Surgery Day

Thursday was surgery day for the girls. We woke up bright and early and loaded the car to treck over to Oakland.

We had to be in Oakland in at 9 am, we got there and got checked in at the surgery center. The nurses were great, and gave us our own pre-op room and it would be the room Addi used too so we could leave our stuff in there between surgeries.

They did the pre-op stuff and got us all settled, the girls got their cute little gowns on. Natalie got some meds to make her sleepy since she was going first. Within just a few minutes of getting the meds she was super sleepy. Once she was sleepy the nurse took her back to the operating room. At that point we went to the cafeteria to have some lunch at relax for a hour or so until we could take Addison back to finish her pre-op.

We sat in the cafeteria and had some lunch with Dan's mom who had come down early and relaxed for a little while until my parents came. Then we waited about another half hour before we got the call to bring Addison up for the rest of her pre-op. We knew that once we were called for Addison that they were in the "closing up" stage of Natalie's surgery.

We headed back up to pre-op and got settled in, Addison got her sleepy medicine and we were just starting to relax when surgeons came in to tell us that Natalie's surgery went perfectly and that she was up in the PICU recovering.

Dan stayed with Addison until they were ready for her while I went up to the PICU to be with Natalie. When I got up there she was still out and the nurse was just getting her settled in and checking her out. About 20 minutes later Dan came up to the PICU and we sat with Natalie.

She was pretty upset when she woke up but the nurse was great about keeping on top of her meds and she continued to sleep. She was most upset about the IVs and the catheter.

About an hour later Addison came up from the PICU and was still out. The nurses tended to her while we sat with Natalie and finally we were able to see Addison as well. They had put them next to each other so we could easily go between the girls.

At this point we were able to have our parents come up to visit, and that was nice. It was nice for the girls to have the distractions and for us to have some time to relax and know that someone was always sitting with the girls.

We were able to have some dinner while my parents stayed with the girls. Poor Natalie had a reaction to the morphine while we were at dinner and threw up...but again the nurses were great.

Dan and I were both able to sleep there as each child could have one parent room in. So we were all able to be together and both able to be with both girls.

Over all the surgery went perfectly and our care was amazing. We loved all of our nurses, the surgeons and the PAs. Our recovery time was great as well and I'll post more about that later. But for now I leave you with pictures of the girls in their gowns pre-op.