The days before consisted of pre-registration over the phone and online. Then the day before they gave me all the pre-op info. The info I was so not looking forward to. The fasting is was what scared me the most. How do you get a baby to fast? Seriously. So I was told to make sure he was bathed the night before, dried off with a clean town, slept in clean jammies, and a clean bed. I was pretty sure I was okay with all this since he takes a bath every night and gets clean jammies every night and I change towels twice a week and beds get clean sheets every week. But because I'm sometimes overly paranoid I cleaned all that stuff anyway. My guess is those rules are for people who may not be as clean as we are in which case that makes me really sad for those kids. They told me he can eat anything the night before but between 12 am and 6:30 am he can only drink water, apple juice, or sprite. Then after 6:30 am nothing. I ended up having mutual the night before instead of Wed. which actually worked out so much better. So Scott was kind of left to get him all ready for bed and stuff which he usually does anyway. I just had to say goodnight before I left since he'd be asleep when I got home. We also did a blessing for him before I had to go to mutual. We were going to have some family help but Scott's dad and bro were in SLC on a run and my dad had Scouts going on so we just couldn't get the schedules to work but at least Scott still could. It just always helps me feel so much better having that blessing. I know its helped me with all my medical things I've gone through and even when I'm pregnant. Just helps me feel so much more relaxed.
The plan was for me to get up at 5:15 am and get ready. I decided to grab Charlotte a Nigh Time donut since she was going to my mom's at 7am. Scott was willing to go into work but his manager told him not to worry so it was nice to have that help getting ready but the hours would have been nice too. I got Jackson up at 6:10 am so I could let him have as much apple juice as he would drink in 20 min. I wanted him to be somewhat full of something since we had about an hour drive to the hospital. He drank his juice and I got Charlotte up just in time to head out the door. We stopped at my mom's to drop off Charlotte and let Jack run around for a minute and be distracted. We seemed to be making good time. Its been so long since I've commuted into SLC at that time so I wasn't sure how much traffic there would be. We stopped off in Magna for gas and it was the first time in forever it seemed that I paid under $3 a gallon. Thank you Sinclair gas card! Glorious day! We took the Mountain View Corridor out to Riverton. I figured it would be the most quiet. It was a nice drive out to Riverton but man, 126th S is so far! If we had a tunnel right through the Oquirrhs I bet it would drop us out just about there. If only! We made it there in perfect time. I think we were there at about 8:15 am and our registration was technically 8:30. We all got our id bracelets. They took us up and got us ready to go back and start the process. We met with an NP and went over some stuff. Reviewed history. She asked us about how we preferred to do the anesthesia prep. We could either go with him and let him drink some stuff to help him relax while he's on our lap then they give him the mask. Or they can just take him back with his binkey and give him the mask. We thought he'd probably be fine just getting the mask since he's so easy going. We got him changed and I snagged a pic. I figured I needed something from his surgery day for a memory. I knew I probably wouldn't get many opportunities. So here's the dude all happy with no idea of what is about to go down.
After this they take us to another waiting area. This one has lots of toys and a couple tvs. I absolutely love Primary Children's. And its really nice that they have this one open in Riverton now so not everyone is crammed up on the east side. It was still pretty busy that morning but still fairly quiet. Jackson got to play for about 30-45 min. Dr. Young came over and explained the procedure and her plans. If she could she was going to put a stent in. The anesthesiologist came over and Jackson had this toy he was pushing around. We were going to say goodbye to him but Jack just kept walking down the hall so the dr said if it was okay he'd just take him back and although I was kind of sad he didn't even turn around or bat an eye I just said sure. We watched the anesthesiologist walk him back and Jack was totally fine. He is a 180 from Charlotte.
