Surgery

Carson had outpatient surgery this morning for his circumcision which they were unable to do at birth.  We have known this was coming for a long time and we were definitely dreading it.  We had to be there at 6:15 which meant we were out the door shortly after 5:30am - it was an early morning!  Carson wasn't allowed to eat anything so we were worried he would be cranky, but he did surprisingly well.  No crying all morning!  After a quick registration process with a few forms to fill out, we were headed back to pre-op.  Here Carson is after changing into his pajamas.

His surgery was at the brand new outpatient surgery center for Children's Hospital that just opened last month.  All of the nurses and staff at the surgery center were so nice and so good with Carson.  We felt comfortable knowing he was in good hands.  

After talking to the nurses and the surgeon, we waited for the anesthesiologist.  They had these fun cars in the hallway to take for a spin and Carson loved it.  It made the time pass quickly and took his mind off of his empty stomach :)

We met with the anesthesiologist who explained that Carson would be fully out via a mask giving him gas and he would also receive a local anesthetic to help with pain control when he woke up.  We chose a banana scent that they put in his mask so it would smell good.

Shortly after we met with the anesthesiologist they took Carson back to surgery around 7:15am.  I held it together all morning but this was one of the hardest parts of the day - handing him over to a nurse and watching him walk through the big double doors toward the operating room.  We had to go out to the lobby and wait during the surgery.  As soon as we walked out, my mom was walking in - we had no idea she was coming and it was such as nice surprise just when we needed it.  She helped to take our mind off of things and before we knew it they were calling us into a room to meet with the surgeon.  He explained to us that everything went well and that Carson was in recovery.  As soon as he woke up from the anesthesia we would be able to go see him.  Not even 10 minutes later they came to get us - all together we were only away from him for about 50 minutes.  

Carson was very disoriented and upset when waking up from anesthesia which they said is very typical.  He wasn't calming down so they had us get him dressed and let us take him home, thinking that getting him in his car seat which smelled familiar would help.  We were headed home by 8:45am and he fell asleep in the car shortly after.  

Right after waking up

Sound asleep in the car

Once we were home Carson woke up and was much better.  Grandma brought him a stuffed monkey which he enjoyed playing with for awhile.  

He's on pain meeds that he can take every 4 hours and you can tell when they start wearing off after about 3 hours.  Overall he's in good spirits but you can tell he's uncomfortable and every once in awhile he starts crying really hard like he's in pain.  He's wanted lots of snuggle time today - we all enjoyed our share of that :)

It's currently almost midnight but I'm holding a restless baby who can't sleep or get comfortable.  It might be a long night...

Thanks to everyone who was praying for us today - we definitely felt them.  We realize that many people go through health situations far more serious and life-threatening and our hearts go out to them and their families.  We're thankful this was only a minor procedure!