Surgery Success

Yesterday, May 9th, was Olivia's surgery to repair her cleft lip. 
We arrived at the hospital at 11am for her 12:45 surgery. 
She was in by 12:30 and done by 1:45. 
They let me walk her in to the operating room and hold her while they put her to sleep.  I just assumed that she would struggle for a bit when they put the mask on her, but she didn't at all.  In fact, when the dr. came near her with it, she leaned forward and let him without one complaint.  They gave her some nitrus first to relax her as she layed against me, then the medicine to put her to sleep.  It happened very quickly at that point and they took her from me to lay her on the table.  That part was hard to watch.  It was hard to walk out of there and leave her looking so tiny on that big bed, and so vulnerable to what we were doing to her. 
Then we waited.....and prayed. 
It didn't take long for the first surgeon, who was putting tubes in her ears, to come out and say he was done.  This meant the next doctor was now starting on her lip.  It was strange to think about what she would look like when she was finished. 
When the surgery was done, we got to go into the recovery room.
On the way there, the nurse told us 3 things....
...that she was awake
...that she looked amazing
...and that she was "P.O'd" (that's "pissed off", in case you weren't sure)
Our first reaction was utter amazement. We could not get over how different she looked. It's just unbelievable what a difference an hour can make.
She reached for us right away and so I picked her up and started to rock her.
We stayed in recovery for about a half hour until let us go up to her room she would stay overnight in.
Once there, Jay held her for at least an hour as she went back and forth between being awake and upset and asleep. They had her on some morphine, so she was pretty out of it for a while.
By about 2 hours, post-op, she was really starting to look a little better. She just didn't look so foggy and she let me lay in bed with her and put on an Elmo movie, which she loved. She even laughed at one part...that was huge.
As the evening went on, she got more and more like herself.  She ate an entire plate of mac n' cheese, applesauce, and some yogurt.  That was great.  She even took some milk from a sippy cup....wrapping her whole mouth around it for the first time.  Very cool to see.
 Jason had to leave at about 5:15 to go to Tyler's National Junior Honor's Society Ceremony, but he came back afterwards with Cindy and the boys. They were so excited to see her. It was fun to see their faces as they saw her for the first time.
Tony said he was a little "freaked out"...and Tyler got light-headed and had to sit for a bit...but otherwise, it was all love. I think just the blood and all made them a little nervous.
She stayed close to Jay and I for a while, but ventured off the bed when her baby cousin Ben showed up with Pat and Lindsey. They brought her a Dora bath doll that flaps it's tail in the water. She will have a lot of fun with that.
The night went well. I was able to sleep on a pull out chair by her bed side. She slept good except when the nurse kept coming in to check her vitals every 2 hours. That woke both of us up, but luckily she would always fall back to sleep.
She was discharged by 10:15 this morning and has been noticeably happy to be home. She must have wondered what the heck was going on and where the heck we were. She looks even more amazing today as she did yesterday and I know it will only continue to get better and better as it heals. I'm so excited for her.

The morning of her surgery....

PLaying in the waiting room.....

Getting her blood pressure taken....

A bed was ready just for her....

More toys while we wait...

She got to pick out a scented chapstick....

We smelled all the different kinds before picking....

Picking out some new toys.....

Found one......

First post-op pictures.....

er

watching Elmo in bed.....

Her brothers come for a visit....

Playing with her new doll from Pat and Lindsey.....

Our first hospital family picture....