Finally....

Before you all come beating down my door, I thought that I'd better get an update on here. Adalynn is doing great. Surgery started almost an hour late and she was a trooper. It is extremely hard to explain to a 3 month old why she can't eat, but Adalynn did great. She spent most of the time before surgery sucking on my finger. My mom was able to come to the hospital and be with us before hand as well as our pastor from Mars Hill. It was so nice to see familiar faces. I was really sick to my stomach the entire time, but I managed. John's parents arrived on Saturday afternoon and we were so glad to have someone at the house to keep the boy's and get them to school and back.

They finally took Adalynn back around 1:05 p.m. My mom and I ran across the street and visited with Ryan and Missy for a little bit. Ryan was getting chemo and it definitely helped the time pass a lot faster. We grabbed lunch and headed back to the surgical pre-op room they had us in. My mom had to leave and get her car checked out, but John and I waited very impatiently for them to tell us she was out. Around 2:45, they said she was in recovery and they were ready to move us to a room upstairs so we could be waiting for her. Much to our surprise, she was already in the room waiting for us. She was so groggy and looked so different. It took a little while for me to accept that it was my baby. She was very swollen and she didn't even open her eyes for several hours. Every once in awhile she would cry out in pain, but then they gave her some morphine and again she was out for awhile longer. I held her in my arms for over 5 hours, not letting anyone else hold her. I didn't give her up until after 8 p.m., when I finally had to pump. She ate from her bottle around 5 p.m. and we were so glad that she was willing to take her bottle.

John's parents came with the boys and both were a little hesitant at first. She was really swollen and has lots of dried blood mixed in with the glue. But, after awhile, they wanted to kiss her. Broderick was most excited about the game station that could be wheeled to our room. The surgeon finally came in and said everything went great. She has 3 layers of stitches, and then it is all glued on top of that. She does have to wear her arm restraints for at least a week as everything heals...no fingers in the mouth!!! We made it through the night, and they took her off the morphine and put her on Tylenol with Codeine. We were discharged from the hospital around 12 p.m. (less than 24 hours after her surgery). We couldn't believe we were going home.

She has been doing really well at home. We have started giving her regular Tylenol instead of Tylenol with Codeine. She hasn't seemed like she is in a lot of pain and we are even getting smiles and coos. My mom went back to Indiana last night, but John's parents will finish the week out with us-making sure that we survive.

It is hard to believe my baby has a new face. I really do miss her wide smile, but I can't believe how beautiful her complete lip is. It is an amazing transformation. The glue, stitches, and dried blood should slowly go away and then we will really be able to get a good look at her "new and improved" look.

Thanks for all of your kind words, cards, and support during all of this. You are amazing group of friends, family, and colleagues. We love you all. Now, we have less than 3 months and it will start all over again.