William's Surgery

A few months ago when we went in for William's well child checkup, our pediatrician told us that he might have an undescended testicle. She wasn't 100% sure so she referred us to Dr Rosenshine, a local pediatric surgeon. He would examine William and if he thought they would descend on their own, great. If not, he would operate.
So, at the end of November we had our appointment. Dr Rosenshine examined him for about two seconds then informed me that surgery was a must. I have to admit, my heart sank. My baby had to have surgery! True, an orchiopexy is a fairly common procedure and our surgeon has done several of them, but it's still surgery! On an 11 month old! I left the office feeling so sorry for my sweet little boy.
We scheduled the surgery for Dec 16th. The day before my annual Barnes family Christmas party. Perfect timing right? Not only was William having surgery, but he also had two more teeth coming in on the top of his mouth. So what do you get when you mix a teething baby, a surgery, and a Christmas party for ten adults and ten children? An extremely frazzled Mother!
December 16th rolls around and we arrive at the hospital at 7 AM to check in. William had been up all of the previous night with his aching gums so neither Mom or Dad were very perky. The nurses I had talked to on the phone had me believing this would be an all day thing, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly everything was done. We were back in the pre-op area by 8:30 and William was in the OR by about 9:30-9:45 ish.

Waiting with Dad. We were all so tired.

My sweet baby boy

 It was so hard to hand him over to the nurse when it came time for him to leave for the surgery! He was crying and would reach for Jon and I and just had the most pathetic look on his face! I could almost hear him thinking, "Why are you giving me to this guy?! Why are you leaving me?!" I admit, I did get a little teary but I didn't actually cry. It was so hard to just sit in the waiting room. All of the nurses kept asking, "How's Mom doing?" hah. I didn't have the guts to tell them just how nervous I was.

In pre-op

There was one lady that saw me sitting there and I'm assume I must have looked pretty stressed because she came over and asked if my baby was in surgery. I told her that he was, but that it wasn't serious. She asked if Dr Rosenshine was his surgeon and when I told her that he was, she told me that he did a surgery for her grandson and that he was the best surgeon in the area. She talked to me for a few more minutes and as she left, told me that she would be praying for my little one. I can't tell  you what a comfort that kind woman was to me! I know it may seem silly but I really was very nervous about this "simple" little surgery! Her prayers were greatly appreciated and I left that conversation feeling much more at ease. 


Thankfully the surgery only lasted about 25 minutes. William had two recoveries he had to be in. The first, we weren't allowed to go in, but after about an hour they let us back. He was so out of it! All of the staff told me how sad he was. He would look around at the nurses and when he didn't see anyone he knew he would lay his head back and cry. :( Once we got back, I took him from the nurse and he immediately laid his head on my chest and fell asleep.  We had to stay in the recovery area for another hour or so to make sure that he was awake and that he would eat before they let us go home.

Cuddling with Mom in recovery

conked out

Once we did get home, William slept on and off for the rest of the day. The next day everything was pretty much back to normal. He was pleasant and walking around. Every now and then he would fuss, but nothing significant. Today, however, he has a head cold and is absolutely miserable. He's been coughing and sneezing all day long. Hopefully it wont last long and we will have our happy, carefree William back before Christmas.