Things have been crazy in the Pierce household. We had to move on July 3rd, and Nami's surgery was on July 10th. So between unpacking, organizing, and trying to get the kids' rooms ready, life has been on the hectic side in preparation for the surgery. It was probably a good thing though, because it kept me from thinking about the surgery until the day finally arrived. And boy did it come fast. I was a bit of an emotional wreck the night prior to surgery. Fran kept the kids for us that night because we had to take Nami to the hospital by 6am. I cried a lot that night. It was such a scary thought to imagine my son going under and being in surgery. But that morning when they finally took him back, I was surprisingly calm. I had anticipated him being hooked up to machines and everything while they wheeled him back to the operating room, but the nurse just held him in her arms as they wheeled the bed beside them to the operating room. There were no tears... at least not from Nami. Afterwards, it was pretty impressive how informed they kept us. The nurse called us 30 minutes after they started surgery to inform us that everything was going great. Then the ENT doctor came to meet us and explained that he finished his procedure and everything went well. Another thing I liked about the wait was the monitor they had in the waiting room which showed you what they were doing. If they were in surgery, they would have a knife by his name, and when he was done with surgery there would be a band aid beside it. I kept looking for the band aid after the last call from the nurse letting us know that the doctor had finished his soft palate and was starting on his lip. Soon after, the band aid popped up beside his name. Then Dr. Ha came to inform us that everything went well and Brock and I were now allowed to see him in the recovery room. Fran, Uncle Barry, and Larry were wtih us in the waiting room, but unfortunately they would not allow anyone to the recovery room but the parents. At first sight, I was taken back. He was still my Nami, but it was hard to recognize him. Maybe it was because he was swollen from all of the saline, but he just didn't look like my Nami. I was nervous to hold him, because I was afraid I would hurt him somehow. But he had plenty of pain meds and slept the whole day mostly. At first I was worried that he was sleeping too much, but once I saw him open up those big brown eyes, I recognized him! I saw my Nami and fell in love all over again. He did so well while at the hospital. We stayed on top of his meds. I made sure that each nurse he had was aware of his pain med schedule, and they did a good job keeping up with it. We went home the next day and everything started to work itself out. We knew that the first week would be hard. We knew that Nami would have a really hard time with the syringe and the no-no's. Surprisingly, he slept with the no-no's okay. Not good, but okay, which is much better than I expected. The feedings were the worst though. He would toss and turn and flail his head around. I felt like we were drowning him, but he had to eat. We tried different tricks like putting him in front of the TV and having him focus on something else as we fed him. We also tried various ways in placing the catheter in his mouth so that it would not feel like he was drowning. Sometimes our tricks would work, and we would be so thankful. But most of the time it was dreadful and frustrating for all of us. Nami couldn't sleep more than 4 hours at a time because of his no-no's (prior to his surgery he would sleep 10 hours straight starting when he was only 2 months old). He is a tummy sleeper and that couldn't happen until after his stitches were taken out. So on July 16th, I got the best birthday present. My baby boy finally got his stitches out and we let him sleep on his belly. He did so much better. He still couldn't be fed through a bottle until the 20th. And when that day came, he gladly accepted the bottle. He has been doing so well. We are so proud of that little guy. He looks amazing, and he is finally sleeping 8-10 hours through the night again (wish I could say the same for myself). I just want to thank you all again for the kind words, love, and support you have shown us.
Special thanks to the ladies at Brock's office - Sandy, Cindy, Joy, Olivia, and Lisa for the delicious food you prepared for us. Also to Fran, Lisa, Kira, and Amber for helping out with Brycen whenever I needed to take Nami to his doctor appointments. And finally thanks to my helpers at the house - Blaire, Caden, Mara, and Brock. You all have been so patient with me and willing to help out with the kids whenever I ask. Thank you so much. I love you all so very much!
P.S. Fran, thanks again for doing our laundry :)
Looking forward Nami will need to go back to the doctor on August 2nd to get the stent out of his nose. And then some time between 18-20 months, Nami will have his hard palate surgery. As long as everything heals correctly, the only other surgeries he will need is the hip bone graft surgery for his gum line at 6 years, and then his rhinoplasty once he is 16 years. I'm hopeful.
Here is a slide show of what we have been doing throughout this time. Some of this is for my cleft mommy friends (Apryl and Natasha), but it is also for my own keep sake. I hope you enjoy!
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