Procedure Day

Today was P-Day.....procedure day for Samantha. We had to be at the surgical center by 6:30am for her 7:30am procedure time. After some basic information giving time, they got some scrubs for Samantha. They must not get too many small children because they gave us the smallest size they had and they were still HUGE on her.Since she is a child, one parent can go back to the surgery room while she was sedated. Marc went back with Marc when he got his tonsils out, so it was my turn this time. I got to wear a "really cool" blue jump suit, footie shoe covers, and a hair net. Yea Me! ;)Samantha tried on my hair net.

I got a really sweet hug from Samantha while we were waiting to go back to the surgery room.
Every time I set her on the bed, she cried.....it was like she knew. ;)
I went back to the surgery room while Daddy waited in the cubicle we were in. I sat in a chair at the end of the bed. I had to hold her head while the doctor placed the mask on her face. She didn't like that at all. :( She cried. As she cried, she breathed in more of the sedation, so she fell asleep fairly quickly. We decided that ignorance is bliss. Marc SCREAMED while he was being sedated, but Samantha didn't really understand what was going on.

I decided this was God cruel joke of showing me how strong I can actually be when needed. There is a song by Collin Raye called "What I Need". The line that really sticks out in my mind is "Cause I prayed for strength And I got pain that made me strong". It is a very moving song. Here is a link to the words of the song. http://www.lyricsdownload.com/collin-raye-what-i-need-lyrics.html. I did pretty well until the doctor, after she was completely asleep, took her from my arms to lay her on the bed. Her whole, little body was completely limp. Her little body looked so incredibly tiny lying on the bed. Once I saw her laying there, the water works started. **tears** Luckily, I had my wonderful, supportive hubby there waiting with open arms for me when I got back to the cubicle.

The procedure was scheduled to take about 30 minutes. It was one of the longest 1/2 hours of my life (the other was waiting for Marc when he got his tonsils out). Finally the doctor came out to the waiting room and told us that Samantha had done great and was in recovery. He saw just a very small bit of bone separation in the elbow so they put it in place and out her in a heavier splint with her elbow in a more bent position for proper healing. After the doctor left, it was another very long about 10 minutes before the nurse came and got us because Samantha had woken up from the anesthesia.

Since she is so small they took the bed out of the recovery area and brought in a recliner. So I got to sit in the recliner, snuggling my little baby girl while she recovered! :)

The nurses put a bandage on Baby Grace's arm like Samantha's. :)
Samantha actually did very well. After we got back there with her, and got settled, she snuggled right down and fell back asleep for awhile. After a short 10-20 minutes snooze, she woke up and she slowly some of the sparkle come back to her eyes. :) She had some apple juice to drink and some applesauce to eat. She opened wide for the applesauce...she had to fast since midnight last night, so she had a very hungry belly.

Back in the surgery room, after she went to sleep with the mask, they gave her an IV for some fluids and any pain medication if needed (which were not,thankfully). When the nurse took the IV out, she put a Daffy Duck band-aid on her hand. As soon as Samantha saw the band-aid she said "pity!". It was so nice to see our precious little girl's personalty starting to come back out. :)
While she had her IV she kept wanting to rub her eyes and suck her thumb. She couldn't because they wrapped some gauze around her hand so she couldn't pull the IV out. She was very happy that she was finally able to rub her face.......
and suck her thumb. :)
The nurses were completely shocked by what a great little patient she was. there were several other children in the recovery room that were crying after their surgeries. The nurse told us that she didn't think Samantha even knew how to cry...little does she know. ;) For being such a good little patient, the nurse brought Samantha a bag a stickers and new purple teddy bear. :)
I got a few more snuggles before we were discharged.
Our little trooper angel fell asleep in the car on the way home. I am not sure I could be any prouder of our little girl and how well she is doing with all of this. :)
They told us that since she is little and did have anesthesia, that we should keep an eye on her when she slept today. A friend of mine, Sarah who we carpool with for school, picked Marc up from school and kept him until after lunch so I could come home with Samantha and let her get a little sleep. (Thanks Sarah!) I enjoyed sitting here on the couch with my little angel sleeping on me for about 2 hours. I loved the peaceful, loving, snuggle time. :)
We went to pick up Marc and she was excited to see her big brother again. The thing that perked her up the most.....cheese crackers from Sarah. :)
Thank you all for all of the thoughts and prayers you have sent our direction...keep 'em coming. We have about another 2-3 weeks with her in the cast. :)