We were waiting in a waiting room for a couple hours before we were taken back (even with the 8am arrival). Luckily, I had also brought Belle's back-pack with us with some things to keep her busy (although there was a kid movie playing in the room too) and her favorite thing was actually using my nail file. For the trip we had a box full of fun little toys, crafts, books, etc (from us and various family members) to keep Belle occupied. We then rotated things from the box to the back-pack so the backpack always had interesting things. Of course occasional peeks into the box were also allowed.Around 10 we were taken back so that a nurse practitioner could take all of Belle's vitals and ask us some general health questions. Since this was Belle's first surgery, they said we should stay put and they'd send in a Child Life Specialist (correct name??) to tell her what to expect. Unfortunately, there was some confusion and we ended-up sitting in that room for another hour before a nurse came and told us Dr Reinisch was looking for us, and asked why we hadn't been sent-up yet. They quickly got a Child Life Specialist to take us up while chatting with Belle at the same time. It was a little rushed, but she was really great and I think her "kid friendly explanation" of everything that was going to happen really helped (both Belle & me).
Both Dr Reinisch and the anesthesiologist stopped by to greet Belle and see if we had any last minute questions. Belle was given a "happy juice" to drink that made her tired and we tucked her into bed. I was surprised but comforted to learn that she could keep both her bunny (with big floppy ears that she likes to "fix" by tying and untying) and her prayer shawl (made for her by some ladies from our church) with her into the operating room. Parents are only allowed to walk with the gurney to the main doors of the operating floor. Belle was already somewhat out-of-it, but she was waiving and singing "Jesus loves me" as they pushed her down the hall. I heard one of her nurses ask if it would be okay for her to sing along, and away they went singing. sniff, sniff
Since Belle wasn't allowed to eat breakfast that morning, neither had we and it was after noon, so we checked out a pager from the waiting room and headed to the cafeteria. I was too emotional to be really interested in food, but knew it would be a long day so eating was important.
A couple hours later we got a report from the waiting room attendant that her surgery had officially started at 12:40 and all was going well. We received a couple similar reports throughout the afternoon, until around 6 when we heard it was going well but would still be another hour or so.
Finally, after 7pm we were taken to Belle in recovery. It was heart-breaking seeing our little angel for the first time, because she was all bandaged (which I expected) and her face was very swollen (which I didn't expect) and she was still really out-of-it. In reality I'm sure it didn't take long for her to recognize me but it seemed like an eternity, but then she was holding tight onto my hand and calling my name. She had had a tube down her throat for over 6 hours, so her throat was really dry and hurting. She started crying for a drink, so Dr Reinisch personally ran over to get her a popsicle when the nurses were busy doing something else. However, she quickly finished this and wanted a drink, so Dr R. let her have an apple juice. Unfortunately, it might have been a little too much too soon after anesthesia because it came back-up a couple times later that evening.
We learned that Belle's surgery had turned out to be a little more complicated than anticipated because when they did the actual measurements for the placement of Belle's new ear they discovered that they had to move her existing little ear so far that they needed to create an extension to her existing ear canal. Dr. Reinisch had originally felt Belle's microtia surgery could be done in one surgery, but unfortunately another surgery will be necessary to finish the work on her tragus (the little triangle shaped piece in front of most peoples ear canal).
We spent the next few hours in recovery waiting for Belle to come-out-of it more, her stomach to settle down, get instructions on how to empty her drains (as needed), remove her pain pump (after 48 hours), and general care instruction. She also needed to go to the bathroom, but after having a catheter in all day, this took a very long time too. Dr R left us with every possible phone number to contact him in case of emergency or if we have questions. He also gave us two prescriptions for Belle. Unfortunately it didn't occur to us to ask for them ahead of time, but the nurses were kind enough to call around and find out were we could get them filled that night (since the next day was Thanksgiving we couldn't wait).
It was after 10pm when we finally left the hospital and we had to make a stop at Walgreen's Pharmacy on the way to the hotel. Belle's car seat has a slight recline option. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to us to switch it until the next day, so we drove home from the hospital with me trying to hold Belle's sleeping bandaged head still, so it wouldn't bob in her sleep. Luckily the hotel (Hollywood Orchid Suites) is relatively close to the hospital.
We got our little angel back to the hotel, set her up in the one King bed (where Mommy would be sleeping next to her), let her have some sprite (which thankfully her tummy liked better than the juice), and we all went to bed. She slept really well until early morning when she needed to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, we forgot her potty insert/seat and with pain pack on her tummy, the bag for the pain pack and her drains coming out of her head (which we also ran into the pain pack bag instead of using the clips for the bulbs) it was a few days until a group effort wasn't required for her to go to the bathroom. We then all went back to sleep for a few more hours.
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