Audrey's Home and She is Exhausted!!

Today was a big day for our little Audrey. We woke up a little earlier than usual - 4am! It was fun! We were instructed not to give Audrey formula past 2AM and clear liquids past 6AM the day of her surgery. She had about an ounce and half of formula at 1:30 and 5 ounces of Pedialyte at 4:30. We tried to give her cherry flavored Enfalyte that her doctor gave me a week ago but she absolutely hated it and wouldn't take her bottle. So, what did Mommy do? She drove to Wal-mart and bought her angel Unflavored Pedialyte... it's all for love. (that went down a little better!)


At 6am, we drove to the hospital. On our way there Mommy stopped to get a triple-grande-nonfat-caramel-macchiato because I needed something to wake me up... and a triple shot always does the trick! We arrived at 6:30 and Nana was there waiting for us!! She made waiting for surgery so much easier! We got into her pre-op room at 7:15 and they took her into surgery at 8:45. As we waited for an hour and a half, we did the best we could to fool Audrey into thinking her pacifier was her bottle... but, by the 8:45, she could not be fooled any longer. I carried her as far as I could before they ripped her from my arms (a little dramatic, don't you think?) and she screamed through the halls the entire time. Screaming, "Momma don't let them take me away from you... MOMMA..." Handing her over was a little tough, but then Staci showed up and the three of us girls (Nana, Staci and me) made our way into the waiting room and gossiped :) - not really but we did pass the time by talking! One of the nursed called me in the waiting room around 9 to let me know that Audrey was sleeping and they were about to start the surgery. He said if it takes longer than an hour, he will call back to give me an update. Well, at 9:45 we were called to go into a consultation room to wait for Dr. Sackett. He came in about 15 minutes later, said Audrey was doing good, she did well through the surgery. He said her right foot came out perfectly, she will be able to flex it all directions but her left foot is still pretty tight. He's not sure if the surgery corrected anything but we should know a little more when the casts come off and she goes into her braces. If the surgery was not able to correct it, she will need to have another procedure done at about one years old. This procedure will be more invasive and she will need to stay in the hospital for a couple of days.

I was able to see her in the recovery room at about 10:15. They wanted to take the breathing tube out and give her a little bit of time to wake up before I was able to see her. She looked exhausted. She had an IV, EKG leads on and blood pressure cuff. She also had a plastered bow on each leg! And, a baby blanket made by some volunteers. The nurse let me hold her while she was trying to wake up and she was so much heavier than when she went into surgery. I'm not sure if it was the casts or if it was her being so exhausted and not able to have any muscle control, but she felt like she weighed 20 lbs - maybe a combination of both. Once she was awake, we went to her post-op room. Aunt Staci and Nana were able to come in and see her too. Audrey took about 1 1/2 oz of pedialyte there, they gave her some tylenol for the pain in the hour that we stayed in there before being discharged.


We walked to the car. She wasn't too happy about going into her carseat, her legs were really bothering her and I don't think the tylenol had kicked in yet. We got home at about 12:30. She's been sleeping off and on, but mostly on. I've made her a nice, comfy bed on the couch. She's been eating pretty well, I started giving her formula at about 5 this evening and since we've been home she's had about 4 oz of formula and 9 oz. of pedialyte. She does sound a little congested, her nose is runny and she coughed up a lot of mucous earlier. I'll have to keep my eye on her tonight and let the nurses know when they call me tomorrow to check up on her.

We go back to see Dr. Sackett in two weeks to remove the casts(!!!) and fit her for her braces. If they have the braces in stock (fingers crossed that they do!) then she will wear them home. If not, they will order the braces and she will need to go into short casts (up to her knees) while we wait.

Hopefully, if she's feeling back to normal she'll be back to daycare on Monday! We're taking one victory at a time and we still have a lot of hurdles to jump but I'm so proud of her. She is one tough little angel and she keeps getting stronger and stronger every day! I have to reward her the best way I know how, so, she has gotten at least a million kisses on her cheek today.