Post-Surgery

Madeline is a trooper.  She is an unbelievably strong, courageous little girl. This morning she had her surgical procedure done and yes, it was much, much harder on me than it ever was on her.  We all 4 went together -- well, all 5 actually (we even had Bailey in the car waiting in his cozy little bed --we had no choice).  It started off on a high  note with a fantastic children's area in the waiting room that the girls quickly destroyed.

Then, it was time to prepare.  My tough little Madeline was just such a trooper.  She snuggled with me, took her medicine, and was sent into a "happy world!'' that cracked Chris and I up as she willingly went with the nurse and was escorted by the team of nurses to the OR, waving bye bye to us the whole way.  It was really pretty funny!

She was so mad I was taking her picture (discretely with my phone by the way)...ha!

Savannah kept wondering where sissy went, so we kept her occupied with graham crackers from the break room and I kept myself occupied with hot chocolate.  

Savannah running around the room, acting silly and chomping down on her graham cracker with one in the other hand for "sissy" when she came back to us.

The emotions you feel when watching your little girl get whisked off to be put to sleep is something you really can't prepare yourself for, but thankfully, my other strong, courageous little girl was right there with me to keep me preoccupied during the procedure.  Only mere moments later, the doctor was coming to tell us everything went great, no IV was needed, and she would be waking up in recovery very soon.  

As I headed to the recovery room, I was prepared for the worst. They had warned me much earlier that she would be fussy...they had warned me that she would only want to drink out of "her" cup (so I brought one with me), they had warned me that she would want to nap and that I should let her, they had also warned us that it may be an hour before we left the recovery room.

But what awaited me in the recovery room was a little girl, fidgeting and turning one way and the other.  A little girl that had pulled off every one of her wires, but not angry about it.  A little girl that was drinking all of her juice out of the sippy cup they had given her.  A very groggy little girl who mumbled "night night" as I walked up to the bed, looked up at me, and said "Sissy.....sissy......sissy?" through her groggy voice.  She wanted sissy.

In the meantime, Chris was out in the waiting room with Savannah who kept asking through a worried tone "sissy?  sissy?"  The nurses in both rooms were in awe at the bond they could clearly see between the two girls.  They did not want to be separated.  They needed each other. 

Anesthesia stopped by recovery and said there was clearly no reason to keep her there, so he signed the papers and let me take her away.  She was so happy...so tired, but so happy!  When we found Savannah, a kind nurse brought Savannah 2 cups of apple juice.  Savannah came running up to Madeline, reached up to my arms where I was holding her and handed her the other cup of juice "sissy!  sissy!" and that was that.  The two were reunited, Madeline was doing great, and we headed out the door and home.  

All of this took just under 2 hours.  Praise the Lord!  I am so thankful to Him for keeping my baby girl safe while she was asleep, and keeping the four of us together during the entire procedure so that we could only learn more to lean on each other, and on Him to get us through anything...even the "small" stuff.

Thank you for the sweet prayers out there for her behalf - and for ours.  God is good!

Fear

Fear strikes.  It's not supposed to, but it does.  The call just came in giving me the info I need to get my daughter to surgery tomorrow.  It's a simple procedure - the doctor (who I happened to go to high school with - isn't that supposed to help?) said he could even do the procedure in-office, but it would be painful and the chances of Madeline wanting to ever step foot in another doctor's office would be slim to none.  So, as he explained it to me last week, he would just put a little oxygen mask on her face, wait until she's out, and then do the procedure.  No biggie.  

But, it will be done in the T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital where my babies spent 7 days in that scary yet comforting NICU.  So the comforting part of that is this is the same hospital that saved my other baby girl's life upon birth when she came out not breathing.  Thank God for that hospital of amazing medical professionals.  No food after midnight.  No drink after 7 AM.  She can bring her bunny with her to surgery for comfort.  She can have a paci, if she takes one.  She's a thumb sucker, but lately, just holding on to a paci like her sissy's brings her comfort while she sucks her thumb.  She will be asleep, in a surgical room, without me.  Ok, panic begins sinking in.  I grew up in hospitals.  My dad would take me to the surgery floor and I would see all the ladies, men, nurses and doctors with their masks on and hats on and love every second.  It was the norm for me.  My girls have been taken to the surgery floor at their Papaw's hospitals and at their Aunt Robin's hospital many times.  They've seen it.  Hopefully Madeline will remember that and be comforted by that.  I wish I had taken her more.  I wish I had taken ME more....because I'm scared, and I shouldn't be.  It's just a simple procedure that could be done in the office but would be too painful without some anesthesia so this is the easiest most comfortable way for my sweet baby girl.  But wowsers, the lump in my throat and the pain in my heart is nothing short of just me being a momma taking her little girl to surgery in the morning.  

