Evelyn's Surgery

Evelyn finally got the surgery on her eyes on December 28th.  It was nice to finally have it done after several months of knowing it would happen, although I was a nervous wreck about it.  For those who don't remember, Evelyn had been having problems with her eyes since birth.  They were always goopy and runny and she would frequently get dark red circles under her eyes.  After a consultation with a pediatric opthamologist,  it was determined that she most likely had a membrane at the base a canal that goes from her tear ducts down through the nasal cavity that needed to be broken.  Most babies are born with that membrane in place, but it normally disintegrates on it's own.  In Evelyn's case, it just didn't, which led to the clogs, redness and other problems.  What they essentially had to do was insert a probe through her tear ducts, and down the canal to break apart the membrane and flush out any other materials that may have been clogging the canal.  It's a simple and fairly common procedure, but the scary part was that she would have do go under to do it.  So Matt and I took her in early in the morning where she was weighed and examined.  Then they gave her a sedative to keep her calm when they took her away from us to perform the surgery.

Being a trooper in her tiny scrubs at the Dr.'s office

A wee bit tipsy after the first sedative.  "Drunk" Evelyn was pretty entertaining

After that, they carried her away to do the procedure.  That was a hard moment in my life, watching her being carried away from me to have something like this done at such a young age.  But I kept it together and waited patiently for it all to be over.  I have never been so nervous before in my life.  And I have to give a shout out to all our friends and family who sent us their love, thoughts and prayers on that day.  I was a bit more of a basket case than I should have been for such a simple thing, but I'm grateful for all the support from everyone who is so tolerant of this neurotic mommy.  After about an hour, we got the good news that it was done and she was recovering.  The doctor said it went very smoothly.  We got to sit with our little princess while she was still out until she woke up.  She was still hooked up to tubes and monitors, so I had to use all the willpower I possessed to keep myself from scooping her up and snuggling her in my arms.  Instead I stroked her hair and talked quietly to her until she woke up.

My angel

We were told that she would probably be very angry and fussy when she woke, but she was surprisingly mellow.  We got to take her home a little later where she rested for the day.  By the next day, she was up to her old antics and her eyes were so much better!  For a couple of days, there was a little bit of blood coming out her nose and tear ducts (I know, ew), but after that, everything was perfect!

Resting up at home.  Happy, content, and RELIEVED

This experience made me all the more grateful for what I have and for my two healthy, happy children.  I have such a deep and profound respect for all those parents out there and their little ones who go through surgeries and hospital visits on a regular basis.  Those moms are certainly stronger than me and all deserve medals for what they go through, just as their kids do.