Round 2....surgery #3....done!

Last Wednesday  Brayden & I flew to Chicago and my parents met us at the airport. Brayden was great on the 3.5 hr plane ride to Chicago, with all his flying he has done lately, he is becoming a pro ;) Soon as we flew in, we got some yummy Chicago pizza and headed back to the hotel room for the night.  Even Brayden loved the pizza :)

Bright and early on Thursday morning, we were off to Highland Park Hospital at 6 am....Brayden was Dr. Bauer's 1st surgery for the day.  When we got to the hospital they sent us to a room to change Brayden into his hospital gown. Then the nurse came in with a stuff animal and a blanket for Brayden....so sweet  of them to do that! When it was time to hand Brayden off to the nurse, he was full of smiles which made the hand off much easier on mommy and Grandma this time around.

Brayden's surgery lasted about 1.5 hours. Dr. Bauer said that surgery went great and he placed two 750 cc expanders in his middle back.  He started us out with 110 cc's in each expander...which is great! Then it was time for mom & grandma to go back to recovery to see Brayden.  The nurse was rocking him when we walked in and she asked me, are you sure you don't need to go to the restroom? I can hold him for awhile longer. She said she loves Brayden and she remembered him from before and she didn't want to put him down. 

Brayden drank some formula as I rocked him, which he hasn't had a bottle since he was 12 months old.  He has been on whole milk, but he didn't want his sippy cup, so I was just happy he was drinking something even though it was formula in a bottle.

As we were in recovery, the nurses were telling my mom and I how amazing and caring Dr. Bauer is.  I have to agree, he is such an amazing doctor and we are so lucky that we found him to treat Brayden.  They were also telling us that Dr. Bauer is an artist and also designs jewelry.  I would love to see his work! He has such a creative side to him and he is so talented in what he does.

When it was time for the nurse to wheel Brayden & I to his room, 2 of the nurses were fighting and shoved each other, they were fighting over who would push us to his room.  I thought that was so sweet that they both loved Brayden so much. I was of course cracking up at them.

Brayden ate a little that day, he had some banana and also some gold fish....but for the most part all he wanted was formula. Don't know how many times we watched Mickey Mouse that day, he loves Mickey and he also wouldn't put down his 2 pacifiers all day. Had one in his mouth and the other one in his hand all day long. Brayden did pretty good the 1st night in the hospital, he slept from 10 pm till 5 am.....he was on pain meds every 4 hours, so that helped him with the pain.

That night my mom & I stayed in the hospital with Brayden. Dad went back to the hotel for the night. Brayden was a bed hog and I cuddled with him all night and mom had a cot to sleep on. Friday morning we got discharged at 9 am and we went to Dr. Bauer's office to see Mim before the long 7 hour drive back to Iowa. 

Mim did his 1st dressing change and we got to see the expanders, they looked good for only being 1 day out from surgery. We drove back to Iowa on Friday and we stayed till Tuesday.  It was nice to spend time with family & friends. Brayden had a great time playing with his cousin Makenna.  He is suppose to take it easy for 2 weeks, but tell that to a 15 month old, easier said then done.

On Sunday we will do our 1st fill for this round at home.  Luckily my parents will be in town for 2 weeks, so they can help us distract Brayden while we do the fills. 

Brayden is doing great now, he is getting off the pain meds and eating like normal again.  Which is great....tonight we will remove one of the tubes since it's no longer draining and we will leave the other tube in to drain till Sunday.  Then on Sunday the tube will come out and no more dressing changes. 

Thank you everyone for the prayers and for the support, having all the support makes this process so much easier on all of us.  Everyday Brayden amazes me with his strength and courage that he has. I can't believe everything he has been through so far in only 15 months of his life, but he has proved to all of us that he is a tough little boy and he can outcome anything.  I know this has made me stronger and I will continue to stay strong for my little super hero :)