It's been exactly one week since Laney had her surgery to remove the cyst on her head. She is doing wonderfully and recovering just as we would hope. I can't tell you how much it means to our family to have so many praying for her and asking how she's doing. It is such a blessing to us!
I thought I would do a quick post on our experience at Children's and the details of Laney's procedure for my memory's sake, but mostly I wanted to write about all the ways that the Lord answered our prayers (and the prayers of others on our behalf) before, during, and after Laney's surgery.
On Monday, October 10th we woke up bright and early to get ready to leave for the hospital. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. At that point, my main concern was the fact that Laney could not eat or drink before the procedure. I KNOW that we were covered in prayer and that the Lord had His hand on that situation, because there were so many instances where we could literally SEE how He was working.
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| laney just chilling out in the waiting room pre-surgery *Laney woke up at 4am and did not fuss. at. all. She was happy as could be! |
*She slept the entire drive to the hospital - which was also one of my concerns
*She was AWAKE until they took her back for surgery and was happy and playful.
*The doctor's were running almost 45 minutes behind (which meant that Laney had missed THREE feedings) and she never got upset. She was such a trooper! She got a little fussy right before they took her back, but that was just because she was SO tired.
When I texted my mom and told her that Laney's procedure hadn't started yet. She texted back "is she okay?" and my response was, "by the grace of God." And I meant it. Laney is my baby that barely makes it every three hours between feedings before she's acting like she's starving. For her to go almost 8 hours (while being awake for nearly 7!) was nothing short of an act of God!
Another big stressor for me was the fact that we had to bring Libbi with us. Don't get me wrong, I love her to pieces, but sister does not do well in waiting rooms and just with waiting in general. She kind of likes to do her own thing. :)
Both sets of grandparents were out of town (what are the odds?) and we did have some very sweet friends that offered to watch her for us, but when it came down to it, we decided to just take her with us since we didn't really know what to expect.
And the Lord answered our prayers yet again. Let's just say the waiting room was Libbi's dream come true. a little heaven on earth. There were bikes, play houses, puzzles, books, flatscreen tvs, even a wii!!! you name it, they had it. I had figured they would have some toys seeing as it was a children's hospital, but I didn't know that they had just undergone a $5 million dollar renovation! WOW! (and you better believe Libbi's baby made the trek up to the hospital, too!) ;-)
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It took a little bit of convincing to get Libbi out of the waiting room and into the pre-op room, but once she heard there were more toys awaiting....she was well on her way. Laney was just along for the ride. Bless her heart! I was still nervous, but everyone was SO nice to us and so accommodating that it made it a little easier. Once we were in the pre-op room, they brought Laney a little hospital gown. break my heart. the saddest thing ever!
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| she wasn't nervous at all! sweet girl!! |
Laney was wonderful the entire time and so was Libbi. Jeffrey and I could not have asked for a better experience. Once they came to take Laney back to surgery, we had a few tears, but we knew she would be well taken care of. Jeffrey took Libbi back out to the waiting room to play and I sat in the post-op room to wait for Laney. As soon as the doctor came in to talk to me, I called Jeffrey and he and Libbi came back to wait with me.
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| libbi trying to blow up a glove like a balloon...and do you notice that she has stickers on her shoes?!?! ;-) |
When they brought Laney into us, I can't even begin to describe the feelings I had. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I definitely was not prepared to see my tiny baby groggy from anesthesia with her entire head wrapped. It literally took my breath away. I think we were all in shock for just a minute. No one spoke, not even Libbi. But then Laney let out a little cry and I went straight to her. It's a weird feeling of wanting to hold her tight, but then being worried if I could hold her without hurting her all at the same time.
Thankfully, she snuggled right in. The nurses had said that I could nurse her just a little when she came out of surgery (since she won't take a bottle!) but that she would probably throw up. Um, nope. not our Laney girl! She nursed like she hadn't eaten in days and kept every bit of it down! :-) Jeffrey had taken Libbi back out to the waiting room (because she left her baby out there) so I was able to spend some time with Laney alone. It was nice to be able to just hold her and sit in the quiet for a little while. I couldn't stop thanking God for her and all the ways that He had protected her.
Being in a place like Children's really made me so thankful for my girls and their health. I have no idea why some babies are born healthy and some are not. I don't know why some children are sick with chronic illnesses and others hardly ever get the sniffles. That is something I don't think I'll ever understand this side of heaven. Seeing children at the hospital that were having far more serious procedures than our Laney really made us mindful of how thankful we are for our health and our girls' health. We don't ever want to take for granted that our girls are here with us and that they are healthy.
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| a little pre-surgery pep talk from daddy |
Once we got home from the hospital it was really "business as usual" as Jeffrey called it. Both girls took a nap, we rested, and then we just hung around the house for the rest of the day. Laney did better than we could have ever hoped for! Besides the stitches on the back of her head, you would never even know she'd had anything done. she was her usual smiley, happy self. Some of our sweet friends from small group brought dinner to us and we just loved on our girls the rest of the night. Laney did have her head wrapped, but she decided overnight that she was more comfortable without it - ha!
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| post-surgery....all smiles! |
Now, we are waiting on the biopsy results. The dr said everything went beautifully during the surgery and that we should have results in 7-10 days. IF there is something of concern, they will call us; otherwise we will just go back for her follow up in three weeks. So, basically we're praying we don't hear a thing until we're back in the office for her follow-up! :)
I know this was long and very wordy, I just didn't want to forget any of our experience. Again, thank y'all so much for your prayers and your genuine concern for our sweet little Lay-Lay. We definitely felt them! We are incredibly thankful that we can say without a doubt that HE is, HE was, and HE will continue to be with us! And as much as we love our sweet "little sister", HE loves her more.
“What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows."
Luke 12:6-7
