Healing Hattie's Heart

Hattie had to be here at 6 this morning, so we headed out at about 5.  We had to wait for quite a while in the waiting room, so it was a good opportunity for us to just play and be silly with her.  It's an emotional day and tears are coming easy, so it's nice to have some giggles too.

They got her wiped down and in her hospital jammies, we signed all the consent forms and then we had about an hour to just wait.  I don't know if the anticipation of what was to come made that hour the longest hour of our lives or if this 5-6 hours in the waiting room, will be the longest hours.  The anesthesiologist, Dr. Mickalson and her surgeon, Dr. Overman stopped in to talk about the procedures and then they gave her a sedative.  They said it is equivalent to us having a few glasses of wine.  Once it kicked in, she was so relaxed and giggled when holding her hand in front of her face and at the light. Again, those little moments of giggles sure helped.  Thankfully, this anesthesiologist allows one parent to go back with her to be put under, so Paul went.  I went into the OR when she had her ear tubes done and thankfully, people had warned me about how limp they get.  Paul said she fought having the face mask put on a little bit, but it went pretty quickly.  We are extremely grateful that this went the way that it did.  The "hand-off" was something that we were dreading immensely.  We weren't guaranteed that we'd be able to go back with her, so envisioning us having to hand her over to a team of strangers while she was awake was heart-wrenching.

Once she was out from the gas, they put the IV in to give her the anesthesia that will keep her out for the duration of the surgery.  They put a scope down her throat so they could do an internal ultrasound an get a more accurate look at what they'll see when they get inside. At about 8:50, they called the family waiting room to tell us that the incision had been made and they were about to put her on bypass.  During heart surgery, they can't have blood pumping through the heart, so they essentially shut down the heart an a machine pumps the blood around the body.  She was also intubated, which means a tube is running down her throat to her lungs and a machine is circulating oxygen to her body.  This was another thing that really is scary to think about as a parent.  Right now we are sitting in a room and our baby is in the OR with machines keeping her body alive.  Ultimately, it is a means to the end, where she is fixed and healthy, but it isn't easy to think about.

These photos are ones that another family posted from their son's open heart surgery so people could see what bypass machines look like.  These computers are keeping our Hattie girl alive right now.  Thank God for technology!!