Brookelynne's Surgery

Today Brooke had her surgery and it went very well (just so you can all get rid of the suspense!)

She had tubes put into her ears and a bronchial cyst tract removed from her neck. Her surgery was scheduled for 10:15, so we had to be at the hospital at 8:15 for check in. While she cried the whole way to the hospital, she snapped out of it, just as we got off the bridge. Once inside, she immediately had every nurse in the area coming to see how cute she was walking in with her bunny. :) She did great through all of check in, from changing into the gowns, getting weighed and measured and even getting some blood out of her foot, not one cry. She hadn't had any food since 6:30 last night and had had juice at 6 am, but obviously was hungry. This morning before we left, she got a hold of 1 cheese it, and I'm pretty sure I had gotten all of it, but to be safe, they postponed Brooke's surgery until 2:45. Which really upset me and freaked me out because my poor little baby must be STARVING!!! Seriously, you should see what this girl usually eats! So anyway, they didn't tell us this until 10:30, and they gave her juice to 'hold her over', so thankfully she was able to take a short nap. She was acting wonderfully considering no food, and was entertaining everyone there. Speaking of which, Nay Nay, Grandma, Daddy and Mama were all there to help entertain her and keep her distracted, a job which we all tag-teamed as much as possible. Mitch and his Mom took a lunch first and then came back and my Mom and I went to get something to eat. We stopped at the gift shop on our way back and Grandma bought Brookelynne some pig slippers to match her hospital gown! :)

Which was HILARIOUS because we put them on her and she would take a step or two and then fall down to play with the pigs, and then stand up and walk again! haha It was so cute though. Anyway, they came and gave her some nausea medication around 2:00, and brought me, Mitch and Brooke into the back around 2:45. Then we met with the anesthesiologist and the surgery nurse. When Dr Maddern finished with the procedure he was doing, he came and talked with us too. I was rocking in a rocking chair with Brooke when he left and told us they would be taking her shortly. I prayed with her and told her how much I loved her. And although I did tear up, I did not cry, just for all of you who were wondering! :) We walked her to the surgery ward a few minutes later and handed over our most precious thing to the nurse, and quickly walked back to the waiting room.

About 45 minutes later, Dr Maddern came in and told us that the surgery went well. She had 2 more stitches than he had planned, but he got it all and it wasn't deep at all. So we had to then wait until she began to rouse from anethesia and was able to swallow, and then a nurse came and got us and took us back to a recovery room, where they promptly brought her into us. She looked SOOOO pitiful! :) She couldn't really talk because her throat was still so sore from them just pulling out the breathing tube, and she was going "ub ub ub ub ub ub." I tried to take her, but she wanted her daddy (big surprise), so he took her from the nurse and sat in the rocking chair while I gave her kisses and held the bottle they had for her. A couple minutes later Daddy got up and asked me to take her because she was fussing, and twisting and he was worried that he would mess up or pull out her iv. So I got her all untangled and held her really tight and she fell asleep again. Mitch took this opportunity to let the other family members come back and see her, and then when he came back in the room he kissed her goodbye and headed home (since he had been up since midnight and had to be up at midnight again, and at this point it was already 5:15). My mom then came back there with me and helped me get her dressed and when she woke up this time she was practically her regular self (except for some equilibrium issues that were resolved in half an hour or so). When we walked out of the recovery room, Paw Paw took her (although he was worried that he was going to break her) and she was more than happy to let him carry her out. We stopped at the pharmacy downstairs so that I wouldn't have to stop on the way home, and waited for her ear drops. And Grandma got to feed her some applesauce (WHICH SHE LOVED) and then we got in the car, she was out again. I will say that this was a crazy day but I'm so glad that she seems to be doing great. Her neck looks a lot worse than I expected, but they say it will heal with out a scar, so I'm okay.