They took Scott and I back to the main waiting area. They have juice and bagels and muffins for while you wait. We were finally both feeling a little more relaxed so we ate a little. We only were there maybe 20-30 min when they said they were done and took us back to a room to wait and speak with Dr. Young. We waited there for another 15-20 min. She came in and said it all went well. She had to clean out a lot of gunk more than any other patient so we could expect a little blood and a bloody nose over the next couple days. She did get the stent in place and is hoping to keep it there 2-3 months to ensure that the duct stays open so we don't have to repeat the procedure. I think she said the stent can be taken out through their clinic so should be easy enough. She did tell me sometimes they do start to come out on their own so if there is enough of it coming out I can pull it out on my own and it'll be fine but hopefully it'll stay in place. She told us about some eye drops we'd have to do for a week twice a day. No biggie. And then said they were waking him up and as soon as he was ready they'd bring one of us back then when they moved him into another recovery area both of us could be there. After we talked with the dr she took us back to the main waiting room. We only had to wait a few min before I could go back. Of course Scott let me go first. I was telling him how he's gotten so good at waiting through surgeries but I don't like it. I'd much rather be the one having the surgery. I can do procedures well :)
When I went back his eyes were still shut. They had asked earlier what he'd want after the surgery and I had said bottle so they had a bottle of apple juice there for him. They let me give it to him and I also brought his blanket back. He likes playing with the ties on his blanket so I saw him fiddling around with the blankets he was wrapped in trying to find it. He still wouldn't open his eyes. Once I gave him the blanket he was trying to push off all the other ones. He just wanted his but he only had his bottoms on so they were trying to keep him warm. Once he had drank most of his bottle and was waking up a bit more but still not opening his eyes. It was weird to be on that end. I knew exactly how he felt. You can't open your eyes and you feel so uncomfortable. It is not fun to come out from the anesthesia. Bleh. We moved him over to a more private recovery area. Scott was able to come back then. Jack was waking up more and getting really mad. He didn't want his bottle and he was aware of the heart rate monitor on his toe and the iv in his foot. It looked like they struggled finding an iv in him and ended up in the inside of his ankle. He had marks in both hands and both feet. I felt his pain again too. I usually get pricked a lot before they find a good spot on me. I wasn't there for the iv (thank goodness) so I'm not sure if they wait for him to be out or what when they do that. But Jackson was so not having it. They figured he had enough fluids in him so they took out the iv and took off the heart rate monitor. He started to calm down a little but seemed like he might be a little in pain so the nurse brought him some ibuprofen. But right as he was almost finished taking it he puked. All over me. Luckily it was cold so I had a sweater on but it did get my pants too. And there was blood in it from swallowing some from his bloody nose. Which we were also trying to deal with. It was a messy recovery. So then the nurse got some more ibuprofen for him to take and we cut him off from fluids a bit since his tummy was still probably pretty relaxed from the anesthesia. He took a binkey and just wanted Scott to hold him. He calmed down and crashed on Scott. The nurse got me some wet washcloths. I was able to clean up my sweater and pants. Another nurse had come in from the pharmacy to explain the eye drops. I snapped this picture once the chaos stopped.
After a bit the nurse told us we could go. We got Jack dressed and he woke up a bit. All the nurses came to say goodbye and a couple commented on how cute he was walking back with the anesthesiologist. That's my boy! We took him out to the car and kind of dreaded the drive home. Scott and I were getting pretty hungry. It was like 11:30 or noon I think when we left. We ended up taking Bangerter back thinking I'd just get back to I-80 and take that home. But Jack seemed to be doing good and Scott was going to go back to work so we thought we'd hop on the 201 and grab something on 56th W to eat so he can go straight to work after getting Charlotte and dropping us off. But a mile from the exit in all the lunch hour traffic Jack started getting upset then puked all over. He had been drinking a little milk but must have stopped because his tummy hurt. So stuck in traffic smelling nasty milk puke we had to wait to get off and clean up. I had brought one extra change of clothes to be safe but kind of wish I had some rags or something too. We used a bunch of baby wipes and just tossed it all in the trunk. His straps to his car seat were so gross but we cleaned it off the best we could. Scott got him changed in the front seat and once we were decently clean we got him back in and settled him the best he could and he crashed. He was so exhausted still. We didn't stop for lunch because the traffic was a joke so we just headed up 56th w to I-80 and hopped that back home. He was still asleep as we got close to my parents. We thought about taking him home first then I could run back and grab Charlotte and some lunch then Scott could go to work. But with him out we might as well just stop and get her. So I went in and she didn't want to leave of course but came home.
Jack woke up once we were home and seemed to be doing so much better. Scott grabbed lunch and I hosed off the car seat and washed the padding and all that stuff. Scott headed back to work and I took over Jackson time that afternoon. He ate a bit and was becoming more like himself again running around and playing. Around 3 pm that day Charlotte crashed for a nap on my bed. Then Jack let me hold him and slept on me from like 4-5 until Scott came home then woke up. I miss those cuddles! I got some pictures of his battle wounds. He had bruises on each side of his jaw and one in his right ear. Then there were all the needle marks. Poor kid. Most the bruises are gone now and he's already done with his eye drops.
