Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008





Happy Birthday to me! OK, well it was my first birthday but I don't know if I would say it was a very happy one. Since this was my first birthday I wasn't really sure what to expect but I am really hoping all my birthday's don't go this way.

I had a really good night, slept from 10 pm to 5 am without waking up. Mommy had to turn off my feeding at 3 am since I am going into surgery early this morning. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Mommy sleeping last night. The little girl right next to me cried off and on all night for her mommy. The strange thing was, her mommy was laying right next to her but slept through it all. My Mommy, though, wasn't so lucky. When I woke up at 5 I was all smiles and to allow my roommates some more rest time, Mommy took me down to the second floor activity area to let me play for about an hour. At 6 we returned to the room and I was starting to get fussy. Mommy knew they were coming for me at 6:45 so she tried to keep me awake and quiet but it was getting to be a challenge. Daddy at 6:45, just in time to walk with Mommy and I and the nurse to the pre-surgery waiting area. For the next 45 minutes I cried off and on because I wanted to go lay down for a nap but I had to stay awake. When the nurses found out it was my birthday, they sang me happy birthday. It was very nice, but both Mommy and I were crying through the song. We found out that one of the anesthesiologists gave birth to her daughter a year ago today as well -that has to be good luck!

Soon enough, the anesthesiologist scooped me up and took me away. My parents gave me a last kiss and with tears in their eyes left me with a very capable surgeon, Dr Michelle James. They had been told I would be in surgery about 4 hours start to finish so they headed to the cafeteria for some coffee and something to eat. Then they spent the next few hours wandering the hospital trying to keep themselves from worrying too much. About 11:30, Dr James came out to tell them I was doing fine and surgery went well. Shortly after that, Grandma and Grandpa Mower and Kristin and Jackson came to the hospital. While I was in recovery, only Mommy and Daddy were able to visit and only one at a time. I was there about an hour and then they moved me on to the ICU. In the ICU two people can visit at a time but Jackson was not allowed. Everyone got a chance to visit with me for a short while. I was pretty agitated and not very happy but Mommy was able to rock me to sleep. By then it was long past lunch time so they left me sleeping while they grabbed something to eat and Mommy got a short nap at home.

When they arrived back at the hospital a few hours later, my mood was not much improved. The nurses greeted my parents with the news that I had not yet peed and they could tell by an ultrasound of my bladder that I needed to. They got the catheter ready and seconds before inserting I started peeing all over the bed. Everyone was very happy - espescially me! Just in the nick of time : )

After a lot of peeing and some rocking by Mommy I was down for another short nap while everyone had to leave for the shift change. They spoke with the ENT who indicated that I am scheduled for some xrays in the morning to see if my trach (NEO) is getting too short for me. If they think so they will consult with my ENT at Stanford to see about the next longer size (PED).
After a shot of morphine, a dose of Prilosec and hooking me up to my trach mist - my parents left for the night just as I was getting ready to start up a feeding for the first time since surgery. Since neither of my parents have slept well for a few nights, hopefully we will all sleep well in prep for a discharge home tomorrow!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and prayers for my surgery today!

Peyton Nicole Smith

1 comment:

  1. After swishing a way the tear that was brought on by reading the part when mommy hands you over to the doc. Hear is a song:

    Happy Birthday to you
    Happy Birthday to you
    Happy Birthday to Peyton
    Happy Birthday to you!!!!!

    I hope you and your family are doing well today!!

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