Day 63 - Better Than Expected

Milo's surgery went really well! I didn't sleep at all the night before. We were so tired after his botched IV attempt that lasted from 1:00am to almost 3:00am with him getting poked over 16 times from three different nurses and freaking out every time. It was emotionally exhausting but we knew if he didn't get the IV he would get dehydrate if he didn't eat and we wouldn't be able to have him have an empty stomach the next morning which would mean putting the surgery off and trying the whole thing over the next time. When the nurses couldn't get the IV, we fed him one more time and they connected with the anesthesiologist who said we could cut his food at 3:30am and they would put the IV in when they knocked him out (this would be much easier as they could use a vein in his elbow which they can't do while he's awake because his reflexes cause him to curl his arm in very tightly when he is upset).

So I fed a very tired out and shocked baby until 3:30am and then I cuddled him skin-to-skin until it was time for him to go to surgery at 7:00am. I felt so bad about the trauma of the IV and he kept doing the saddest little shaky inhale :(

Milo after surgery wearing his funny hat

Around 5:00am he started to get hungry again as he had not had time to complete a full feed at 3:00am. I rocked him and snuggled him and was glad it helped soothe him and he didn't get too angry. At 7:00am the nurse came and took him and told us we could go wait with him in the NICU once he got settled. We arrived at the NICU to find he had his IV in his head! The nurses there got it on the first try while he was awake. We had a brief consult with the surgeon, enough time to grab coffee and breakfast and pump and then the surgery was over and the doctor told us he did great (and that he is super cute). Milo was already waking up when he got back to the NICU. He was breathing normally on his own (we were so delighted and relieved he had not relapsed on breathing like we had feared) and already showing signs he was hungry. The doctor there had us wait until 11:00am to feed him though so his tummy could have a chance to wake up. After the surgery the doctor applied some local anesthesia on his surgery site and after that all he needed was some oral tylenol every six hours. He had some morphine available if he needed it but he didn't seem to be in that much pain.

I held Milo skin-to-skin late that morning so Shelly could get a nap in. She had only slept a couple of hours the night before and was really tired. After her nap, we headed upstairs and she took over with Milo while I slept hard for 4 hours straight. When I woke up he had is IV out and was eating normally. Shelly took the 11pm feeding as well and I went back to sleep until his 2am feeding. After that, I felt super well rested - those were the longest chunks of sleep I've gotten since I had food poisoning. I took all the night shifts even going later than I normally do and handling his 9:00am feeding as well so Shelly could catch up on sleep. No we are both cheerful, rested and excited for the doctor to come in and tell us if we can go home tomorrow (and what time we can leave!!)