Long Beach Aquarium -- 11/26

We really enjoyed the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. Again we were thankful that Sarah had recommended we bring a stroller because Belle got tired easily walking, but really enjoyed seeing the aquarium. Unfortunately, Belle's bandages did bring some strange stares from people but oh well... Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

Follow-up and Home

On Monday (11/27), Dr Reinisch meet us at his Beverly Hills Office for Belle's first official dressing change and to remove her drains (yeah). Interestingly, no one in his office seemed to be expecting him that morning, but he told us he'd be there and he was.

Belle actually started crying a little before Dr Reinisch even touched her but calmed down pretty quickly. Dr R had me sit in the big exam chair, and hold Belle on my lap. Unfortunately, one of her drains had apparently not been working so when he pulled it out there was a lot of blood -- so much so that both Belle and I needed a change of clothes. Unfortunately that meant that after my husband retrieved our suitcase I had to excuse myself to another room to change & clean my clothes (everything but my socks) so I missed a lot of the observing & instruction on how to do the next cup/dressing changes that we'll be doing ourselves (like I wasn't already nervous enough about doing it ourselves -- LOL). (I also did learn from Dr R that the hydrogen peroxide removes blood really well.)

Except for the drain problem, Dr Reinisch seemed happy with the result so far. He said that we can just send him pictures via email and probably won't need to see him again until were ready for phase 2. Belle is seeming much more herself already, although I think she's getting a little too used to getting everything her way – It's hard to say "no" to someone in bandages, isn't it. She walks slightly bent over, although she says the stitches don't bother her, but otherwise she seems great. She keeps pulling back the netting over her good ear to see her new earring...which she loves! LOL

We were all so excited to get home again and see Josh. It had been almost a week since he'd flown home with Grandma, and we all really missed him. It was so wonderful to be home!

Saturday & Sunday

My aunt Carolyn lives about an hour away (assuming non-rush hour traffic) and she was nice enough to put us up for a couple days. I'm not sure her terrified cat will ever recover from the experience of having us there, but it was a nice break from the hotel for us (even if we didn't get to properly meet Puff the very scared cat).

Belle continued to enjoy princess status at Aunt Carolyn's. Here are a couple pictures of her propped-up in bed with many pillows watching a movie on our personal DVD player. The mattress was relocated to the floor so the princess wouldn't fall out.

Thanks Again Aunt Carolyn, Hal & Puff!

Our Hotel

Tuesday through Friday night/Saturday morning we were at the Hollywood Orchid Suites ( http://www.orchidsuites.com/ ). 1753 North Orchid Avenue, Hollywood (behind Chinese Theatre) 323-874-9678

It was a great value if anyone is looking for someplace to stay with more than just one room. It used to be an apartment complex so you get a suite with a full kitchen, instead of just a room. It's not new, but it was nice enough with a lot of room.

It probably varies by time of year, but we were only charged a surgical rate of $109 a night for a deluxe suite with 2 king beds (including secure underground parking) in separate rooms.

They don't have some of the extras like DVD players or the Disney cable channel, but I recommended both so maybe they will next time.

Fri, 11/24 -- 2 days after

When we spoke to Dr. Reinisch yesterday (we didn't want to bother him on Thanksgiving if we didn't need to so we didn't call him, but he looked up our hotel on the Internet & called us just to make sure Belle was okay) he said we could come by his office at the hospital on Friday to get Belle's netting changed because it was bothering her. It was a little stiff where she had gotten sick on it Wednesday night -- yuck.

Since it was also almost time for the pain pack to be taken off of her tummy (for the site on her lower abdomen where the skin graft was taken from) and it already seemed empty, Dr R also took that off so we wouldn't have to.

