We headed to the hospital yesterday morning. Ruthie of course charmed everyone and was super patient before surgery. She had to get a finger stick and did awesome...she didn't even flinch! Child life came in and played with her while she was getting the finger stick and that definitely helped. Then she had to drink some medicine and she took it like a champ. They loaded her up with prizes for her fabulousness. Then she got to pick out her hat to wear during surgery. She picked a princess hat of course.
The nurses in preop were wonderful. I was really happy because Ruthie's nurse anesthetist came in and it was one of my sorority sisters. Lauren was a year or two behind me in school and I was so happy that she was going to be taking care of Ruthie! Ruthie happily headed back to the OR with Lauren and the doctor and Paul and I headed to the waiting room.
Ruthie's surgery was just over 30 minutes and I was able to go back to the recovery minutes within a few minutes of getting the call that the surgery was over. I walked into the recovery room to a VERY angry little girl. She was hurting and mad, mad, mad!
We finally got her calmed down and settled in my lap. Paul headed to work once I texted him that Ruthie was ok. We were being admitted overnight and of course the Children's Hospital was full that day so we were in the recovery room for about 4 hours waiting for a bed.
We had a really nice nurse in recovery and I was very thankful that she asked me if I wanted something to eat after we had been in there awhile. I had eaten a small breakfast at 8 and so by 2pm I was pretty hungry! The goldfish she brought me were pretty great! Ruthie was pretty angry and fussy the whole time we were in recovery. She did eat a popsicle and drink some juice.
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| Getting a little snooze in recovery. |
After we had been there for a few hours her doctor came back through and Ruthie started crying and glaring at him when he came by. As soon as he walked back around the corner she instantly stopped crying. The nurse and I were pretty amused!
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| A little bit happier after her nap. |
We finally made it up to our room around 3:30. We were on my floor and so of course we were very well taken care of! Ruthie was very glad to get into her bed and be somewhere quieter. She just laid around in bed all afternoon and watched TV. She was pretty glazed over. My friend Meredith was our nurse and she took excellent care of us, as did all of my coworkers who dropped in to see us. Ruthie ate a another popsicle after we got to her room. I had brought her favorite lime popsicles and put them in the freezer on the floor a few days before and she was thrilled to have them. Our child life specialist, Kendall, came by and brought Ruthie some movies to watch and a teddy bear and coloring sheets to take home. Paul came by at dinnertime and brought me Groucho's...yumm. That was the first real food I'd had all day and it was sooo good.
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| She was so glad to get to her bed! |
Once Lauren, our night nurse, came in and did her assessment I settled Ruthie down to go to sleep. Ruthie had a REALLY rough night until about 3am. She was waking up crying and holding her throat about every 15minutes. Sometimes she would settle back down with just a little pat and sometimes she could cry and scream and kick and just be really mad. She was fussing enough during those episodes that a few times Lauren came in to check on her. Poor Lauren had the fun job of bringing Ruthie her pain medicine 3 times. Ruthie was not amused. After her dose of pain medicine around 3am we got her settled back down and she actually slept until about 6:30. By then I was sooo ready for some good sleep!
This morning my coworker Cari brought me Chick-fil-a. I was sooo happy to see that CFA chicken biscuit! I had been trying to get Ruthie interested in some food like applesauce or a muffin but she was not interested at all. Well that CFA came in and her eyes lit up. She ate a couple bites of the biscuit part which made me quite happy. then she decided that she might like some chocolate ice cream for breakfast. I was happy to oblige. She scarfed down her ice cream and was pretty excited to have such a special breakfast!
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| Ice cream for breakfast earned a half smile. |
Ruthie's doctor came in to see her and that little flirt, who hadn't cracked a smile or talked to anyone who wasn't family since surgery, popped up in bed with a big grin on her face and held out her arms for a hug. I guess she felt she had to make up for crying when she saw him in recovery. After the doctor left Meredith came and took out her IV and discharged us and we headed home! I was sooo glad to get out of their quickly and get Ruthie home to her own bed! She was definitely pretty blah feeling when we got home (by way of a quick stop at chick fil a to get her a plain biscuit). She laid around and watched TV for a bit. Then she started perking up. By lunch time she was much more willing to eat and had a few bites of fruit, biscuit, and cheese and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. She also had a popsicle before lunch. We played a game with Gran and then Ruthie and I laid down to take a nap. It was such a good nap. We were both worn out and then it started raining. Perfect nap weather. My mom went and got the big girls from school and Ruthie slept until after they got home. The big girls were so glad to see Ruthie and Emmie was excited to give Ruthie the book and card that Emmie's teacher had sent for Ruthie. Ruthie felt so special. Within an hour or so of the big girls being home Ruthie had perked up enough to go play in the puddles outside with them. She asked for noodles and cheese for dinner and ate two servings and was going strong tonight long after her sisters went to sleep! I am so happy that my little curly headed baby was back this afternoon. I know there will be some rough days ahead but it was nice to have a good day early on!
My mom came and helped out while we were at the hospital and she's staying until tomorrow and then Paul's parents are coming to help out tomorrow and Friday. I am so thankful to have grandparents that are so willing to come help and that live close enough to come help!
We had such good care the whole time we were at the hospital. It is definitely different being on the "other side" and you have a whole different perspective. I couldn't have asked or a better experience! Everyone was so friendly and helpful and so sweet to Ruthie. I have always been proud of our Children's Hospital because I work there and I think we do a pretty fabulous job but experiencing it as a parent makes me even prouder of my hospital and my coworkers! (On a side note as relates to having a different perspective: We had talked to Ruthie beforehand and told her that she would be spending the night at the hospital and I would stay with her. We got all settled in our room and everyone left and she looked at me with big, tear-filled eyes and said "I thought you were spending the night?" I reassured her that I was. She then said "but where are you going to sleep!?!" as a big tear rolled down her cheek. Poor baby. She didn't see another bed and thought she was being abandoned! I assured her that I would be sleeping on the couch in the room and she immediately calmed down. Poor baby! It has never occurred to me that a small child might not realize their parent can sleep on the couch!)
