I never thought today would have come....
Today was supposed to be a normal Tuesday. I would work until 11 am, then come home for a quick pump & feed (what I call it when I have to pump one side while feeding Willow at the same time!!) and then off to her 4 month check up. Well all of that went off without too much of a hitch. Willow is now 25" long, and 13lbs 3 oz.! Her head circumference though was 46 cm. At her 2 month check up it was only 40.4 cm. and according to my ped. the way she read the MRI report there was no actual blockage to cause any more head growth.... So what happened?? Well we are not sure, but her head grew. So, while visiting a friend after the appointment I get a call from my pediatrician telling me to go to the ER where we will be able to get an MRI done immediately and get the attention of the neurosurgeon quicker..... So off I go in a panic (I do remember looking at the pedometers and seeing it read at 80+ mph) not smart I know but I was freaking out!!
We got here around 2 pm, and then get through triage, into ER, have a CAT scan done, and then wait.... Finally the resident comes in saying they are having the neurosurgeon come and he will be here shortly! Panic button sinks in when you hear the word surgeon I promise you that. So, thankfully I had Becki here with me to make sure that things were all going well, and I had someone else to listen to things they were saying! At 6 pm I am told "we are prepping her for surgery, we are placing the shunt." What?! I still don't know what is going on... finally the neurosurgeon comes in and tells me that her ventricles have enlarged significantly, and it is causing a large amount of pressure. So with that being said, we need to place the shunt. Thankfully I have done enough research to know the pros/cons, the risks etc. and can actually calmly listen to the doom and gloom speech the doctor must give.
So, despite the fact that I had just nursed her 10 minutes prior to this we had to take that chance of her not having an empty stomach due to the severity of the pressure. So we, well really I, Jon was still picking up the other kids from school and was doing his best to rush here. He did make it here when we were in the last room of prep before surgery! (Thank God for that) So we hug and kiss her and hold her one last time before surgery.
Then to make matters worse, if that is even possible, a storm rolls through. Not just a normal spring storm, no we have to deal with tornado warnings and all... Yeah nice seeing as none of us (by now the kids are also with Becki, Jon and I) have eaten dinner. So we make it through the fact that while it is storming outside, our youngest family member is inside having surgery.
Well, she made it through fine. There was a tiny bleed out, but the doctor said it was nothing major. We got to see her in recovery and she did indeed respond to my voice so that is wonderful. She is now currently (it is 11:35pm on Tuesday) sleeping in Pediatric ICU (which I am told is customary after this type of surgery as these nurses have less patients to tend to so can give better care to the patients. So I am still awake, watching my little girl and profusely pumping bottles since I am in pain! LOL
We got here around 2 pm, and then get through triage, into ER, have a CAT scan done, and then wait.... Finally the resident comes in saying they are having the neurosurgeon come and he will be here shortly! Panic button sinks in when you hear the word surgeon I promise you that. So, thankfully I had Becki here with me to make sure that things were all going well, and I had someone else to listen to things they were saying! At 6 pm I am told "we are prepping her for surgery, we are placing the shunt." What?! I still don't know what is going on... finally the neurosurgeon comes in and tells me that her ventricles have enlarged significantly, and it is causing a large amount of pressure. So with that being said, we need to place the shunt. Thankfully I have done enough research to know the pros/cons, the risks etc. and can actually calmly listen to the doom and gloom speech the doctor must give.
So, despite the fact that I had just nursed her 10 minutes prior to this we had to take that chance of her not having an empty stomach due to the severity of the pressure. So we, well really I, Jon was still picking up the other kids from school and was doing his best to rush here. He did make it here when we were in the last room of prep before surgery! (Thank God for that) So we hug and kiss her and hold her one last time before surgery.
Then to make matters worse, if that is even possible, a storm rolls through. Not just a normal spring storm, no we have to deal with tornado warnings and all... Yeah nice seeing as none of us (by now the kids are also with Becki, Jon and I) have eaten dinner. So we make it through the fact that while it is storming outside, our youngest family member is inside having surgery.
Well, she made it through fine. There was a tiny bleed out, but the doctor said it was nothing major. We got to see her in recovery and she did indeed respond to my voice so that is wonderful. She is now currently (it is 11:35pm on Tuesday) sleeping in Pediatric ICU (which I am told is customary after this type of surgery as these nurses have less patients to tend to so can give better care to the patients. So I am still awake, watching my little girl and profusely pumping bottles since I am in pain! LOL
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