The stent is still in and he'll go in on Dec 4th for his post-op check up. His nose bled on and off the first couple days but by Sunday most the dried blood was out of his nose and some raw parts on his skin where there had been tape were healing up. His eye looks so good now. It is so nice to not have to torture that kid every day with cleaning his eye off and cleaning in the bath and putting on vaseline. I wish I didn't have to wait so long for this because it is just so nice not dealing with a goopy eye and tender red skin around the eye. I am just so thankful to all those doctors and nurses over there. It is an awesome place to take kids. Super kid friendly and so understanding of them and their needs and frustrations. They are just so good. Charlotte is next on my list to get looked at. I was hoping to do it while our deductible has been met but I'm not sure what will happen. She has like trigger thumb or something. Her left thumb doesn't bend. She needs to see an orthopedic doctor but I don't know if we can handle an more doctor bills but I should at least check it out and see what will have to be done. We'll see. I don't even know if I can get in before the end of the year at this point. I'm not sure how busy they are.
I also wanted to add a bit about Jackson and his development. This kid is hilarious. He is super sweet and just so much fun to have. He talks a lot. He says so many things now. He always knows banana. Probably his favorite fruit. He'll sometimes ask for apple or orange. I had some strawberries and raspberries too that he'd ask for. My favorite is still pancake which he says like "panpake." It's just super cute. He asks for snacks meaning fruit snack. He can kind of say cookie even though we rarely have them. He sure remembers them! He loves milk but does like water too. When his milk is empty from his bottle he knows to ask for water because he only is supposed to have about 20 oz of milk a day to make sure he eats enough food and doesn't fill up on milk. He totally would if he could! He says yes and no but I think mixes them up still. I love when he says "of course." He loves singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and trying to do the hand motions. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is another favorite and he'll sing "up above world so high" and "like diamond (mumbled) in sky." He tries and its cute. He says "show" when he wants to watch something. Daniel Tiger is referred to as "cat" and is probably his favorite. He also likes Yo Gabba Gabba, Backyardigans, some of the stuff from Baby First tv, and he'll watch Ninjago with Charlotte. He loves to count. Only once, when he was about 18 months old, did I hear him count from 1-10. Haven't heard it since. He will go from 1-6 all the time and sometimes continue on to 10 but skip seven which he used to say as "seben" but I can't get him to say it anymore. That was another of my favorites. Too cute. He loves his baths and is so good about laying down for bed or naps. Just lays right down and even if he's not super tired he doesn't scream or cry unless something is wrong. He tries to tell us colors. He says yellow all the time. He's still learning them and the only time I heard him say the right color was when he saw my white shirt and called it white. He'll say blue and red and purple. He loves to build towers with his blocks. I think I'm going to buy him a pack of those mega blocks for Christmas. I found some pretty cheap on Amazon and I can get free shipping! Woohoo! We're trying to keep Christmas very simple this year since we don't have a lot and plan to use Scott's bonus (if he gets one) to fix his car and register it. It's been hard with one car and my car is getting old and has a lot of miles on it and it will just make life easier although we have been able to survive without it (sorry... tangent...) so basically the kids get a very simple Christmas from us this year. My mom already bought Charlotte some stuff (one of those will be from Santa) and one thing for Jack so I'm only buying Charlotte one thing from us and Jack will have one thing from Santa (I'm thinking the blocks) and then one thing from us. I think I might get him just a pack of cars because he really seems to like them and they both really have a lot of toys and really have all they need. I don't want to buy more stuff we don't need when I'd rather use the money to get out of debt quicker so someday we can purchase a bigger car then maybe think about expanding our family. Plus Jackson's bday is in Feb so he'll get something else then. My mom also got us a year pass to the new aquarium set to open the end of Dec. I am so excited. So that is kind of a gift for us and the kids and will be something we can do all year long. Especially if I get my car back! :) I can't remember Jackson's height and weight at the hospital so I'll just have to update that at his two year check up. I think that's all for him. Oh he does love nursery at church and basically jumps out of Scott's arms so he can go play. Well I think that's it for now.... Phew... took me a week to finally get this on here but now that's done. :)
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