Annabelle is recovering well from her surgery. She was a little sore last week, and cleaning her bottom thoroughly after every (frequent!) poop has been challenging, but we finally turned a corner on Friday, and she's been feeling great since then. She has been improving (slightly) with her oral feedings again, and she seems less gassy and uncomfortable.
We've managed to do a few fun things other than change poopy diapers: Last Monday, Sophie and I had a chance to visit beautiful New Quarter Park and enjoy the playground there. We hadn't been there in a long time, and I was amazed at how much better she was at climbing than she was the last time we visited.
Triumphant Sophie after climbing the "rock wall" on the playground at New Quarter Park.
After we got tired of the playground, we explored some of the hiking trail loops in the park. The two trails we tried were .15 and .2 miles long, which was perfect for an easily-distracted 3-year-old. One of the distractions was this amazing fallen tree and its huge root ball.
Hiking and loving the fallen trees.
Keegan took a business trip to Charleston, SC this week, so we got lots of help from sweet Grandma and from Grandpa, too.
Grandma and Annabelle
On Friday, Sophie wowed me with her writing skills. She loves to practice writing letters and numbers on this dry erase board.
Sophie practicing her writing.
Last night we had a great date night - we attended the annual fundraiser for Sophie's preschool. We had a great time with our friends from school, and we even won a raffle prize! We got tickets to the VA Aquarium, the VA Living Museum, and a pool membership for a neighborhood pool that is just a short bike ride away. We are looking forward to swimming with friends this summer!
Sorry, followers, that I stopped updating at the crucial moment when we got discharged from the hospital! We got to go home on Saturday, a full two days earlier than we were expecting. Annabelle is a trooper and seems to be feeling pretty good. She is eager to play and smile, although not so eager to drink her bottle. I was expecting the surgery to put her off her game for a while, though, so we will keep plugging on and hope she starts taking more formula by mouth again soon. The major problem today is just keeping the surgical wound clean. There are stitches that have to be dabbed at delicately, and this is not compatible with cleaning up after a messy diaper. So now we have diaper rash and a fussy baby. But I hope that as her digestive system gets back to normal after the surgery there will be less messy diapers, and that should help the rash heal. I'm so glad we're getting this over with, I keep telling myself.
We managed to have a nice Valentine's Day despite being in the hospital. In the morning we were able to start feeding Annabelle by mouth again, and she drank Pedialyte with a very thirsty fervor. Nana and Granddude took us out to lunch at the Strawberry Street Cafe while Annabelle slept and played with her nurse.
In the afternoon, the pediatric ward had a Valentine's Day party, and a caricature artist was doing pictures. I had him draw Sophie and Annabelle - what fun!
Dr. Lanning came by to visit and said everything looks wonderful - if Annabelle continues to do well with her feeds, we may be able to go home tomorrow or Sunday, which would be great!
During the evening nap, Keegan and I went to Bottom's Up pizza, which is the only destination for Valentine's dinner when your daughter has just had surgery on her bottom!
I have the best Valentine around.
Annabelle seems to be feeling much better today and was even up for some playtime with her plastic keys before bed. I love that little smile!
I have the TWO best Valentines around. Plus another sweetie at home!
Annabelle came through her long surgery today and is doing well. She went back with the anesthesia team around 9:20, and I was able to get some breakfast. Keegan arrived and took over waiting while I got a shower and a nap. Keegan and I had a nice lunch and quiet afternoon, and we finally got to see Annabelle around 4. I held her for a while, but she was very sleepy all evening and was asleep when I left to get some sleep. The doctor was very happy with how the surgery went, which is very encouraging. She has started receiving some Pedialyte through her feeding tube. She has a catheter in, so we don't have to worry about diapers for a while. Tomorrow we may start with formula again. I will let you know how it all goes.
Yep, we're back in the hospital. We arrived this morning around 11, and we checked into a regular room on the pediatric floor. We've never been in a hospital environment this relaxed - we can eat in the room! We can walk around the floor! There are no monitors! It's nice, but I'm sure things will get more intense post-surgery.
Annabelle has not been able to eat all day, but she has had a steady diet of Pedialyte and laxatives, plus a bonus enema this afternoon. She has been a trooper (and a pooper, ha ha, potty humor!) through it all.
From last night until this morning, Annabelle was mysteriously feeling awful, not eating well, and having some problems with her feeding tube. The tube seemed really tight and was leaking stomach contents like crazy, which was really gross. She was fussy and clearly very unhappy. We were thinking about postponing the surgery. And then our surgeon, who I already think the world of, suggested putting a different kind of button into her belly, and her fussiness and discomfort and leaking and irritation disappeared. This man is a miracle worker. Still not sure what caused the issue with the other button, but happy that the problem is solved.
I'll update more tomorrow. The surgery is scheduled for 8:30 A.M., assuming the surgeon and the nurses and everyone else can get here through the snow!
I can't believe it - we actually got some snow in Williamsburg! All day long on Tuesday I checked the weather on my phone anxiously to see when it would start. And finally, when I was out running and feeling tired and chilly and wind-chafed the flakes starting sprinkling down. At first there were so few I thought they were just bits of leaves or seeds blowing off the tufty swamp plants near the trail, but soon it was undeniable: beautiful, quiet, gentle snowflakes were sifting down faster and faster and thicker and thicker. When I got home, Sophie was beside herself with glee.
While I washed dishes Tuesday night, I turned on our backyard spotlights so I could see the tiny flakes swirl outside in the wind. There is nothing more peaceful than watching snow fall from inside a warm, cozy house.
On Wednesday, Sophie spent a lot of the day outside running around and reveling in the snow. She particularly enjoyed making snow angels and trying out her new sled.
Life is really good when you are sledding for the very first time.
Even Annabelle got in on the action for a few minutes, or at least as much as she could being tightly bundled in a snowsuit and Moby wrapped within an inch of her life.
That sun was bright!
In the afternoon, Sophie and I spent a long time cracking ice along the edges of the swamp behind the house and throwing pieces to watch them break and slide over the frozen creek. I really enjoyed that time with my oldest daughter. I felt so happy that she has some wilderness behind the house, just like I did when I was growing up. If I had let her, she would have explored that wilderness to the utmost. Preferably by sliding recklessly on the ice the whole way.
Amazing ice-scape behind our house.
Hooray for snow days! And hooray for preschool opening again tomorrow!
Annabelle's next surgery, to correct her imperforate anus, has been scheduled for February 13. Happy Valentine's Day, indeed! The surgeons will move the opening where the poop comes out from just behind the vagina to the typical location, in the crack (is there a more polite term for that part of our anatomy? Hmmm.), where there is already a ring of muscle waiting to do its job. We will be in the hospital from the twelfth through the weekend at least. I'm not looking forward to the time in the hospital, but it will be nice to have this surgery taken care of.
Last night was episode one of Hilarious G-Tube Hi-jinks, starring Ellen, Keegan, and Annabelle. Annabelle's button popped out of her stomach with a bizarre squelching sound while we were eating dinner. I sent Keegan upstairs with a smirk, thinking that the wet spot on Annabelle's onesie was a diaper blowout, only to be called upstairs myself a few minutes later by a nervous Keegan staring at the hole in Annabelle's belly in horror. I ran around like a crazy person getting our emergency button and filling up the balloon that holds the button in place, and soon Annabelle was good as new. The old button's balloon had a tiny leak, so it failed to keep the button in place. Hope that doesn't happen again any time soon!
Speaking of hilarity, Annabelle found a new favorite toy at Grandma and Papa's house. We couldn't figure out why she was giggling until Sophie started twisting and twisting a plastic key to make a rattly sound. Annabelle just couldn't control herself. I can't get enough of her laughter. Hope you can't either, since this is the third version I've posted here.
You might notice that Grandma and Papa's house in this video looks different than the home you know and love. That's because they moved to Williamsburg this week! Hooray! I can't begin to describe how much fun it's been to have them as neighbors so far. And it will only get better as everyone gets settled in.
Here's to another week with plenty more laughter and no more g-tube incidents!
