We've Survived Surgery!

Wow, what a night. Talia's surgery began at 2 pm and ended just before 5 pm. I was finally able to go in to Recovery at almost 5:30; it was supposed to be for 15 to 30 minutes, before transfer to a short-term stay unit. Well, it was almost 7:30 before we were out of Recovery, as the staff was having a hard time managing Talia's pain. She had codeine, tylenol, fentanyl, morphine, and finally oxycodone, seemingly without relief. They then decided that she had enough pain coverage, but was agitated over all the tubes--IV line, chest monitors, oxygen monitor on her toe, the many strangers and medical personnel fussing over her and the no-no restraints, and gave her clonidine, an anti-anxiety medication to calm her. I announced that either she was getting the clonidine or I was, but someone needed it. The nursing staff was excellent--we had one-on-one nursing in Recovery and one-on-one nursing in the short-stay unit. We were very lucky that there were only 3 patients in short-stay, a unit divided by curtains. Our nurse, Julie, was so good to Tao and us--she got Art and I each a chair that opened flat to a bed and pointed us to a stacked pantry and fridge for whatever we wanted. Talia ended up never sleeping in her crib at all. We were unable to put her in the crib even in Recovery, and she had to be transported in a wheelchair in mama's lap to short-term care. She spent the night alternately on my chest or Art's chest as we cat-napped in the chair beds. She was able to sleep for up to 4 hours at a time, then vitals were checked and she was given more pain meds. I was amazed that even in the Recovery Room she wanted her Nuby sippy cup in her mouth--maybe so no one could do anythng else in there. We asked her in Chinese at 4am if she wanted to eat, and we got a laugh from her. Poor baby hasn't had solid food since Monday night. She had 1/2 a carton of applesauce at 4am, and ate a healthy portion of steamed egg and had milk in her bottle around 7am. It's just after 8am now and we're waiting to check out of here. She seemed especially happy when most of the tubes and wires were taken off her body. Then she was able to wriggle out of the no-nos, which was really exciting to her. She seems like her "old" self, our happy, wonderful little girl. She's playing with a musical toy right now. With the exception of the initial delay for surgery--no one's fault, the surgery before us just ran long, it's been as good an experience as it could be for our baby's surgery. We can't wait to be home, take showers, and get maybe a real nap in. We'll try to post later.