update on Natalie Sat morning 1/17

Natalie went into surgery around 8:30 this morning. It was actually more stressful than I had anticipated. They didn't want her to eat anything after 3 a.m. and her last feeding went right up until 3:00 so that worked out nicely. She started stirring at 5:00 and for the next 3 hours she would doze, wake up and want to nurse, suck on my finger dipped in sugar water and go back to sleep, then wake up again and want to nurse. Each time she was less satisfied with the finger but fortunately she kept falling back asleep. She is on IV fluids so she was getting something from there but it was hard to know that she was crying for me to feed her and to not be able to. Fortunately, she was able to calm down each time. The other stressful part is that they wanted to try and put another IV in but they've hard a horrible time with those. I guess Natalie just has really small veins and the IVs kept going bad. Finally, yesterday they put in a pic line which is an IV but they thread a catheter way up into the vein all the way to the heart and it's much more secure and lasts a lot longer. They had a hard time getting the pic line and finally had to put it in through her scalp. So, when the OR team said they wanted a second IV in addition to the pic line I just couldn't handle the thought of them poking all around again. They had already tried everywhere. They decided that they would do it when she is asleep in the OR so that was a relief to me. Anyway, when everything was ready they put her in a little enclosed transport bed to take her to the OR and we were able to walk with them to a certain point and then had to say goodbye. Although it was hard it was also a big relief to know that things are under way. We feel extremely comfortable with the doctors who are doing the surgery. Ben and I were trying to imagine the combined years of education in this hospital....thousands and thousands I'm sure. Our nurses have also been absolutely amazing. I have a new respect for the medical field in general and the specialized expertise of the surgeons but especially for the nursing staff. They are the ones that really take care of the patients and Natalie has had excellent care from them. Actually, we've been really impressed with everyone at the hospital. It seems everyone wants to do everything they can to help....even the cleaning staff has been super friendly and always asks if there's anything they can do for us.

Yesterday Ben spent most of the day at home with the girls. He said they just got in and played to their little hearts' content which me so happy. He took them up to my parents in the afternoon and then came over here and spent the night at the hospital. I tried to spend yesterday resting in between feedings but I have had a hard time sleeping even when I have the opportunity. Still, I was able to rest a lot even if I didn't sleep.

We are anxious to hear how the surgery goes. They should be done sometime in the early afternoon and I will update when I can.