First off you may notice that you are no longer just baby girl, but we have decided that you are an Emma. I hope you like it, because if not it will be too late. So much has happened this past month and I have not been good about keeping track of all of it. At this very moment you are sitting in the hospital with your mom, but that is a story for a later time. I will just say for now, that you and mom and healthy and your not gonna be born for some time still. Let me go back to the day of surgery and tell you about your first experience in Colorado.
2/27/14
Your mom went into surgery this morning. Last night we were nervous as could be, but when we woke up this morning we were calm and at peace. We knew that everything was going to be alright. When we got to the hospital they had to do a ton of preliminary stuff. One of the things they did was an ultrasound to make sure they knew where they would make the incision on the uterus. When they first hooked up the ultrasound we were amazed that you had wiggled your way around to a head down position. Crazy enough you had moved into such a position that was actually perfect for the procedure. The doctor commented that it was a great spot, but unlikely that you would stay there for the surgery. You must be stubborn like your dad, because you stayed just like that until the surgery and it helped the doctors out tremendously.
I was able to sit with your mom while they started her epidural and got all of the preliminary medications dished out. After that she was off to surgery. Having to let you and your mom roll away was extremely hard. My whole life was in the hands of those doctors.
I was able to sit with your mom while they started her epidural and got all of the preliminary medications dished out. After that she was off to surgery. Having to let you and your mom roll away was extremely hard. My whole life was in the hands of those doctors.
The whole surgery took about 3 hours. The nurse Tiffany came in every so often to give me updates. The surgery consisted of making an incision from hip to hip on your mom. They also cut her abdominal fascia to loosen things up. Then they tilted out Mom's uterus and made an incision on the fundus, which is at the top. They use a special knife, stapler and contraption so that the incisions are bloodless and the amniotic fluid doesn't leak out. The whole myelomeningocele repair on you only took 20 minutes! These doctors are incredible. They said they were able to use your own skin to seal the legion so it should leave a smaller scar. I hope the girl in you can appreciate that. They were able to give us a few pictures of your legion and the suture. The rest of the time was just stitching things back up and waking up Mom. Dr. Crombleholme was the head neurosurgeon in charge and Dr. Handler was the pediatric neurosurgeon that worked magic on your back. We found out later that Dr. Berrent was the doctor in charge of holding your butt so that you wouldn't float away during the procedure. These are the best doctors I have ever worked with, and as I continue you will hopefully see how much they cared about you and your mom.
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| Open Myelomeningocele legion |
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| After Repair |
After the surgery Mom was given an epidural drip and placed on a magnesium drip. Let me tell you about magnesium. It was spawned in the darkest deepest pit of Mordor...not its not that bad, but it makes you feel like you've been hit by a train. Your mom was so brave and did so well. When they called me back to see her in the recovery room the first thing out of her lips was, "Is Emma okay?". As soon as I told her you were great she had a huge smile across her face. She didn't care about the pain or herself one bit. She was only worried about her little girl. You have superwoman for a mom.
It was a long night of nurses coming in and out. They were constantly checking on your and changing the IV drip. Mom was exhausted but couldn't get much sleep, but we made it through surgery and we were happy about that.
2/28/14
Another day of magnesium for Mom. It is nasty stuff. She is a little more coherent today, but still very out of it. She was able to sleep most of the day luckily. One of the specialists, Dr. Galan was so sweet this morning. Apparently he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep. He was worried about us and wanted to make sure we were doing ok. He called the nurses desk and asked them to check on us and see how we were doing. He also came into the hospital later that day to check on us. That is a great doctor right there.
We got to see an ultrasound of you today and you look great! your legion was sutured up nicely and your mom looks great too. No complications thus far. We are just waiting for them to take Mom off magnesium. We are so happy that everything is going good so far. There are so many complications that can come from this surgery, but we are so blessed.
Unfortunately I have to end this post, because I am still trying to get caught up in school, but I want you to know what a miracle you are and how many people have fallen in love with you. Even these doctors and nurses at Colorado just love you to death. Please stay put in your mom for just a little bit longer. I love you Emma.
Dad