Dr. R then recommended a shopping plaza (The Groves) that he thought Belle would like because it has an American Girl Store. However, Belle was a little tired so we decided to first go back to the hotel for a nap. On our way out of the hospital, we met 3 very nice doggies who were just showing-up for work! The biggest one, Bernie, weighs 150+ pounds but is very sweet. They provide Animal Assisted Therapy and were only to happy to pose for pictures with Belle. If you want more info about the dogs their website is http://www.loveon4paws.org/

Belle was asleep in the van before we got back to the hotel, but then was unable to nap. So after a while we decided (even though it was Black Friday) to check out the American Girl Store. Of course as soon as we were back in the van, Belle fell back asleep. Luckily, another Mom had recommended that we take a stroller along, so we put Belle in the stroller when we got to the parking garage for the shopping plaza. We were sure that Belle would wake-up when we got to the American Girl Store, but no, she didn't so we decided to come back after getting some lunch nearby. Belle also slept through most of lunch, but we finally were able to wake her enough to have some lunch, and we then quickly returned to the American Girl Store.

Belle liked the store (and thinks her Aunt Stephanie who collects these dolls needs to go) but since Belle just owns the bitty babies (one baby, and the twin boy & girl), she mostly just wanted to hang-out in the Bitty Baby Room so she could pick-out a couple outfits for her dolls. Dad said she could get 2 outfits, so she had some decisions to make.

I thought the most interesting thing about the store was that there is a hair salon for the dolls right in the store. I wish I had taken a picture of it because it was really amusing seeing all the dolls getting their hair done just like at any other person beauty parlor.

Thanksgiving!

When Belle got up for the day, one of the very first things on her mind was checking out her earrings. Of course her entire head was under a net, but with great care we were able to get her one earlobe out just enough to get a peek of the little gold earring. It brought a grin from ear to ear on Belle's face which was so awesome to see!

We had a very quiet Thanksgiving day spent at our hotel. Belle got to try out a lot of her new toys (thanks Aunt Patti, Grandma & Aunt Joan), watch a lot of DVDs and have a couple naps. We had just a couple melt-downs when the Tylenol with codeine had worn off, but because she didn't like the taste she didn't want to take more. Otherwise, she seemed great and was enjoying having both of her parents undivided attention (well except Dad did have some football on TV).

Belle's food of choice for Thanksgiving was fish sticks, but her parents went a little bit more traditional with a Marie Callendars turkey tv-dinners. But since we had an oven (although the gas oven didn't have temperature settings just low, med & high) we decided we needed to also try to bake a pumpkin pie, which eventually turned out pretty good.

After spending the prior day at Children's Hospital (were you see so many really sick kids) it reminded us of how much we have to be thankful for on this thanksgiving and every day!

The Big Day -- Nov 22, 06

We had been told by scheduling to arrive at the hospital at 7am. However, Dr Reinisch told us we weren't scheduled until 10am (he was doing a stage 2 first) so we shouldn't arrive until 8am. Luckily, we took his advice because it turned out to be a very long day (we were there until after 10pm).

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.

The Day Before Surgery -- Nov 21st

We checked-out of the hotel near Disneyland, dropped Josh & Grandma off at the airport and headed to the beach. We met a friend for lunch and a walk on the beach while we wasted some time before we could check-in to the hotel were staying at near the hospital (Hollywood Orchid Suites).

Belle really enjoyed playing in the sand and water, unfortunately Mom wasn't prepared to let her get totally sand covered since we also had a 5pm appointment scheduled with Dr. Reinisch in his Beverly Hills office, and weren't 100% sure we'd be able to check in the room (and get un-sandy) before that appointment.

We have learned that Dr Reinisch frequently pierces ears for his girl patients during the stage 2 surgery. Since we were not anticipating that Belle would need a stage 2, he suggested that he could do it this time. So we spent the evening running through an outdoor mall (Hollywood & Highland) near our hotel looking for earrings. We found a Claire's that sold starter earrings -- yeah! Belle was so excited buying her first earrings, I'm not sure she cared about anything else.

Disneyland

We decided to visit Disneyland (thanks again to the nice neighbor who gave us the tickets) for a couple days before Belle's surgery (instead of after the surgery as the Dr suggested) for 2 reasons. First, we wanted Josh to be there for Disneyland, but not for the surgery (he flew home with Grandma), and second, we were afraid that Belle wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much afterwards.

Josh said his favorite part was the Pirates of the Carriabian Ride. Belle liked getting to "meet and greet" the princesses best.