So Very Thankful!!

Tate did so very well on Friday.  My mother came over and spent the night with us on Thursday after having just returned from her 2 week Hawaiian cruise Wednesday night at midnight!  Have I mentioned how simply awesome she is?  We were up Friday morning at Tate's normal time of 545am.  I kept him in our room as I got ready and let him play a bit and do his favorite activity...reading books!  He is in LOVE with 'Green Eggs and Ham' these days.  (FYI...I love listening to him read out loud.  He actually does a fabulous job especially with his book 'Subway' his second favorite.  You can actually get the gist of the story by listening to him)

We were in the car on our way by 7am.  We arrived at the Surgical Center around 725am for our 730 appointment.  While Grandmommy read books and play with Tate, I filled out our paperwork.  He did start to get a bit grumpy;  this is a kid who has a huge bowl of cheerios, container of plain yogurt and an entire banana in addition to about 3 ounces of coconut milk every morning no later than 630, so this was quite a stretch for him.   He started going through my bags looking for a snack around 8am.  Lots of cuddles, books and song singing helped a bit.



At 820, the nurse came and took Tate and me back to the surgical suite.  The anesthesiologists and nursing staff were all so very warm, cheerful and kind.  Dr. B was in a great mood and since the case before us had cancelled or no-showed, he had time to tickle and play with Tate a bit which made me feel alot more at ease.  Once all the forms were signed I removed Tate's pajama top and put him in his Tasmanian Devil hospital gown and Nurse Lisa told me it was time for him to go.  I had been fine up until that point, but my heart just sank.  I gave my sweet boy a big hug and a kiss, told him I loved him and held him up for Lisa to gather into her arms.  And I missed him so much I ached.  But he went happily sucking on his sue-y and holding onto to his hippo.  And then I was fine.  The tears so close to the rim never spilled over as I felt this incredible peace come over me.  



I was back in the waiting room at 837 with my mom.  At 910 they came to get me to go be with my baby.  As we walked into the recovery room he was on his side covered in a warmed white blanket, his gorgeous eyelashes brushing his sweet cheeks.  His nurse was just rubbing his back and whispering into his ear, what I'll never know.  But I was so happy to see him being cared for by someone so very loving.  


As always, waking up from anesthesia is not the most pleasant of experiences.  I held him in my arms as he came around.  At first he was just whimpering, but he became a bit more vocal.  After going over all our post-op instructions we were on our way home by 940 with Grandmommy driving and me in the back with sweet Tate.

We took the rest of the day easy.  My mom stayed with him while I took his prescription to the pharmacy.  Poor  little guy was unable to walk initially from the caudal anesthesia utilized to numb him.  He simply did not understand that initially, but quickly took to crawling around once we were home.  The numbness blessedly lasted about 4 hours in his groin area though he was up and walking about 45 minutes after we returned home.  However, he did find it a hoot that he couldn't walk.

My mother left once I had Tate down for his nap.  I am eternally grateful for all she does for Tate and me, and to my father as well.  I know they were both extremely worried about this sweet boy of ours and the love and care they shower him as well as me with carries through those nights when I'm up alone with him as I was Friday evening around 1251am when he woke up crying because of his 'owie.'  I did give him a dose of Lortab when he went down for the night at 7am and gave him another dose when he woke then brought him into bed with me.  He slept fairly well the rest of the night waking around 530 ready to read 'Green Eggs and Ham' again, though complained about his owie quickly around 6.  During the days I gave him Ibuprofen which seemed to dull the pain quite a bit.  I am putting the neosporin-pain relief on his diaper in the area of his penis at each diaper change which seems to help.  And much to my surprise before I put him down for his nap both Friday and Saturday he asked to go potty on his potty chair and DID!  He hopped up both times after peeing screeching "Good Job Tate!"  Love it!!!

Saturday morning we had a pajama day, and it was just great!!  Just the two of us all morning (well and Vincent!).  We played, did laundry, chased each other, aggrieved the cat, read lots of books and had many a tickle fest and his favorite acrobatic activity of 'upside down baby.'  He napped well again, after peeing in his potty :) and we then ventured off to The Pumpkin Patch at the Nature Discovery Center here in town.  I was worried about putting him in the carseat and fastening the belt, but he didn't complain.  Though that pacifier was ever present this weekend along with his hippo, so how sad could he be?

We had a nice time at the Center.  It wasn't very crowded and the weather was perfect.  There was a moon walk obstacle course that of course Tate loved, loved, loved.  You would never know that a mere 24 hours earlier he was in the midst of a surgical procedure under general anesthesia!!  He painted a tombstone, rode yet another amusement park ride and walked through a mini pumpkin patch though he was not the least bit interested in bringing one home. 

Another uneventful evening though there some teary complaints about his owie at bedtime, so I gave him another dose of Lortab at 7; he awoke at 311am crying and crying about his owie.  My poor baby.  I gave him more Lortab because he was so sad.  He woke up at 625 in a great mood thank goodness.  We hung out at home and packed up our stuff to go spend tonight at my parents'.  (They are watching Tate for me tomorrow, as I'm uncomfortable sending him to daycare.  We have to lube up his diaper after every change to keep the area moist, so (1) he doesn't 'stick' to the diaper (2) right now with the neosporin it provides some pain relief.  We have to keep vaseline on it for 2 weeks after we stop the neosporin tomorrow.)  

So, we got here late this morning after a quick stop at Babies 'R Us for some new cute clothes for the little man.  We had lunch then took a 2 1/2 hour nap together!  I then did more Baby Tate shopping at Carter's while he hung out with Grandmommy and Papa.  He was in desperate need of winter cheap daycare clothes.  I refuse to send him in his cute, more expensive weekend clothes, because he comes home absolutely filthy from daycare.  Though that's a sign he's having a great time playing with his little friends.

So tonight I'm so thankful that my baby is sleeping soundly here at my parents' home.  They have lived in this house for about 6 years, so this isn't the house I grew up in.  I can't wait to show Tate the house I grew up in when he's old enough.  Sometimes I wish he could run around that old house of ours and maybe hear the laughter and fun that was left in the walls of that house.  

A new week starts tomorrow.  Off to work I go definitely not wanting to leave my sweet boy.  Though he'll be in great hands I'll miss him.  These 3 days together have been so wonderful.  I love these weekends when it's just the 2 of us so much.  Though I'm aware it makes for a very intense relationship between my son and me;  it's one I cherish.  As I held him tonight against my chest I was just overwhelmed with how very much I love being his mother, how much I love mothering this precious boy.