But sure enough, when we took her to the surgeon a few days later, she confirmed that surgery was the only way to remedy the problem. Lilah had what is called a urachal remnant...basically a connection between the bladder and the umbilical cord that usually closes up in utero, but had not. Which meant that the fluid leaking from her belly button was actually urine. And the only way to fix this was to go in and tie off that connection. So our baby girl was set to have surgery...general anesthesia, incision, and all. And while that was not the first thing on my list of things I'd hoped my daughter would do in the first few months of her life, I had a peace about it. It seemed like the best thing for her. So on March 29th, that's what she did.
We showed up at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at 6:30am. Entirely too early, really. But two hours before her surgery like they'd told us. Check-in was quick, and before long we were in the pre-op room. Lilah was sleeping soundly in her car seat and in retrospect probably should have stayed that way for at least another half an hour. But they had us wake her up so they could start to get her prepped. She was in surprisingly good spirits for having been awoken early in a strange place with bright lights and unfamiliar faces.
And that lasted for a while. But let's remember that they had us come two hours before the surgery. And add to that the fact that she had to fast for four hours before the surgery. So needless to say, by the time they were ready to take her back to surgery, she was not a happy camper. In fact, she'd been screaming her head off for some time.
But off she went, and off we went to the lobby to have some breakfast and wait for the surgeon to check in with us. We prayed for our baby girl, and then we found ways to keep ourselves occupied. And in less than an hour, the surgeon came out to tell us that everything had gone well, and Lilah was in recovery. They would come and get us soon to bring us back to the recovery room.
It was a little strange to see her right after the surgery. She was groggy and her cries sounded strange.
I nursed her, although she was extremely sleepy and it was hard to get her to eat much. Almost every time she moved, she would cry. Which, of course, made her mama sad. But the nurse said she was looking good and told us we could go whenever we were ready. So we got ourselves ready to go and, with tylenol in hand, headed home.
Lilah and I both headed straight to bed. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because I had to wake her up an extra time to feed her before her fast and then get up early to head to the hospital. And of course, it had been somewhat of a stressful morning. So I was exhausted. Lilah was too. She slept for most of the six or seven hours following her surgery.
Any time she did wake up, she would cry her strange-sounding cry. I would nurse her and she would drift off again. At the end of her very long nap, she stayed awake for about two hours and seemed in much better spirits. I even got some smiles out of her.
We were told to give her tylenol around the clock for the first 24 hours and then as needed. She did not like taking the tylenol, but we managed to get it in her. She had a dose in the middle of the night the night of the surgery, and the next morning when it would have been time to give her another, she seemed perfectly fine. It was 24 hours after her surgery and you wouldn't even know that she'd had surgery if it weren't for the incision! I was so glad that my baby girl was herself again. And so thankful that the whole experience was behind us.
Ever since we found out about the surgery, I felt like I should be counting my blessings. We have enough friends and acquaintances who have gone through such tough things with their babies that this seemed to pale in comparison. It was surgery. But it was one surgery. And then it would all be over. I can't say how grateful I am for that. And for how quickly Lilah bounced back.
"Take that, surgery!"
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