Lydia's Surgery

Lydia has had minor hip dysplasia pretty much since she was born.  The doctor's have been keeping an eye on it and at her last spina bifida clinic in March, her orthopaedic surgeon suggested that we have them surgically repaired.  Her hips have been mostly in place even though her acetabellum was immature, but her right hip was beginning to move out.  He felt that since she's so mobile, the best course of action is to do this less difficult surgery now to keep her hips in place and to prevent having to do a more in-depth procedure later.  We thought about it for a while, and decided this was our best option.  We scheduled her bilateral pemberton osteotomy with allograft for October 10th. 

 We had a little gathering with my family the night before the surgery, and they all gave her a Build-A-Bear that she named Cuddles.  She obviously LOVES her.

Randall and the kids stayed at Laura's so they wouldn't have to drive so far to the hospital.  My parents came from Vegas to watch the kids while Randall was working, or with me and Lyddies at the hospital. 

 

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I just have blurry phone pictures.

 Lydia all prepped and ready for surgery.  Feeling "a little bit nervous."

 Sleeping the day away after surgery.

I made sure that Randall got the day off because I didn't want a repeat of Carter's recovery from having his tonsils and adenoids removed.  (I blacked out while Carter was upset and puking all over the place.)  Unfortunately, they only allow one person into the recovery room.  I was tempted to have Randall go, but I was too anxious to see my baby girl.  Fortunately, Lydia was much calmer than Carter was (she was in and out of sleep for HOURS), BUT I still blacked out!  The nurse was on the phone relaying info to our hospital room nurse, and I just blacked out.  There were no chairs in our little curtain cubicle, so I had to hurry and sit down on the floor.  What is WRONG with me?!  They say it happens all the time, but it sure is embarassing! 

Lydia got an epidural for the procedure, and woke up with "zero owies" on the 0-10 smiley to frowny face scale.  Unfortunately, she did have low blood pressure and some pretty serious itchiness going on.  They pumped her full of fluids to improve the blood pressure issue, which made her really puffy.  She also was really pale because she had a low blood count, but we opted not to have a transfusion and just let her regenerate on her own.  Even with all that going on, she still attempted a smile for me -

That night Lydia was such a trooper.  They had to take her blood several times because of her low blood levels, and then she itched out her IV and had to have it re-done.  She didn't cry or whine during any of it!  She just sat there and let them do what they needed to do.  I wish I was that brave when I get blood drawn or an IV inserted!  The technicians were totally amazed. 

 

The next day we took out the epidural and changed to an oral pain medication.  The itching went away, and she had a pretty good day.  She actually woke up at 4 am asking for crafts and breakfast.  She settled for watching the Disney channel, but was really excited when 7 am rolled around and she could order off the extensive room service menu.  Lydia also LOVED to push the nurse call button.  She was really good to only do it after she asked me if it was okay, but she was constantly trying to think of things that would necessitate calling for the nurse. Throughout that day she had a little more pain and also a headache, but was still happy to not be so itchy anymore. 

 

Lydia's first jaunt out of bed. You can't really tell by this picture, but she really WAS thrilled -

Lydia's not a huge fan of "Spongebob" (what we named her massive leg pillow), but she's not allowed to put her legs together for 4-6 weeks.  She won't have to wear the pillow all the time, but definitely when she's sleeping and can't make sure that she has her legs apart.  I'll take Spongebob over a spica cast ANY DAY.  She also can't put any weight on her legs for 4-6 weeks. 

We went to the hospital playroom and made a lantern. The kids came to visit and were able to stay for a few hours. Primary Children's is seriously such an amazing place.  They kept bringing crafts and activities for the kids to do, so they weren't bored at all. 

 Meleah stayed the entire day until Randall got home from work and took her to Laura's house.  Lydia loved having a buddy to play with.

They had to put Lydia on oxygen that night because her oxygen levels dropped whenever she was sleeping.  She also continued to have low blood pressure issues because of the loss of blood.  That is why we were a little surprised to hear the next morning that...we could go home!  Hooray!

And then...Lydia threw up.  She was really sick all day, and couldn't keep ANYTHING down.  She didn't even want to order anything from room service!  Sooo, the doctor decided that we needed to stay another night with Lydia on an IV so she wouldn't get dehydrated.  I was pretty tired of my plastic couch bed, but Lydia's health was obviously the most important thing. 

 

FORTUNATELY, Lydia made a miraculous recovery that evening, and was able to eat dinner AND keep it down.  We got clearance to leave and we headed home.  I was a little bit nervous about her oxygen levels, but Randall checked them with his pulse oximeter and they were fine.  (He has one for his home health visits.) 

We've set her up on the couch so that she'll be close to our room if she needs to call us for medicine during the night.  The kids are being so cute, and LOVE to be where Lydia is, even though they could go play anywhere they want. 

Carter has surprised me the most because he seriously does NOT leave Lydia's side.  He's always asking her if she needs anything, or if she has any "owies."  It was so sweet when he first saw her at the hospital.  He said "Wow Lydia, it's SO GOOD to see you!"  and I SWEAR he was a little teary-eyed.  I don't know if it was seeing her hooked up to everything or what, but he's not really a softie by nature, so it's been fun to see that side of him. 

 

Since the kids have been out of school for fall break I've been letting them have "movie nights" in the living room with Lydia.  The boys are pretty bummed that they have to sleep in their room tonight because it's a school night.  I'm still letting Meleah sleep on the other couch in the living room because I don't want the girls to be alone, which the boys quickly pointed out as "not fair!"

 

I'm feeling good now that the surgery is finally past us, and we're on the road to recovery.  I'm sure it's going to be a long 6 weeks, but with how fast time flies, it will be behind us in no time.  I can't even express how thankful I am for all the support we've had from our family and friends during all this.  Lydia has been so spoiled with visitors and gifts, and I am SO GRATEFUL to everyone that has been there for us, and expressed their love and support through texts, calls and Facebook messages.  I've been REALLY tired throughout this whole ordeal, but I'm determined to get out of my pajamas and back to reality...starting tomorrow!   ;)