okay, let me first start off that this post has an extreme picture/story overload. i need to update the grandparents and of course document how my sweet little boy’s cleft lip and nose repair went yesterday. the day started off great, jim brought me a bottle at 4:45 am brady ate and then fell back asleep. we woke-up around 6 am while daddy was in the shower and got ready for our day. we made a pit stop at starbucks for a protein box and a green tea and made our way down the 15 freeway to zion hospital. as we were exiting admitting called us at 8:07 to see if we had forgotten, um no! there is a thing called morning traffic so we arrived fifteen minutes late. the sweet boy had fallen asleep and slept for a few minutes while we waited for admitting to call us in.
he must have been excited for the day because he popped those pretty blues open wide and kept smiling. his whole demeanour over all was perfect, a smiley happy baby.
we went into the admitting office and did all the necessary paperwork and then a nurse soon escorted us back to the OR waiting room. we were given a cute teal gown and over sized peach MC Hammer style pants.
he just kinda hung out while we dotted all those necessary i’s and crossed those t’s with the nurse.
and then he got to wear the over sized baby pajamas. he told me that they didn’t fit like baby gap and that pastels are not his color. because he is our son, he wore the pastels and took it for what it is.
we took as many pictures as we could of his “first” face. the nurse probably thought we were coo-coo but hey, his face was changing forever. i never want to forget the first face i fell in love with. so mommy and daddy were the paparazzi found in room number seven.
sigh. my two boys, the two twins. i love this picture.
he got all linked up as did i. what is he here for? over and over.
about 9:15 he finally got a little impatient and hungry. so what else could mommy do but shove the pacifier in his mouth. this is the last time he can use it, we’re hoping it’s a permanent thing.
love him.
our plastic surgeon, dr. david sinow, came on in and marked his face for hospital protocol. brayden wasn’t having it. he finally knew what was happening. he heard us talking, the nursing talking and knew this happy moment was soon about to change. so he cried. wouldn’t you?
dr. christine briefly told us about her tour with operation smile to over twenty different countries since the 80’s. she was on the first tour to vietnam, amazing! i knew he was in great hands. dr. sinow finished his last notes in the computer and then it was game time. christine asked to take him, i of course, paparazzi mommy, asked to take a picture and this is the face he leaves me with. i would keep turning on my camera to look at this picture and then just cry. why the boo-boo lip, kid? don’t you know your mommy is a sucker for sappy faces, especially when she knows you will be away from her for hours? geesh. a wreck i tell you.
as they walked away from us towards the OR. check this guy out! christine is saying, look how cute this baby is, the blonde is ooh’ing and ahh’ing and dude takes a photo op. i have a word for this type of guy.
we soon found our spot in the surgery waiting corridor. we skipped sitting in the waiting room because there was a snoring man. we made a brief trip down to the great outdoors to consume my protein box and tea. jim decided to run over to vons for a crudite platter and trashy gossip mag for me and a bag of rice cakes and smoothie for himself. we made our way back up to the third floor and made best friends with the bench.
i read, i laid down, i paced, i kept checking the screen to see if his status from blue (still in OR) would ever change. it didn’t. we waited for almost four hours. we decided to go into the actual waiting room to charge our phones. the room was empty for a split second until obnoxious tevas with sock wearing woman and her sick three-year-old who was clearly a lonely woman and befriended the other poway woman to her left. oh, and the kid threw herself all over us…did you catch she was sick? annoying. jim decided to run over to vons again. we were bored. of course, after ten minutes dr. sinow came in, just as that kid was climbing my leg. i had to reassure him that wasn’t our payton. he told me that the surgery went ahh-mazingly well and that our little dude was a champ. jim came back, the doc wrote the prescription and then the phone rang. atkinson? one of you can go back to recovery. first, why do hospitals do this? one parent? i jumped, i didn’t even give jim a chance. i walked back with my phone and camera. i saw the nurse and my groggy boy laying in the crib. the nurse immediately handed him to me. i started balling. it was just like meeting him for the first time. he was whiny but as soon as i started talking to him he calmed right down. he had his mama. i sat in the rocker i spoke quietly to him, taking in his new face and how well he was handling the trauma he just endured. they soon moved us over to the PACU and jim could finally come back.
he was so calm. he didn’t need any pain meds yet, he was still calm from the anesthesia. the possibility of having to stay overnight was ruled out because he was doing so well. the nurse removed his IV. i then took his clothes off and got him ready to head home. he didn’t like being out of my arms too much.
so he was attempting to cry it was so soft and groggy. as sad as it was to watch and hear him freak-out i knew he would be fine soon.
once he had his monkey jammies and his too-cool for school magic school bus “welcome” bands on we walked out of the hospital. brayden slept and made some silent moans. we met my mom, payton, sister and niece at chilis for an early dinner and then headed home. we gave him a bath, 1.5 ounces of formula and his first dose of codeine. he slept like a champ. i woke him up around 10:30 pm for another feeding and more medicine. around 12:45 am i took him into bed with me and held him, he woke-up again at 2:30 crying a little out of pain so we repeated formula/meds again. he was a little more awake this time. a few coo’s and a smile for me. when we all woke-up this morning he was his normal happy self. coo’ing, kicking his legs like crazy, smiling and basically melting my heart.
i know kids bounce back really fast and for that i am grateful. this son of mine truly is my angel baby, he shows me everyday how to be a stronger person. he has already experienced so much in his short three months then most experience in a lifetime. brayden, you truly are a calm soul. i love you and thank you for choosing me as your mom. all the fears that set in on June 23, 2011 are over. the page has been turned and our new journey can begin.
and like the new jersey folks are sayin’, you really are a true californian now, plastic surgery before your first birthday. 😉
