Surgery...SUCCESS!!!

Yes, I know, I have been super slow in posting an update on Kylie's surgery.  As you can imagine, it's been crazy since finally getting home.

So, let me back up just a bit.  We got home a little before noon Sunday a week ago.  At first, she was a little hesitant to move around, but quite quickly, you could tell she was glad to be home.  It was interesting because she wouldn't smile too much as she would hold saliva in her mouth.  Sometimes she'd drool it out and sometimes she would swallow all of a sudden.  I think that would be pretty common with cleft surgeries.

She very quickly got tired of chocolate pudding which was her food of choice to begin with.  We were just thrilled she was eating, so we'd give her whatever we could.  The first few nights home weren't TOO bad, but they weren't great either.  We ended up kicking Jenna out of her bed (her room is right next to Kylie's) and Steve would sleep in there and when Kylie would wake in the night, he'd give her pain medicine and antibiotics and then put her in bed with him.  We did go ahead and start putting her right back into her crib at home for continuity's sake.

Friday night, I was "on" in Jenna's room and she ended up sleeping the night through until about 6:30am and then slept with me until about 7:15 in Jenna's bed.  Saturday night wasn't as good...she was up at 2:30 and then slept until getting up time on Sunday in the bed with me.  Since we aren't sure if it was still pain or hospital stay related, we are accommodating her.  That will end soon though.  Yesterday she went to the nursery at church and was pretty angry when I dropped her off, but she made it the entire time, thanks to her favorite teacher Ms. Darlene!  Another step in the right direction.

By the time the weekend got here, she was her normal giggly self.  We had determined her very cranky, inconsolable moods came when she was hungry.  So we milked down some instant mashed potatoes and fed those to her and the girl went THROUGH some potatoes lemme tell ya!  I think that's probably when we saw the sleep get better too.  She's been in a fairly good mood since then.

Today was her 2 week post-op visit and we were in and out in 15 minutes.  The doctor said her palate looked great and we could move on to soft foods!  Soft foods would be macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, probably some well done green beans etc.  We are very excited and hope this fills her tummy even more.  We are on this diet for another 10 days and then it's back to normal with everything else.

We go back in 14 weeks just for a quick check up.  Then, barring any unforeseen surprises or setbacks, we are done with surgeries until she's about 4 or 5 years old.  By then, she'll need a nose revision (and possibly a lip revision too) since the cartilage in her nose now is just not strong enough to hold her nose up as she grows.  They'll take some cartilage from elsewhere on her body and build her nose back up.  Then, she'll need a bone graft into her jaw somewhere between the ages of 8 and 13, but we aren't worried about any of that.  We are just thrilled that until she gets ready to start school, we should be done! 

Tennessee Early Intervention started back today and she's doing so well with that.  I'm fairly certain she's blown all our goals out of the water already and we aren't yet close to the 6 month eval.  She was already doing speech therapy twice a week but we took a break for two weeks during her surgery and recovery period.  She'll go back to see Ms. Joy tomorrow and we can already tell her speech is improving.  The doctor today said to expect and "explosion".  Her favorite word right now (and incidentally the most clear)?? 
"AMEN!"  Makes me laugh.  Every night we go to bed, we turn on the ipod music, brush her teeth (prior to surgery with no toothpaste), then read two books, then say our prayers, take a couple sips of water, turn off the side lamp, turn on the music and lights bug and then get in the bed and tell all her "babies" night night.  Now during prayer, she'll fold her hands and at the end say "Amen!"  The day before her surgery, our church had it's annual picnic and lake baptisms and after each person was baptized, everyone would clap and Kylie would say "AMEN"!  Bless!!

So I guess that's it.  She's doing exceptionally well except for a few sleeping and riding issues.  I think the problem in the car is that we always had a snack cup full of cookies or goldfish and a drink and since she's restricted from crunchy stuff, there's not much left she can have and boy does she get cranky sometimes!  Otherwise, I'm pleased to report, my girl is back!

One last thing...I had been told that we might experience a solidifying of sorts in the area of bonding during the surgery and recovery period.  I think the thought is she will have us there, she will be forced to depend on us for care and she will see that we DO care for her needs.  And in doing so, she will really bond to us much more during that period than prior to.  I was skeptical of this theory because I really thought she had bonded to us quite well already.  And then while I was holding her down for the 10 shots in the hospital, I thought she might actually go the other direction!  Well, of course, she was super snugly and loving all while we were in the hospital, but still kinda cranky most of the time.  Now, I find her absolutely snuggling up to us, patting our backs when we hold her (totally melts my heart) and just coming over to hug on us spontaneously.  It's been wonderful to see!  I know my surgeon was ultra conservative keeping us in the hospital as long as he did, but I think there were way more benefits than downsides.

That's it.  I have a few other interesting topics that I'd like to share with you.  I promise to blog again soon.  I know it's not like me to be without words.  :)  Keep visiting...I hope to have something up soon!