Post-Op

My plan was to be showered and dressed by 5:30am Friday, then load the car and get it warmed up so it'd be toasty warm for sleepy Eddie. He usually wakes up around 7:30am. So I figured that at 6am I could just scoop him up and plop him in the car.

Instead he was awake and poopy so I had to change him first. So then he was a bright-eyed chatter box in the car all the way to Sutter surgery center in Fairfield (30 minutes west of Davis). Luckily for me, the weird schedule that morning made him forget that he usually gets to eat immediately after his morning diaper change so he was in pretty good/normal spirits. That is, until we began the check-in process at reception.

We were the first ones there so our check in was relatively quick. I didn't have Eddie or Dave's social security numbers with me to process the insurance so I had to call Dave for it. Eddie got really upset when I wouldn't let him have the pen to sign the credit card slip to pay the remainder of our deductible.

Not even the fish tank would distract him. Poor kid was tired, hungry, and confused about what we were doing. The receptionist and I had to practically pin him down to put his wrist band on. I got one, too, and she hand-wrote "Mom" on it.

Luckily we were called back into the prep area almost immediately. Even though I told him how freaking adorable he'd look in the baby sized hospital gown and ridiculous hospital socks provided for him, Eddie would have NONE of it. So he remained pretty much naked until he was taken away for the procedure. But you know, that's pretty much normal for us anyway!

The only thing that kept Eddie remotely happy the whole time was playing with the blood pressure machine--he loved pushing the "beep beeps" (buttons), turning the dials, and chewing on the tubes. A nurse brought him a teddy bear from Good News Bears in Livermore. He didn't want it, but we brought it home anyway.
We got to chat with Dr. Levin, the urologist/surgeon, and then met the anesthesiologist. This guy was really nice--about 55 years old, super affectionate with me and Eddie. He even rubbed the top of my head when he said I reminded him of his own daughters and that Eddie made him miss his grandkids. I knew Eddie would be in good hands with him. A nurse gave Eddie an oral dose of Versed and we waited until he got drunk-like. At that point he didn't seem to notice when we did the hand-off to the anesthesiologist.

I went back to the waiting room and sat with my mom. Since Eddie's a minor, I wasn't allowed to leave the waiting room so my mom went out in search of breakfast. She brought us back bacon/egg sandwiches and a mocha for me (thanks Mommy!). I knitted and chatted to other people who were waiting for surgery. There was a lady my age nervously waiting her turn...she starting initiated a conversation with me by asking me if I had any "skin care concerns." I laughed and said "No, but maybe I should..." It turns out she's in aesthetic (cosmetology) school and is required to bring in 18 new clients for facials before she can graduate. She gave me her card. I told her I'd love to get a facial and that maybe my mom and I could come in to see her in a few weeks--and I mean it.

After about an hour, Dr. Levin came out to the waiting room and told me, "Eddie did great!" I was like, "That's nice...but how did YOU do? Since YOU were the one doing the surgery?" Haha. He explained that the testicle was a lot higher than he thought so the hernia ended up being "pretty big." He said it'd be another 30 minutes until I could go back to see Eddie in recovery since children often re-sedate on and off for about 45 minutes. He said "nervous mamas don't need to see that, even though it is perfectly normal."

Eventually I got to go back. Of course, I forgot to bring the bag of treats/toys back with me but a nurse later brought it to me. Eddie was screaming in the arms of a nurse. It was clear he still wasn't all "there." His five minute screaming/thrashing fits were broken up with equally long boughts of deep sleep. I just lounged on the gurney, held him, and tried to keep him from pulling out his IV. The anesthesiologist came back in and told me that this was "perfectly normal" even though it is probably really distressing for me to see it. I told him, "Hey, it'll pass. Normal is good!" He laughed and said he wishes all parents were as level headed.It took another 30 minutes before my babe was interested in eating. He'd not had anything since 7pm the night before and was probably nauseated from the anesthesia. A nurse brought him some apple juice to put in his sippy cup and he sucked that right down (this is only the third time he's ever had apple juice). Then he ate a few fishie crackers and sucked on a lollipop. I got him changed back into a clean pair of jammies and had the nurse review our discharge instructions.

I was told to give him over-the-counter pain medication, call the doctor if he hadn't peed by 4pm or if either of the incisions (scrotum or stomach) were red/hot/hard, no showering until Monday, and no baths for two weeks...and to restrict his physical activity for two weeks. Hahahahahahaha...yeah right. He slept in the car on the way home, snuggled with me on the floor for about 3 hours while we watched Ice Age and The Snow Man and ate "nacks" (snack foods like fishie crackers, pretzels, mini donuts, lollipops, etc.). By the time Dave got home he was back to his normal self: running, climbing, chatting non-stop. My dad took him on a romp around the neighborhood and he came back soaked from the waist down due to irresistible puddles.

That night we gave him a sponge bath on the kitchen counter and then put him to bed as usual. We did wake him up at about 10pm and gave him more ibuprofen. He slept just fine. The next morning (my birthday!) Dyani came from Livermore with baby Batiste. Even she couldn't tell Eddie just had surgery!

He's been waking up in the wee hours of the morning the last few nights, but I think it is because his size 3 nighttime diapers aren't containing his messes...I will move him into a size 4 tonight to see if that improves the mess containment and waking situations. With the exception of his second post-surgery night (when Dave changed him and gave him another dose of medicine), we've just let him fuss himself back to sleep.

We will have a follow up appointment on Friday to make sure he's healing properly. Keep your fingers crossed that we will get the go-ahead to have regular baths! I showered with Eddie last night and it was not pleasant. He does fine when we shower in any bathroom that isn't ours--he couldn't understand why we weren't just having a normal bath since that's what we usually do in that bathroom. I might just go back to sponge bathing him in the kitchen. It isn't as effective but it sure is easier.