Iowa City- Take 2

Last week's appt. went very well. The ball is officially rolling, and now I have new worries, that I'm working through. We have one month to keep her healthy for surgery, she cannot be sick, otherwise they will have to reschedule. I'm sure you families that have little one's can appreciate the fact that it's hard to keep kiddos from getting sick when the weather changes. She cannot have a rash, which she seems to be proned to, but we're getting that figured out as well. It seems her skin is just as sensitive as her insides. :) And, of course, if an emergency happens, (which we'd totally understand) then our surgery could get canceled, even at the last minute.

So smooth is what we want, but as we all know, smooth is rarely what we get.

When we saw Dr. M this time, he seemed much happier and pleased with her progress. It felt good being able to tell him, "She is milk soy protein intolerant, and she is 17th percentile, weighing in at 13.6 lbs." Then, of course, he got right to the point. He asks me, "Are you ready to go then?"
"Yes" we both reply.
He said, " My next available is not until July, but I don't want to wait that long for her, so I'm going to squeeze you in." He left and came back, saying, " I'm going to fit you in May, how does that sound?" I smiled and nodded, he continued explaining, "There is another baby that is doing a full reconstruction and you will be after her."

~Now let me break here, for just a moment, to give you some background. I have been on this site called craniokids.org. It's a support site that has lots of parents, mainly moms, talking with each other, supporting one another that are going through these same things. There are different kinds of cranio, so everyone looks a little different, but it's the same underlining fear that drives us to this kind of support. I've been talking to a few Iowa moms, but one in particular, is using the same docs, same hospital, and everything. So it's been nice as we are both treading alongside each other. She lives in northern Iowa so I've never met her. They were scheduled for surgery a few weeks ago, but it got canceled due to the little girl having a high count. (?) So they rescheduled. I knew, by what she's told me, that it got scheduled for May 13th. So when Dr. M was telling me "May" and that he was doing another little baby, that morning, I thought, surely that's her. ~

I asked, "What date?"
"May 13th." He replied. I was smiling so big at that point, they probably thought I was a little weird. I was so excited. I may be being to zealous, and I know this doesn't happen everyday, but I thought, 'surely this is going to be it, cause how could it not be God ordained that we end up being together with something like this.' I have learned that both, this woman and I, have gone through many trials and are about to face this next hurdle. God has blessed us with this special fellowship, and that excites me. There will be some family there of ours, but it will also be so nice to be in the company of someone who knows exactly what we are going through as parents of these sweet babes.

We were able to ask his P.A. questions while Dr. M went on to his next appt. She is very nice, and answered all our questions very patiently. We will go to the hospital the day before for pre-op work ups, we'll hopefully stay at Ronald McDonald (with this other family as well) and meet them, then in the morning, we'll have the chance to sit with the other family until Tesh is ready for prep for her surgery, which may not be till noon, maybe 1.(They are shaving her whole head for this) The surgery will last 4 hours, from start to finish. I will not be able to hold her for a few more hours after that, concerning everything is going well, she needs to be stable. They'll give her morphine for the first day, and only maybe a dose the second day, if needed. Otherwise she'll be on Tylenol or Motrin! Can you believe that? We'll be in the PICU for 2-3 days, then sent to a normal children's room, for another few days, until swelling goes down. The swelling has to go down enough for a protective helmet to be placed on her poor head before we are able to leave. She will have suture stitches that will be taken out after 2 weeks. She will wear the helmet for 6-8 weeks. (yes, I am totally decorating that thing :) So that's the plan. Even though this is very hard to imagine actually doing all this, I know that she will be fine. Of course, that's what my plead to the King is. These babies have been known to bounce back from surgeries like this and amaze us parents as they do it. One year from now, no one will suspect that she's even had surgery. That's what I'm told anyway....

God is so good. God is so good. God is so good.... He's so good to me.......

Thank you Lord......  for going ahead of us, on this road we are about to embark. Thank you for the fellowship only You could have provided. Thank you for my sweet Teshura, my sweet "gift" that You've given us. Thank you for opening my eyes to what Your love feels like, even when we are hurting and suffering.

For better or worse...... I'm Yours and You are mine.....