder and got lincoln up around 430. we got gem up around 5. she wasn't able to eat anything but she could have water. my lil girl loves to eat, but surprisingly didn't ask for anything. we dropped the boy off with his aunt jana then headed to the hospital. our checkin was 630. surgery was scheduled for 830.

the hospital was cardon's childrens hospital. it really is a wonderful place. they work really hard to make it seem like a friendly place.

gemma was being silly and making the nurses laugh. she was totally unconcerned. we put her in her little hospital outfit and socks. she hated the socks (whenever i've had surgery, i hated the socks too). they put out a playmat and a bunch of toys. we had sesame street playing. they even gave us bubbles.

they gave her a little mask to decorate with stickers. it was the same kind of mask they would be using to put her under.

linc and i were starving. we were sneaking snacks and sips of water while she wasn't looking. she only asked for food once because a commercial came on for cookies and she asked me for a cookoo.

our doc was running late. so it was 930 or so when they told us they would be taking her back in a few minutes. they gave us a little car to push her around in down the halls. they would be using the car to take her to the or. she was loving it. then the nurse took her.

i went back into our room for our stuff and burst into an ugly cry. you know the kind (side note - claire danes is the queen of the ugly cry). linc gave me a hug and told me she would be just fine but i could tell he was feeling the same way as me.

they didn't let us go back with her because they said most parents can't handle seeing the kids go to sleep. they gave her gas and i guess before she goes under she has a moment of panic, which is all part of the process, but really hard to watch. then they did her iv. then they did a "coddle" which they described to be similar to an epidural but way less dangerous. it would numb her from her ribs down so she wouldn't be able to feel her legs for awhile.

then we waited.

after they were done, the doc came to talk to us. he was able to close both hernias through the belly button so gemma won't have any scars. he said she would just need to rest for a few days but would be back to herself in no time.

then we waited some more.

a nurse came to get us and as soon as we walked through the doors, i could hear my goosey crying. i immediately started crying. poor girl had just woke up and was terrified. plus she was probably a little dizzy.

the nurse gave her to me. she looked like this enormous baby because she was just in a diaper. a size six diaper (i only put her in fours...). she was way too squirmy and kept telling me she was stuck. she couldn't feel her legs so she probably did feel stuck. linc had to take over because i couldn't keep her still. we wrapped her up in one of her comfies (her home-made blankets from her grandma).

they wanted her to drink some juice but everytime we mentioned she started crying again. it was agonizing to see her like that.

eventually we turned on the tv to some silly talking dog cartoon and that calmed her down enough so we could take her home. they gave her a dvd as a prize and home we went.

she slept most of the afternoon in our bed with us. then on the couch. but whenever she would wake up she would wimper and say ow. changing her diaper was hard. and getting her to eat and drink was rough.

she slept in bed with me last night and around midnight finally seemed to be herself.

this morning she is still laying on the couch. we've had her try to walk a few times but it still hurts.

i'm glad it's a long weekend so lincoln will be here to help once the pain meds are all worn off. we plan to just be couch bums all weekend.

i never want to go through that again.