Low points of the whole ordeal--
*they couldn't get an IV in any of her tiny veins, so after an hour of trying (she was already under anesthesia for this), they ended up putting an IV in through her femoral artery in her groin. This is really unusual, as was commented by every single nurse, tech, resident, intern, attending, and med student who came to see her.
*the constant beeping of all of the machines made it really hard for her (and for me) to get any quality rest. I asked the nurse what the point was in having the alarms sound in the patient's room, when they also sound at the nurses station and there was not one single time the alarm went off while a nurse was actually already in the room with us. She said she didn't know. . .maybe it was so that we'd constantly call the nurses station and ask them to silence the alarm. Wow, at least she was honest.
*the span of time from about 3pm until we were out of the hospital at around 7pm. By this point, Marley's anesthesia and morphine had worn off and she just thought for sure she was ready to go full tilt. We were stuck in the room, still attached to the monitors for most of that time span, so it was pretty rough. Tested my patience for sure.
High points of the ordeal---
*hearing Marley call out "Mama" and knowing that she was talking to me. She will repeat 'mama' at home, but she doesn't really call for me. When she would wake up from a mini nap to have her vitals checked, she would call "Mama" in the saddest voice and immediately look around until she saw me. It was heartwarming, to say the least.
*Marley can make kissing sounds now! She couldn't do it before because she couldn't get good suction inside of her mouth. She was drinking water from a cup at the hospital and surprised us both by making a loud 'smooching' sound. It was so cute.
Several times I would notice this strange look on the doctors'/nurses'/students' faces when they came in and introduced themselves for the first time. Most of the time, it would happen when I was sitting in the (most painfully butt-numbing) chair holding Marley. I kept thinking that either they were surprised to see the stitch that was put through Marley's tongue and taped to her cheek, or maybe it was because they kept catching me nodding off in the chair. I finally realized that it must not have said on her chart "Chinese girl, Caucasian mom." They were probably also surprised to be seeing a child her age who was just finally having he palate repaired.
We are happy to be home, and eager to get her totally recovered. She is eating pretty well, mostly soft stuff like steamed eggs, yogurt, applesauce, broth and soup. She thinks she should be allowed to eat pretzels and crackers and whatever else she wants, which has brought out some of her naughty 'tude, but we're dealing with it. She goes to see the surgeon in 2-3 weeks for a follow-up and then she should be good to go. I thought of her birthmother a lot the past few days. I'm sure that Marley's cleft palate and the difficulties her mother faced trying to feed her as an infant, and knowing she could not afford surgery to repair her palate, were primary reasons for her being abandoned. I wish I could tell her birth mother that she's all patched up now and being taken care of.
We owe a huge "Thanks" to Grammy (my mom) for coming down and staying all week to help out. She entertained the boys, helped get them to and from school, kept the house cleaned up, and treated us to a yummy meal last night for dinner. We miss her already and want to know when she's going to move closer.
Here are a few pics from the hospital:
Getting ready for surgery . . .
The day after surgery. She was really into the hospital phone. . .
1 comment:
What a relief...so glad to hear all went well...and that Marley called out for her mama when she was needy =0)
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