Our Hospital Stay

By now, most of you know Eliana's surgery went well and we're happily settled back in at home. Needless to say it was quite an experience:

Waiting to be called back to pre-op

To our surprise, we were able to stay with Eliana until just after she was put to sleep. As we entered the operating room, we were introduced to a nurse who needed no introduction. Jesse saved Ava’s life when she stopped breathing during our NICU stay.  I reacted a bit like a teenage girl seeing a celebrity, but to know Eliana would be in his care, took so many of my worries away.  After a bit of catching up, the anesthesiologist was ready and we watched as our baby girl was put to sleep. It isn’t an experience I’d recommend, but I kept my composure. 

Getting checked out before the procedure

My mom met us in the cafeteria for breakfast and stayed to keep me company while Mate got to work answering emails.  Thankfully, time passed quickly and each hour we got an update on Eliana’s progress.  By 10:30, we were reunited with our baby girl.  Little did we know, getting through the surgery was the easy part.  She was visibly uncomfortable after the procedure and less than thrilled with her restrained legs.  For six hours we did everything we could to keep her flat on her back and at least somewhat happy.  In addition to that struggle, she had trouble keeping any of the liquids we were giving her down and I was thrown-up on more than a handful of times.  I finally figured out that bending over and laying my head next to hers was the ticket to getting her to relax and fall asleep.

Headed up to her room.  She was pretty miserable and refused to lay flat.

It would have been a lot easier to just crawl in the crib with her

Once she was able to move around, a new problem presented itself. Keeping her hooked up to the monitors was not an easy task.  She tugged at all the wires and set alarms off like crazy for the remainder of our stay.  As bedtime neared, we were hopeful she’d be exhausted from the day’s events and sleeping would come easily.  Unfortunately, I was awake for most of the night caring for her.  Each time I got her back to sleep, a nurse would come in to check her vitals or administer another dose of antibiotics.  I think I got about 6 hours of sleep in 48 hours, but that’s a small price to pay for a healthy baby. 

Just after having her legs freed

Can't slow her down

Playtime with Daddy

By morning, we were anxious to go home and a final echocardiogram was all that was standing in our way.  The results showed a small leak still remains, but those usually disappear on their own.   We’ll follow up every few months just to make sure.  We are so thankful that this experience is behind us and grateful for the littlest love in our life.

Ready to bust out of the hospital