Today was the day.
Not a major surgery, by any means. But a surgery, nonetheless.
And one involving anesthesia. Which means no food or drink after midnight the night before. Try explaining that to a 2 1/2 year old!
We were to report to the hospital at 8:30 for check-in. The wait wasn't too terrible, especially since Will had his cars. He rolled them along the seats in the waiting area, and only tried to escape out the door once or twice.
We were then taken to "Gabby's Room," a special room for pediatric patients. Waiting on the bed, was a hospital gown and hat, along with a small stuffed dalmatian dog. Will had no problem getting up on the bed (with his stuffed Grover and cars) and PBS became our good friend today. Thankfully, Sesame Street was on! Yipee!
A nurse came in and administered Versed to Will to help relax him. And relax him it did! The nurse said we had to be careful to not let him off the bed on his own because the medication can cause problems with balance. It didn't take long for Will to become like jello as he watched Sesame Street.
But like all good things, Sesame Street came to an end. The next PBS show wasn't quite as entertaining for Will, so he got a little restless. Thankfully, it wasn't much longer before the surgeon arrived, marked Will's right side as preparation for the surgery, and the nurses came to take him to the operating room.
The nurses talked to Will about taking him to another room with toys and that he'd get the shoe covers the nurses were wearing. Will let me place him in the Little Tykes wagon along with his new dog and Grover, and the nurses added a blanket and pillows. And off he went.
No screams.
No tears.
Then the waiting began. However, it was much shorter than I anticipated. It seemed like after a short period of time, we were summoned to meet with the surgeon, who informed us the surgery went quite well, he repaired the hernia, and that he did not find another hernia on Will's left side.
After speaking with the surgeon, we went back to the waiting room to wait until Will was brought back to his room. When they called us and told us to head back, we walked very quickly to Will's room, taking a wrong turn before eventually making it back. We were so anxious to see him and touch him and we walked into the room...
....and he wasn't back yet.
We didn't have to wait long, though. When the nurse wheeled him into the room (this time in the bed, not the wagon) he briefly opened his eyes and saw us standing there. The nurse said that when he was starting to wake up from the anesthesia and she asked if he wanted to go see
Mommy, his eyes opened up wide. Oh, bestill my heart, my little guy! After attempting to take off the wrapping that covered his I.V., Will turned on his stomach, folded his hands underneath his body (his usual sleeping position), and went to sleep.
Eric and I took turns running to the cafeteria to grab something for lunch. When I returned from calling Shelly to tell her Will was doing fine (and to pass the news along to Alainna and Jack), Will was moving around quite a bit. It turned out that by sleeping on his hands, he had pulled out his I.V. Not a big deal, the nurse told us, and disconnected it. He'd already had some pain medication, and seemed ready to sit with Daddy.
Once again, PBS was our friend. William sure picked a good time to wake up! Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder distracted him as the anesthesia wore off. He was so intent on watching the shows that he wasn't trying to move around a lot.
The poor little guy was SOOO thirsty when the nurse brought in some water. Will usually doesn't like drinking from straws, but under the circumstances, I think he decided it was the best thing to do! He also had some juice as we waited for the clearance to leave the hospital.
After making sure the fluids stayed down (and came out the other end) we received the clearance to leave the hospital. We went through the discharge instructions with the nurse, signed the necessary paperwork, and off we went!
Until I realized I left my camera in Will's room.
Thankfully, I was able to run back inside and grab it before we left.
The ride home was uneventful - until we were about 2 minutes from home. Whatever fluids hadn't come one end, came out the other. Poor little guy.
It didn't take long for Will to be back to his old self. He was a little quieter than usual, but perked up as the day went along. He played with his cars and trains and watched a little more Thomas. He had a delivery of balloons from Grandma, Grandpa, Memere, Pepere, and Jack and Alainna. I was glad Jack and Alainna were able to see Will and know that he was okay - especially Alainna. After seeing the three interact, it validated our decision to have Jack and Alainna spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I don't think Will was quite ready for the usual rowdiness the three create.
He ate a little supper, drank some more fluids, that, as of the writing of this post, have stayed down, and had some quiet book time with Mom. Then, out of nowhere, he laid his head down, and I asked him if he wanted to go to bed. He nodded. Even though it was over an hour earlier than his usual bed time, he walked into his room, let me tuck him into bed, and went to sleep.
We were so proud of our little Will today. We love you, little guy!
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