Barnak’s Anatomy continued….

Noelle - aaaah… sweet noelle…..

Okay - so Noelle’s surgery on Friday went very very smoothly.

Pre-surgery, she was tired, and hungry, but still happy and playful… sean and I were able to get some last minute lovings in before we had a cranky child on our hands…

We got there at 7:30 a.m. and she was taken into surgery at 9:15. She was out of surgery by 10:20 and in recovery until 11:45 and we were home at 12. VERY smooth. Basically, about 30 minutes before they took her into surgery (and away from us), she was given a dose of something (can’t remember the name - but it’s like baby valium) to calm her down and make it easier to part from sean and I. She was pretty funny during this time - really loopy and almost drunk:

Wheeling her away on the gurney sent both sean and I over the edge - not because of the actual procedure, but because this was only the 2nd time in her life that she was with people we don’t know and she doesn’t know - the first being her first surgery in December.

After collecting our tears and our emotions, we headed to the waiting room with about 20 other anxious parents waiting for their children to have various procedures. One set of parents had been waiting there already (it was 9a.m. remember) for 7 hours - their daughter was having a major surgery on her spine from a car accident the day before…. she was 2 years old. SO - having that knowledge in our minds made Noelle’s adenoids and tube surgery seem relatively minor…. but it didn’t make the waiting any easier. We waited for what seemed like an eternity and they finally came to get us and take us to her in recovery.

We got there and she was sleeping on the gurney - but she heard my voice, SPRUNG up to her feet and promptly fell into my arms and went to sleep again. She didn’t wake up again until about 4:00 p.m. that day. We took her home at 12 and set her up a camp in our living room so we could keep an eye on her:

when she finally woke up we were able to take a good look at her and she had a little bit of bleeding from the nose, drainage from the ears and you could tell she was in a bit of pain when she chewed her food. But, aside from being totally groggy and out of it - she was pleasant and went to bed on time at 7 and slept all night.

She woke up Saturday morning bouncing and smiling and acting as if nothing had happened at all. Remarkable - really - I think I’d have been knocked on my ass for at least 2 days.

SO - with noelle acting/eating/feeling normal - what did we do? We headed to Lancaster to visit the Astons! Yummy salsa, burgers, and passion something margaritas topped off the night - and then Megg as gracious enough to whip up some yummy buttermilk banana pancakes the next morning. It was just the relaxing withdrawal that sean and I needed from our lives… for just 18 hours in Lancaster, we forgot about all of this medical drama and focused on something more fun…… like 80’s Trivial Pursuit - which sean and I suck at, but it’s fun to watch Jed and Megg try to beat each other.

Here are a few snaps from our playtime with the girls…

noelle learned a new trick - climbing on ottomans, chairs, desks, tables, the outside of staircases… - you name it and Charlotte showed her how!!

And of course, we can’t forget a picture of “baby” Charlotte - not so much a baby any more is she??

Lastly - this isn’t from our lancaster trip - but Alyssa won’t cooperate for picture taking these days and so I get them where I can.. she’s growing up TOO fast: