Kallen's Surgery- Done!

Kallen's surgery was last Friday (Oct 28th) at 7:30am. We checked in at 5:30 and from the time we got there to the time we left everyone was just amazing. His surgery was at Children's Hospital of Orange County, aka CHOC. Kallen's nurse, Ron, called me the night before to run me through everything and tell us where to park and what to bring. He couldn't eat after 11:30pm, so I was envisioning a morning of a super cranky and hungry baby. I fed him at 11:15 and he didn't even notice he missed his morning bottle :) Once we were all checked in we chatted with his nurse and then let him play in the big play room. He played for about 20 minutes and then took a nap.

When it was getting closer to surgery time we went back to his room and the surgeon and anesthesiologist came and talked to us. I can't say enough how awesome everyone was. So friendly and so informative and so into Kallen! Lol. The surgeon, Dr........ actually came by a couple times to play with Kallen. She even came out and got him and carried him back to surgery instead of rolling him back in his "baby cage." They were all so sweet with him!

The nurses loved him. He'd go to any of them too. He clearly had no separation anxiety or stranger anxiety!

His surgeon is the one in the white coat

They told us surgery would take about an hour. They would give him some medicine for anxiety that would help him calm down and go to sleep- a lot like laughing gas. They give it to him through an oxygen mask so he's asleep when they do the IV and the rest of the anesthesia. That was very comforting knowing he wouldn't be screaming while they held him down to put an IV in. And who knows if thats really how it would've ever happened, but that's how this mom envisioned it :) Surgery only ended up taking about 30 minutes. The surgeon came out when it was over and told us it went perfectly. He'd be in the recovery room soon and as soon as he was they'd come get us and take us back. About 10 minutes later they took us back and by the time we got there Kallen had sat up, looked around and fallen back asleep sitting up in the nurses arm. She let me pick him up and I was able to hold him until he woke up.

Only one parent could stay with him in recovery. We could both be back there for the first 15 minutes, but then Gentry went back to the waiting room. I sent him this video of Kallen after he woke up.

He woke up about 30 minutes later and they unhooked him from everything and took us all back to his room. We had to wait until he ate without throwing it back up before we could go home. He drank a bottle of water with no problem and they said we could pack up and get ready to leave!

Kallen was quite the popular boy. Every nurse that came out when Kallen and I were in recovery would see me and say "Oh that's your baby?!?! He's so cute! He was the sweetest baby." The nurses loved him :) The nurse that was with him in recovery told me to mark behind his ear when we got home to keep him from getting sick. Have you heard that wives tale? I never have, but she swore every time a bunch of people would tell her how cute her son was he'd get sick so you're suppose to mark behind their ear to keep them from getting sick. She told me that with all the nurses that were loving on him I really should do it when I got home (or something like that). If you know the actually tale, leave it as a comment please! I'd love to know it.

All ready to head home! I snuck him out in his hospital gown because a baby hospital gown is one of the cutest things you'll see ;)

It was pretty amazing how fast it all went and how easy it all was. I was expecting Kallen to cry after waking up from the anesthesia, which is a common way babies wake up, but he didn't. He didn't cry once the whole day. He was never cranky or annoyed or scared or anxious....or basically any of the feelings I was having :) LOL. I guess I took care of the emotional side for him. haha. No it wasn't that bad. Actually no one shed tears. There just really wasn't a time I was scared or nervous. I was definitely anxious, but I was anxious from the time I first knew he was going to need surgery, so that wasn't a surprise. The doctors and nurses were just so great keeping everyone calm and informed. The actual surgery was a small incision a little bit below his hip bone. The stitches are actually on the inside and they dissolve and then they use skin glue to close the outside incision and that peels off on its own. They told us he'd probably be groggy and wobbly on his feet the rest of the day, however he started walking more than he ever had that day. Of course ;) I gave him Tylenol once that day, but seriously, he NEVER cried or seemed uncomfortable. Ever. He was up and moving around like nothing had happened. So, a week later, he's doing wonderfully. The glue is still there but looks like it will come off anytime. I can't really tell how big the incision is as of right now because his skin is still creased with the glue over it, but a lot of the moms that have talked about this surgery have said they can't even tell where the scar is.

 Raya spent the night at Nana's the night before, so when my Mom brought her back Raya brought Kallen a toy she picked out for him

So, glad its all over and this hernia is no more! Its nice to change his diaper with out his groin being super swollen all the time. He's doing great and healing like a champ!