Our Hero!

Audrey Sue's surgery was a success! The shunt is working properly, an hour after surgery her fontanel was low and soft - where it should be! She came home yesterday at 1pm. Right before we were discharged Audrey got a little suppository to help assist some flow in that region... on the way home it kicked in. Yowzer!!! We couldn't roll the windows down because it's like 40 degrees so we were forced to endure the dutch oven game she was playing with us. And, then when we got home, we had the surprise of a lifetime - an explosion in her pants. It was terrifying.
So, now that we're home, she's eating like a champ; 6 ounces every 3 hours. She's taken only 3 doses of Tylenol. She's sleeping beautifully. Last night she went to bed at 9:30, woke up for her morning bottle and dose of Keppra at 6:30, fell back to sleep and then woke up sometime an hour later. I heard her talking to her mobile so I decided to join in on the fun. She had her 1st breathing treatment, and then it was out to the living room to enjoy some time under her play gym.
Now, onto the technicalities of the surgery. At 7:30, they took her back. We got to carry her down to the "double doors" and then we layed her in the bed so they could wheel her off. We gave her big kisses and said our "see ya laters" (not goodbyes) and then watched the nurses take her away. That was definitely the most emotional part for us because as much faith as we had in God and the doctors to take care of her, the fear of that being the last time we'd see her was horrible. It took them about an hour to get her all ready for surgery once she was in the operating room, they put her under general anesthesia and hooked her up to all the monitors. Once she was ready, they called Dr. Price in to do her magic and it only took an hour to perform the surgery. The incision on her head is u shaped and about 2 inches long. The incision on her belly is one inch long and straight. Dr. Price came out to the waiting room at 9:30 to let us know she was done and they were trying to wake Audrey up. Once she was in the recovery room and awake, we were able to see her around 10ish. Only one parent at a time, so I went in first and when I bent down to her she was wide awake trying to figure out what was going on. I fed her a little glucose water and she threw a little bit of it up. She was doing great, they gave her some pain medication. She seemed like she was breathing a lot better than her first surgery on her heels and she wasn't horse or anything when she coughed or cried like she was after her heel surgery. Daddy saw her next, then Nana saw her and then Mommy saw her again and then Aunt Staci saw her. After all of those visits, Nanny stopped by just in time for us to wheel her up to her room. We all followed and tried to get Audrey as comfortable as possible in her new bed.


For the first several hours, she slept and took some pedialyte and formula. Around 3 or 4 pm we got this:
... It was amazing!!
She has dissolvable sutures on her head and glue sutures on her belly. She doesn't seem to be feeling much or any pain from the actual incisions. They "tunneled" the catheter leading from the shunt to her belly - I'm not exactly sure how they do it, and frankly I don't think I need to know... we'll just say they wave a wand over her abdomen and tada it's there... She has about 5 feet of catheter in her belly so that it will be available as she grows and if the shunt never malfunctions or if she doesn't get an infection, she will never need a revision to lengthen the catheter. And, they didn't shave much hair for the incision, so she doesn't have this huge bald spot!!
Her incisions look great. Her top incision is still a little swollen and a light pink but it's looking great. She will get a good shampoo tonight. Her belly incision is to remain dry and the glue will flake off over the next 2 weeks. We just need to keep an eye out for both and make sure she doesn't get an infection. I've said it before and I'll say it again... I'm going to be a neurotic mess for the next 3-6 months.
Her head circumference is still 47 1/2cm and 2 weeks before her surgery, I noticed her sutures were starting to open a little (from ear to ear) and they are still open. Hopefully, they will close shortly and her head will stay the same.
Below is a photo of her incision... Sorry if it's too gruesome.
Okay so I'm an emotional eater but I seemed to have lost weight over the last 2 weeks... I'm sure that weight is hiding in there or something. Those Funyuns will attack my hips in the next day or so...

We have some other photos of her from the week before her surgery. I will have to post those at a later date. Right now, Audrey's napping and Shawn's watching Cowboys... it may be a good idea for me to go nap too!

Shawn and I want to thank all of you for your prayers, for recruiting people to pray for our Audrey, and for all the love you give us each and every day. We can't even begin to tell you how much easier it has been with all of you on our side supporting us! We love you and thank God daily for all the wonderful people He has brought into Audrey's life.