Calli's surgery to close her palate was last Thursday, August 15th. Exactly three months post lip surgery and 4 months after we brought her home.
Our doctor told us to expect this recovery to be much harder. To expect a 3-4 night hospital stay, and that she would be "puny" for about two weeks post surgery. We have been so impressed with how well Calli has done with everything so far, that I think we didn't really believe him. Turns out he was right. We have had a rough week.
Thursday morning we had to be at the hospital at 6:00. Granny came down to LJ on Wednesday, so she was home with the big girls so Randy and I could take Calli. We had a couple of hours in pre-op before they took her back for surgery at 8.
Surgery took about 3 hours, just like Dr. T told us it would. Gigi and Peeps came down and sat with us during surgery, which helped pass the time. I have started sewing Calli's stocking, so that helped keep my hands busy, too! Our ENT put tubes in her ears first, and drained a lot of fluid. It is very common for children with clefts to need tubes because fluid builds up. She'll probably have several sets of tubes over the course of her childhood. It was great to just be able to do it while she was already under for palate surgery. Dr. Roy came out and told us that he was able to place the tubes, that it went fine, but that he drained a ton of fluid and she has "unusually small ear canals." At 11:30, Dr. T came out and said everything went well! Then we had to wait to be told we could go back and see her in recovery - that was the hardest part for me! Knowing she was waking up but hadn't been taken to recovery yet - we just wanted to be with her. I think it was only about 15 minutes until they took us back, but that was the longest wait of the morning.
Here she is with Randy in recovery. She was sleeping much more this time than the previous two procedures. The sweet nurse took her quilt and baby back with her for surgery and when we came in to recovery, we saw that baby even had a bandage. So cute! They put the no-nos on her arms again, just to keep her from sticking her hands in her mouth. We took them off at some point in recovery and never had to put them on her again - thankfully.
Feeding her some juice with a syringe. Sweet baby was so thirsty and I lost count of how many syringes of juice we gave her - more than a dozen.
Her drool was very bloody, so we kept blankets or towels on us most of the first day. After about two hours in recovery, they moved us up to our room and Gigi and Peeps met us up there. She just wanted to sleep/lay on me, and I was so happy to just let her!
Thursday was just a long day of letting her sleep on and off, and trying to keep her comfortable. She had morphine every hour or so most of that day, and she was on some other kind of pain killer as well. She drank some the first day, but I don't think she ate much. This is how we slept that night - her on my chest and Randy on the couch next to us. We were up every hour or so, but she was at least able to rest some.
Friday morning started around 5:30, so by 8 or so we were ready to get out of the room. There was a very fun play room on our floor, so we carried her down there and played for awhile. Anything to keep her distracted!
She grabbed her cup shortly after surgery and would not let it go the rest of the time we were in the hospital. In fact, she is still sleeping with it at night. So now we have baby, cup, quilt, and a little puppy the girls brought her when they came with Granny. It's a full bed.
The ipad helped keep her distracted, as well. Her face swelled a lot, and it changed a lot throughout the first couple of days. She would lay on one side and then sit up and her face would be swollen a different way. We were glad when the swelling started to go down.
We had several visitors that helped pass the time so well! Gigi and Peeps stayed all day Thursday, Kathy and Mary came to see us Thursday evening, Lindsey came Friday morning, Mary and Nathan came and brought us dinner Friday night, and Michelle and Kaitlin came and brought us Sprinkles cupcakes Friday night. But the most exciting visitors for Calli were her big sisters. Granny brought them on Friday and she got excited for the first time our whole visit when those sweet girls walked in! They brought her some balloons, flowers, and a baby puppy, but she was mostly just excited to see them. Kendall and Coop were so sweet, hugging on her and talking so gently to her. Lindsey had brought some markers and coloring sheets, so the girls loved coloring those together. We all went and ate lunch in the cafeteria, and then when we came back, Calli fell asleep on Granny. She was enjoying having her Granny hold her, which gave me a little break - up until then I had been holding her the whole time.
Friday night went much better than Thursday night, and by Saturday morning at 7, the doctor had come in to tell us we could go home! It took awhile to get our prescriptions ready, so we left around 11 and were home by noon! Granny and Papas had cleaned the whole house, went to the grocery store for us, and picked up lunch and dinner. They took the girls to swim while we napped with Calli, and we were so thankful for all their help!
Mary and Kathy even organized meals for us for this week after surgery! I didn't think we would need it, but her recovery has been so hard and she has just wanted to be held all the time that it has been so great to not worry about food. Kathy and Jerry Peters came over Sunday afternoon with a LARGE ice chest full of Bluebell, popsicles, and chocolate syrup! So fun! We've had meals from the Hundls, Erskines, Picks, Mitts, Hendersons, Whiteheads, Coopers, and Watsons. I can't even say how thankful we have been!!
So our week has been spent at home, in our pajamas, just being lazy and taking care of Calli. She has been waking up three to four times a night and has been on pain meds every three hours. Today (Friday) has been the best day yet and we're hopeful she is getting better! Kendall and Cooper have been such big helpers - mostly by being easy so I could focus on Calli. They've gotten a little extra tv time this week, more time on the computer, and had a lot of time just playing together. They've been great. Calli and I have been rocking, walking, trying to eat some, and just sitting together. I've been so thankful for the way she has let me love on her and comfort her - I think I'll post about that later.
She's eaten a few bites of mashed potatoes, some yogurt, green beans, lots of ice cream, and even some cereal! She's so tough and brave - and maybe starving - that even though it hurts after just a couple of bites, she keeps trying new things! We're amazed at her.
Some days she's just needed to ride in the carrier and stay close. And I'm ok with that! BTW - she has her puppy and her cup somewhere in there. It never leaves her these days! 0
This week has been hard, but we are so impressed with Calli and amazed at her bravery. It must be so strange to have a roof of her mouth when she's never had anything up there before, to breathe a different way, and to have the amount of pain that she has had. But she has been so awesome, has let us love on her, and has just been great! We're so thankful! Thank you for your prayers for her!
Oh - yesterday was our post-op appointment with Dr. T and he said everything looks like it should! He said to expect her behavior to be like this for about another week. She is collecting food in the roof of her mouth, which looks bad to us, but he said that is to be expected and isn't a problem as long as she is drinking. He said she is very impressive and very beautiful. We knew that! We'll go back and see him in 6 weeks!