Prayers would sure help right now.  More for me to mask my invalid fear so she won't sense that I'm scared, then for the procedure because it's just a simple procedure.  No biggie.  Keep telling yourself that, momma.  Keep telling yourself that.

Mr. Sun

Today we enjoyed a little bit of the sunshine that God planted on our doorstep!  I was beginning to feel like we were back in Michigan - forget the major snow we got, but add the constant overcast days and depression was sinking in BIG TIME.  I am not one for overcast days.  When the sunshine disappears, seasonal depression becomes my middle name.  But today we woke up to the sunshine beaming in through every window in our house - the girls were dodging the bright light during breakfast and during "Barney" time (another cause for depression. ha!)  After breakfast, the girls literally ran around this house - just having the best time!  I laughed hysterically at them and found myself out of breath keeping up with them.  After their nap during which I knocked out a huge project for work that had been weighing heavily on my shoulders for literally months, the girls had lunch and then played for a bit, and THEN it was time. I looked at the girls and said "do you want to go outside?" and the sweetest little eyes looked up at me and said "Yeah!" So, we ventured outside.

Now, taking them outside is no longer me chasing two little girls in two different directions, screaming "NO! Get away from the road!!" while I barrel down the driveway with one child sandwiched sideways to my hip only to grab the other with my other free hand and smash her sideways against the other hip, looking like two turbo jets on either side of me.  No, now they calmly pick their toys, walk outside, explore, laugh, talk to each other, and all is good in the world.  Life with two year old toddlers is definitely not as chaotic as I thought it would be! (Did I just say that?)

For Christmas, Chris and I got the girls their very own Jeep to use to explore the great outdoors.  Today was the day to try to get Savannah to venture into the passenger - or driver's - seat with her sis.  Madeline has taken to the Jeep from the very first day we got it.  Savannah has been peculiarly hesitant.  Not today!! Here's how our fun in Mr. Sun went:

  Madeline, the Lone Ranger

 Savannah chases her around, just laughing! But not interested in riding with her...why?

Oh, I don't know...maybe for things like bumping into trees?  Don't worry, no trees were harmed in this episode.

"Are you serious Mom?  You want me to ride with her?" Savannah

And finally Savannah threw caution to the wind and not only went for a ride, but eventually took the driver's seat!

 "I'll show you how, sis!" - Madeline

And just like that, a new BFF moment was made.

Double the Love

So tonight Savannah got put in time out for misbehaving, while Madeline got a sticker for being such a good girl.  As soon as the timer rang that it was time to get Savannah, Madeline took off.  She went running straight into their room with her little hand outstretched, showing Savannah she got a "icker!"  This of course set Savannah into a tirade, screaming and holding out that little hand with her wrist bent down saying "icker! icker!"  Sissy got one! She should get one too!!

We get to the living room and I turn around just long (or short) enough to turn back around to see Madeline kindly taking her sticker off with the biggest smile on her face, and hand it to Savannah, putting it on the back of her little hand.  My heart melted into a million pieces.  Can there possibly be anymore love by these two??

Happy New Year!

Let's be serious now. It is NOT 2011!!  My girls were born in 2008....so what happened to 2009 and 2010?  I am serious about this.  What in the world?!

I guess that's besides the point.

Happy New Year!  May 2011 bring more joy, happiness, and blessings than the year before (that is apparently a blur...but that's besides the point).  For me personally, I have no doubts that 2011 will be a glorious year as I have two little girls that are now 2 and are becoming more and more vocal, animated, personable, loving, sweet and hilarious with each passing day!  What a joy to have this interaction with them, this budding relationship with them as we become closer as mother and daughters and as a family together. 

My sincerest prayer is that God blesses the lives of our two daughters as we step into a new year sure to be filled with joy and many, many memories to be made.  May He guide my and Chris' footsteps as I continue to feel my way through this whole parenting thing and lead us down the path of raising two little girls with a continually constant, solid godly focus on Him as the center of their precious lives.  

Big orders for a new year....but that is my desire for this year.

Happy New Year, my sweet angel girls.  Your momma loves you more than you will ever, ever know. 

Pics to follow!