Surgery recap

Hello to all our blog reading friends!

Molly's surgery was this morning, and it went well.  We had to be at the hospital at 5:30, so we did end up getting a hotel room in Little Rock.  Neither Nathan or I got very much sleep though, so we are left wondering, would we have been more rested if we had woken up at 2am and just drove straight in to the hospital?!?!?! Not sure.  We'll have a lot more to consider if we are in this position again!

Molly was very intrigued by her early-morning adventure

Molly was all smiles when she woke up and very laid back the entire morning.  We even turned off the lights while we were in her pre-op room and let her sleep for another 45 minutes while we were waiting for her time to go back.  I think we are in a sweet spot of her being old enough to go a bit longer between feedings, yet not old enough to understand what's about to happen, so she is just her normal happy self.  This made the wait for the procedure much more peaceful for Nathan and I. 

my beautiful blue-eyed girl

have Mr. Monkey- will travel

While we wait, we meet what I assume is pretty much all of the staff that will be in with Molly.  We are pretty familiar with all of Dr. Buck-Miller's staff at this point, but we always have a new anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist.  I did not really like the anesthesia team the last time we were there, but I had much better vibes from this one!  They took a lot of time with us, which is wonderful because the anesthesia really is the hardest part about the entire surgery. 

As usual, Dr. Buck Miller is very reassuring.  She told us that Molly is responding so well to the propranolol, that we may not have to continue the laser treatments for the whole year-- great news (particularly since our insurance is changing tomorrow)!  But she will want to see Molly again in about 2 months for another treatment.  She also told us we have to be VERY cautious about Molly's exposure to the sun- even when she's in the shade.  If her spot hyper-pigments and turns brown, there is no laser that can correct it.  So please be understanding of us, if we decline your invitations to outdoor events-- it's nothing personal :) 

Coming out from the anesthesia was much rougher on Molly this time than last.  This was hard on us, because it was unexpected.  But by the time we made a stop at the coffee bar and I pulled the car around (how long does it take to move your car literally maybe 500 ft-- well that depends on how many one way streets and construction cones stand between you and your destination...), Molly was well on her way to dreamland.  She slept most of the way home.  And has continued to sleep most of the day.  We just had a couple of hours of happy time with her which is very reassuring.  Hopefully she'll continue to get better and better! 

Thanks for all of your prayers and well-wishes!

headed home- can you see her milk mustache?

Just a quick note

Hey everyone!  I just wanted to remind you to keep sweet Molly in your prayers this week.  Her surgery is this Thursday.  She turned 16 weeks on Sunday-  what a big girl she's turning into!  When I say she's 16 weeks, it seems like she is so old, yet at the same time 16 weeks seems like an awfully short amount of time.  She has taken us on quite a ride these past few months :)  We continue to give God praise for all the joy she has given us.  We are so blessed to have such an amazing daughter!
 

Molly- then

Molly- now

Specific prayer points-

- We won't know until Wednesday afternoon what time Molly's surgery time is/when we need to check her in.  Please pray that God will have the perfect surgery slot for her.  We would like to make all of our travel on one day, so that we can avoid the cost of a hotel room.  So we are praying for a check-in time of 9 or later, which would enable us to make the 2.5 hour drive in the morning.
- Please pray that she will not need a steroid shot this time.  The shot was the hardest thing for her to recover from last time.
- Pray for Dr. Buck Miller and the rest of her  team, that they will have steady hands and the wisdom to make the right choices for Molly's treatment.
- Pray for tact for those who will encounter Molly after the surgery.  This may seem like a silly request, but Molly's face will turn black over the entire area that they laser.  I know I will be increasingly sensitive to what people will say about her face.  So I guess this really boils down to pray for me!

Thank you for all of your love and support!

Surgery Re-rescheduled

So, we found out last week that they are raising the out-of-pocket max on our health insurance policy effective July 1st.  We've already hit our out-of-pocket for Molly, and though we anticipate we will hit the new one too, we'd like to delay another round of hospital bills as long as possible.  SO we've rescheduled her surgery once again.  What day you ask?  June 30th.  Oh the difference a day makes!

Tiny Triumphs

We've had several tiny triumphs over the past couple of weeks.  It is so fun to watch Molly change and grow into a "tiny human" as Nathan likes to call her.  Here are some of the highlights:

5/22-  I pumped a full bottle (5oz).  That had never happened before, and it was amazing!  Nathan and I are looking forward to more nights (or days) out in our future.

5/23-  She put herself to sleep in her swing.  The entire week she ended up going down by herself in the swing.  Something happened over that weekend though that undid it.  Oh well.  It was a blissful week :)

5/24- She started intentionally batting at the toys on her bouncy seat.  So fun to watch her slowly lift her hand and then eventually smack her toy and smile! 

5/27-  She started playing with the toys on her carseat.  This is a pretty big deal.  Molly has slipped back into hating her car rides, but each one is slowly getting better.  We are learning how to best time our car trips (random truth-  Molly hates the car rides the most when she has just eaten and has a fresh diaper and was in the midst of her happy time before getting in the car).  Hopefully as she continues to play with her toys it will help entertain her.

5/28-  Nathan and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.  This is more than a tiny triumph of course.  But we were away from Molly for several hours during the day, and we were able to enjoy ourselves!

5/29-  Molly turned 12 weeks.  It is so hard to believe that she has been here that long.  It seems like not that long and forever all at once if that makes sense.

5/30- Molly started to really vocalize.  She has been getting more enthusiastic ever since.  It is so fun to spend time "talking" with her!  She talks when she is really happy, which is funny because it has greatly extended our nursing sessions because she takes a little break in the middle to talk and talk and talk.  Such fun!

5/31-  Molly found her toes!  She loves to grab them and hold on.  One time she held on while she swung her leg almost completely to her side.  She looked like a little cheerleader.  It was pretty funny :) 

 

6/1-  Molly slept through the night!  That's the second time she's done that.  Nathan was out of town this week, and Wednesday I was all on my own (mom spent the night on Tuesday since Dad was out of town too).  Before I went to bed I prayed and asked God to give me the strength to do whatever needed to be done that night-- obviously He knew I'm not too strong on my own!!  Nathan is such a help to me; I couldn't imagine going through this journey with anyone else.  I am blessed.