This surgery date has been months in the planning and because it was not mandatory, they wouldn't do the surgery if she was sick. But, she'd been sick the entire month of February so we prayed a lot to keep her healthy the week leading up to it.
I had planned to be at the hospital about four hours (ended up being EIGHT hours). The procedures were a few blood draws first, then a third attempt at a bilateral tear duct probe, some dental work, and lastly an echo cardiogram. All of Cora's sedated procedures in the past were toddler or baby aged so I was definitely worried about her cooperation. This first picture sums up Cora's attitude quite nicely: FEISTY, grumpy, growling and scowling at any nurse or doctor that dared to look at her.
Once she took the Versed (and got a Ken barbie doll as a price from the nurse) it still took her 30-45 minutes to calm down and let the doctors do what they needed to do and wheel her away into the operating room without me.
The tear duct probe was easy and went as planned. Then the dentist came out and gave me his details. Since Cora is not cooperative with teeth cleanings, x rays, or anything related to the dentist, this is the first good look they've had in her mouth. After finding through x-rays what was going on, they did caps/crowns on all four baby molars because the enamel did not form properly and therefore wasn't effective at protecting those teeth. A few cavities in between teeth were filled. And then the shocker - they pulled all four bottom baby teeth! Apparently her adult teeth are coming in and with her teeth being so close together it was better to pull them now than to wait for them to come out on their own and end up doing extractions anyway. I was really surprised they did it but grateful they saved me several future dentist appointments and sedated dental visits!
As they took me back to the waiting room I got teary eyed again, it's never an easy thing having your child be sedated. She still had blood all over her mouth and was extremely groggy. She was given morphine and extra pain meds so it took her another 2 hours to wake up. In all, she did great.
After waking up the second time she was ready to go home and when I asked her how the popsicle was, she wasn't about to stop eating. So I got a thumbs up.
I did not know how to tell Cora that she lost all 4 bottom teeth and was worried about her reaction. She was apprehensive about it but quickly became excited as I changed the subject to focus on the tooth fairy. That night as she was getting ready for bed she peeked in the mirror - oh boy, she did not like what she saw in her smile. I tried distracting her again with the notion of the tooth fairy. She's now used to her new smile and how it feels but it is certainly much harder to understand her speak! Well done, baby girl!!!
We were at the hostpial from 6am - 2pm. Later that night Ezra fell off the dining chair and hit his head. At dinner he spilled his milk all over himself and me, then he burned his hand pretty badly on the oven. To top it all off I was up all night sick to my stomach. It was a super long day!
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