This was her after we got home and had some more dinner and a bottle. As you can see she's perfectly happy, and that's what her neck looks like. Hopefully it won't look that way long! :) Thank you all for your prayers through out this process. We know we serve a mighty God and He always knew she's be fine! :)

Brookelynne turned 10 months old!!! :)

It is hard to believe that my sweet baby girl is 10 months old already, but alas this is the truth! She is an amazing little girl whom I love with all of my heart and she grows so much each day. How about we do some 'stats' and accomplishments?

* She weighs 18 lbs 5 oz a couple days before when we did her physical.
* She is 28 inches tall.
* She has begun walking while holding onto someone's hand. (This was difficult for her, because she learned to walk without holding hands, so when you would grab a hand, she was unable to balance and would fall down) But now, not only is she a champ at it, but she gets SOOOO excited when you grab her hand, its like its a party! :)
* Speaking of things that excite her, going outside is one of her favorites! If you walk to the laundry room and open the door to the garage, she practically hyperventilates! She starts swinging her arms up and down and bouncing around! Its so cute!
* She has learned that she can 'ask to go outside'. Paw Paw (my dad, who fully believes that being outside can solve anything) stopped by on his way to the hunting camp a few days ago, and he took her outside a few times to 'walk around and look at the birds'. About 10 minutes after they came back inside, she walked over to him, grabbed his hand, walked over to the door, and proceeded to point while going "uh uh uh". You should have seen Paw Paw's face! He was SOOO thrilled that she wanted him to take her outside...of course they went immediately! :)

* She can tell you where her head is and where her toes are!!! :) We are really excited about this because we didn't think she'd do this until after a year! But she's super good at it! And she is so proud of herself when she gets it right!
* She is eating table food almost all the time. She still has applesauce for breakfast most days but other than that it is all 'grown up food'. She's doing really well with it too! :) She LOVES it when she gets food off of Mama's plate!
* She is wearing mostly 12 month clothes. She still has short legs, so the pants run long on her, but the dresses and shorts are perfect. All of her 9 month stuff is just too short. I will be going through her closet/clothes/drawers soon to re organize once again. I can't believe how quickly she grows!! :) She's just getting SOOOO BIG!
* She can say "Mama", "Dada", "Bye Bye", and "BaBa" (Although I'm pretty sure that the only one she understands the meaning of is bye bye.) She does crack us up because she makes the funniest faces when she talks, being overly dramatic with the way she moves her lips! I guess the funny faces Daddy makes don't help!
* She is drinking 3 breastmilk bottles a day with 2 or 3 bottles of juice. (every few days we have to supplement with formula, but she doesn't seem to notice)

All in all, my baby girl is doing great and becoming less and less like a baby! :)I know that she has to grow up, and while I hate that fact, I'm really enjoying this stage of her development! She's just so precious and sweet and we are blessed beyond measure to have her as ours!

MOVEMENT!

Well Friday we had a doctor's appt with Paula and Brookelynne came with me. The nurses couldn't believe how big she was getting or that she was so cute and such a great little walker! We played in the exam room until Paula got there and when she came in, Brooke got up on the table with me so we could listen to the heartbeat. She was sitting on my thigh and watching intently as Paula found my uterus, put on the gel and turned on the doppler. Then she put it on my belly and it went from making a static sound to the heartbeat sound and Brookelynne FREAKED OUT! :) I picked her up and sat her on my shoulder where she continued to scream until she noticed my bellybutton. At that point she was totally fine and loving that little indention in my belly! haha. She's so silly!

Today we had a great day and enjoyed church and lunch. When we got home Brookelynne took a good nap and Mommy even got a short one in! We went back to church this afternoon and worked in the nursery, and while Brooke wasn't eating well, she did great otherwise. And when we got home, Daddy came out and greeted us! He had woken up and so he got Brooke out of the car and we all came inside for a few minutes of family time. Right before Daddy went to bed, while in the midst of pumping, the baby pushed all the way out! :) It was nothing like the first time I felt Brooke move (which was her kicking my pelvic bone) but a really cool sensation as this little one stretched out! :) Daddy came over and kept his hand on my belly for several minutes, but he or she didn't want to do it again so soon. Hopefully he'll be around for the next time and will get to feel it first hand! :)