Kallen's Surgery :(

So he has a hernia. I noticed it about 2 weeks ago. I took him in the afternoon that I first notice it- his groin looked SUPER swollen and I could tell he was uncomfortable. I googled his symptoms :) and determined it was a Hernia (who needs to go to school when you have google) and called his pediatrician who saw him that afternoon and confirmed it. This morning was our appointment with the surgeon and she also confirmed it was a hernia and he'd need surgery to fix it. From all that I've read and after talking to the doctor today it seems to be a very simple, almost routine procedure. Its an outpatient procedure, so we'll take him in in the early morning and as long as everything goes smoothly we should be out before lunch time.

The afternoon I took him in seems like the only day its really bugged him. Some days its much more swollen than others. A hernia is when intestine slips through holes in the muscle wall and with his hernia the intestines slip in and out making it swollen some days and fine other days. What makes it herniate is straining or working hard- which Kallen does alot. Hes perfecting crawling and pulling himself up, so he's exerting himself daily. With that said, he's not in pain. He doesn't seem uncomfortable and, except for maybe an hour here and there, it doesn't bug him.

This type of hernia is pretty common in preemie babies. Especially in boys. He definitely wasn't a preemie, but he was a week early...so that could've added to his chances of getting a hernia. The Dr said he's probably had the hernia since birth but we didn't begin to notice it until he became active- which is the straining that causes the intestines to herniate. I always knew something was up. I'd ask Gentry every so often if it looked swollen to him, but it wasn't super swollen so it was easy to pass it off as part of my chubby boy's rolls :)

So I've done a ton of reading on it: What it is, What happens in surgery, Whats recovery like. Everything I've read has been very helpful and put me at ease. If I think about it I get anxious, but if I read about it I calm down. I'm sure as it gets closer my nerves will be a little crazy. I think the hardest 2 parts are having to have him under anesthesia (not gonna lie, FREAKS me out) and knowing my perfect little boy's skin is going to be cut :( But it has to be done, and the recovery seems pretty easy. They say babies are especially fast healers and the other moms I talked to who've had babies go through the same surgery say its a relatively easy recovery.

Soooo, they will call me with the surgery date after all the paper work gets filed. I will definitely let you all know the date. Any and all good vibes, happy thoughts and prayers will be gladly accepted :) I really liked the doctor, she's very nice and knows her shit. Its being done at the Children's Hospital in Orange, which is a great hospital, about 20 minutes from us. All in all, its not what I'd pick for my baby boy, but if I HAD to pick a surgery this would probably be at the top of "Best Choices of Surgery for a 7month Old If You HAD to Pick One."

I will keep you posted! The pictures are simply for your viewing enjoyment :) He just gets cuter by the hour. Its ridiculous.


(Hernia in baby, Inguinal hernia in 7 month old, Hernia in 8 month old)