Thursday, November 7, 2013

A star made a wish on us tonight, hangin' out in heaven inspired by our light.

Part 2

So the 24th got here. Some days it seems like it got there really fast, and other days it seems like it took a while to get here. My attitude towards the situation was that I just wanted to get it over with. I was not excited about having to send my sweet little man into surgery, but if it was going to happen, I wanted to just do it and move forward. I was definitely nervous and scared for my little guy, but I also had an overwhelming peace about the whole situation. Especially while we were in the hospital - I just knew that the Lord was watching over us and that He was very mindful of our family. Also, in the scheme of things, our situation was a temporary one. It was a hard procedure for Brennan to go through, but one that would be done and then after a few days we could go home. And there would be no other ramifications (other than possibly wearing a helmet.) There were families that I saw there that had so much more going on; so many struggles and road blocks to get their children healthy, that I felt it would be incredibly ungrateful of me to complain.

The morning of the 24th, we woke up early (I didn't sleep much the night before...) and got to the hospital at 6:30 a.m. We have wonderful parents who helped take care of Savannah for us while we were at the hospital. We were so blessed that they were willing to help us out and that Savannah loves them all so much! My mom kept her the first day and night and then she stayed with Jacobs parents the rest of the time. We arrived at the hospital and completed check in and just waited. I was very anxious and nervous the whole time, and I really just held Brennan a lot. He's such a snuggler and I wanted to get in as many snuggles as I could because I knew I wouldn't be able to hold him for a while. Jacob also got in some last minute snuggles.







Before we took him back to surgery, Dr. Reisner came in and so did the plastic surgeon, Dr. Williams, who was going to be doing the reshaping part of the surgery. Jacob and I loved both surgeons and knew that Brennan was in excellent hands.  We also met with the nurse who would be taking care of him during surgery as well as the anesthesiologist. They were very reassuring and answered any last minute questions we had. Again, we knew Brennan was going to be well cared for, and that was a reassuring feeling. Then 8:00 rolled around and it was time to take little man back. They let me carry him until we got to the surgical wing and then the nurse took him the rest of the way. We went back to our little waiting room (each family has their own room to wait in) and the nurse called about every hour while he was in surgery to let us know how things were going. Also, Dr. Reisner and Dr. Williams came in when their portions of the surgery were over to tell us how everything was progressing. All reports that came through were very positive, and when Dr. Reisner came in he was very pleased with how the surgery went and how there was already a difference in his head shape! Dr. Reisner has the best bedside manner and knew how to keep us at ease, even though we just wanted to see little man.

Oh, and just for informative purposes, there are two ways that they can do the surgery - the minimally invasive approach and cranial vault remodeling. The cranial vault remodeling is the most common form of this type of surgery, because most of the children who need the surgery are over 4 months in age. Since by 4 months the skull is thicker, the minimally invasive is a bit more dangerous in case there are complications. The surgery takes longer as well, since the skull is thicker. Since Brennan was only 2 months at the time of surgery, he was able to have the minimally invasive approach. It was our decision as to which approach we wanted to do, but Dr. Reisner thought it would be the best option for him, and we trusted his opinion. He would have three incisions on the top of his head, instead of one zig zag scar that went from ear to ear across the top of his head.

The first time we got to see Brennan post surgery was up in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) and I'm not going to lie, it was kinda tough. He just looked so out of it and he was moaning. And the moaning was so sad sounding - they had put a breathing tube in him (we didn't see him with it in) and his voice was so hoarse. It was a little heartbreaking. The nurses that we had when we got up there were so amazing and wonderful! They were patient with us and so nice and accommodating. Brennan just really wanted to eat, and they wanted him to eat some Pedialyte and keep that down before he could eat any formula. He was NOT a fan of that plan, and I could tell that all he wanted was his bottle. After a little while they told me to go ahead and give him his formula and he was a little happier. It was really hard not to be able to hold him, but he held my fingers a lot and he would calm down some when he heard our voices. They told me that I could hold him if I really wanted to, but that it would be hard on him and pretty uncomfortable for him. I didn't want to put him in any more pain, so I told them I would just wait. It was hard, but I still think it was the right decision. Overall, Brennan was doing really well given the circumstances, and the doctors and nurses were pleased with how he was doing. As evening rolled around, they determined he needed another blood transfusion, but that is pretty common in a smaller baby. He also had one during the surgery. 

This was what Brennan looked like when we first walked into his room.
He eventually drifted off to sleep for a bit.
He was hooked up to so many things!!!


Holding mommy's hand. He melts my heart!
Happy to finally eat!

 

No comments: