Update on Rube-ster

I thought I would post an update since we had so many kind comments, well wishes and prayers, along with texts and phone calls asking how our little lady is doing.  On top of that, when we were preparing for the surgery I loved reading blogs and seeing updates on other kids who had undergone surgery for craniosynostosis. I thought I would pay it forward! Finally, I know I need to journal about this, so writing this post will allow me to have it for all of us to look back on when Ruby is old enough to understand what happened!  I am killing lots of birds with one stone!
We knew going into the surgery that she would get swollen to the point that her eyes would swell shut. I thought it would be interesting for people to see the transformation in her face over the first couple of days.

Right after the surgery they told us the swelling peaks at 24 hours so I started counting down the minutes until we would start to see improvements.  20 hours after the surgery, they started telling us the swelling usually peaks at between 24 and 36 hours.  That was disappointing, but definitely more accurate.  Friday afternoon she was finally able to open her eyes a little bit.  Once she got them open the whole way, I swear she didn't close them for hours.  I'm sure she was thinking "The last time I closed these eyes, look what happened!  Not gonna make that mistake again!" 

Smiles!

We were supposed to get discharged Saturday morning but Ruby was having a hard time eating, and when she did eat, as soon as we gave her any pain medicine she threw everything up.  They were very close to putting another IV in because they were worried of dehydration.  Fortunately, something flipped in her on Saturday and she started eating great!  The meds were still a struggle, but since she wasn't throwing up anymore, they allowed us to decide whether we wanted to leave or stay another night.

I know it isn't pretty, but it is fascinating to me! 

I have written all about Ruby, but there was another mini person who was involved in all this too.  Nixon was a trooper. He definitely struggled being in the hospital, but what can you expect from a 2 year old?  Each day Chris and I traded off taking Nixon and doing something with him that day.  Thursday he wend to the Mall of America to ride rides with Mom and Friday he went with Dad.  That kid LOVES rides!  When we found out we wouldn't be discharged Saturday morning, I took him to the Minnesota Children's Museum.  He missed his nap every day but by the time he got back to the house with Chris, he was tired and slept great.  One day one of the Child Life Specialists came to our room with two new toys for Nixon.  One was a car ramp and the other was a big bag of mega blocks (huge legos).  I couldn't believe they just gave them to him!  It was so nice of them!

One of Nixon's favorite rides

We wore him out each day!

 Children's museum water station

 Nope, he isn't wearing pants.  I had them under the hand dryer trying to dry them after the water station.

Speaking of kind people, we LOVED all of our nurses there!  There were a couple of times when the nurses would come steal Ruby and just hold her at their desk for an hour or so, giving me time to straighten the room, shower, or just rest!  They all continued to gush over her rolls the whole time and were so patient with her.  Thursday night she threw up all over the bed, then had a major blow out of her diaper, then threw up all over after the next feeding.  I was so impressed with how they were still so sweet and changed her sheets and helped clean her up each time!  I'm sure they get it all the time, but it meant a lot to me as Ruby's mom that they didn't seem one bit bothered.  

When the nurses gave us the choice of whether to leave or stay another night, it was a tough one.  I loved being at the hospital because it is so comforting knowing that if there is a problem, we are only feet away from having someone there to help.  Once we go home, we are 2 1/2 hours away! In the end, we decided it was just too hard on Nixon to try to stay in a hospital room any longer, so we opted to leave.  The long drive home was not nearly as scary as I had worried it would be.  She did great! And we got home in time to watch Utah vs. BYU! 

Since we have been home she is constantly getting better and happier and more Ruby-like.  I am so happy to have my smiling little girl back and it is great to know that everything she went through didn't change her.  She seems to be totally back to normal, we just have to be careful with the incision.

Before and after picture

I will post some more pictures in a couple of weeks when the swelling is gone and the incision has healed itself.