Parents on Purpose: Just Ava and Me

Saturday, for the first time ever, we split the girls up. Ava went with me to run some errands and Mia stayed at home to play with her daddy. It's not like we don't want them apart, we've just never really had any reason to separate them. Ava woke up from her nap first, so it was easy for the two of us to sneak out. I wondered what she would think about sitting in the backseat all by herself. She didn't mind. In fact, I think she enjoyed having my undivided attention. Her babbling was a bit more enthusiastic than usual. I felt like she was in a rush to say a million things before our alone time was over.

I let her pick out a new toy. Nothing like 80% of Valentines' Day toys.

I think she loves it!!!

So, you may be wondering why Ava got to come with me and Mia stayed home. There is a very good reason we made this choice. This morning, bright and early, we headed back to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital where Ava was scheduled to have her infantile hemangioma removed. I'm sure you've all noticed the rather large thumb she's been sporting for the last year. It started to appear about a month after she was born and continued to grow until she was around six months old. Our pediatric dermatologist told us they are most common in premature, twin girls (Ava fits that description perfectly). They usually go away by a child's 2nd birthday, but hers is in a tricky spot. We were told early on she'd need to see a pediatric plastic surgeon. The doctors we've been seeing were ready to operate in October, but we wanted to wait until Ava was closer to what should have been her 1st birthday. Deciding to put your child to sleep for a surgical procedure isn't exactly fun and we just weren't ready in the fall. We could have waited even longer, but think it would be best to have this whole experience behind us before she knows what is going on (thank you to John Reichert for helping me feel confident about our decision). We have complete trust and faith in the team at Rainbows, but were anxious, nonetheless. It is times like these I am very thankful for a husband with medical knowledge. I know he understands everything that is going on and can make educated decisions for our family. I'm not one to give up control easily, but love that I can rely completely on him in these types of situations.

Leading us into the hospital bright and early

Checking the charts

Originally, we wanted to be alone at the hospital. I don't like small talk in nerve-wracking situations or people feeling like they need to tell us everything will be okay. While we were in the NICU, that became a huge pet peeve of ours. Anyway, we were confident we could do this on our own. . . Mate was going to stay with Ava before the surgery and I would be there when she woke up. Plans changed when we got the paperwork in the mail and reality hit. I had a feeling taking care of Mia, while worrying about Ava could be stressful, so my mom became the lucky family member we made get up with us at 5:00 a.m. Despite popular belief, I know when to put my need to be independent aside and let someone help. I am happy to report that was a good decision.

Mia was a great sport about the early morning

We couldn't be more proud of how well Ava handled herself today. She was happy all morning and didn't even cry when we handed her off to the Nurse Anesthetist. Watching other parents tear up as they separated from their children was actually more difficult than anything else. Thankfully, we held it together the whole morning. The procedure took about two hours from start to finish. We can't see her thumb at all, but were told they removed most of the hemangioma and reconstructed a nerve. If we're lucky, there aren't any more surgeries in our future. I'm looking forward to her healing quickly and putting all this behind us!