{August 14th}
Braxton had surgery to repair his cleft palate. It's something we've been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. We knew it wasn't going to be a big deal as far as surgery goes so we didn't really think about it much until it was right upon us.
{I only had 1 minor emotional breakdown the night before}
We got to the hospital at 5:30am and they checked us in and got us back to a room right away.
Braxton did so great for not being able to eat or drink anything that morning... he was just happy to jump on the bed and climb around everything.
And he is so dang cute in these hospital jammies.
The surgery lasted 4 1/2 hours and they called and gave us updates every hour
{"He's still doing great"}
He was pretty cranky waking up out of anesthesia but that was to be expected.
The doctor said babies recover so fast from the procedure (much faster than adults do!)
and that he might only be on pain medication for a day or two.
We kept him on constant pain meds the first 2 days and he was just really sleepy and cranky the first day/night.
They released us from the hospital after 1 night as soon as she showed he could drink 8 oz from a cup.
(babies that have this surgery usually have aversions to anything near their mouth at first)
He's been pretty happy since we've been home and just goes through periods of being needy/whiney.
The biggest part of recovery is that he can not have anything in his mouth...
no hands, toys, spoons, bottles, pacifiers, sippy cups... anything.
They gave us arm braces called 'no-no's' for him to wear anytime we are not right next to him to keep him from putting anything in there.
This also includes nap time, bed time, and in the car seat and stroller.
They are the cutest and saddest things you've ever seen at the same time.
After the first few nights we decided to stop putting them on him at bed time b/c he would wake up crying often since he had a hard time turning over.
Plus, he's never really put his hands in his mouth when he sleeps anyways so we weren't super worried.
After the first few nights we decided to stop putting them on him at bed time b/c he would wake up crying often since he had a hard time turning over.
Plus, he's never really put his hands in his mouth when he sleeps anyways so we weren't super worried.
He also has to be on a liquid diet for 3-4 weeks.
These two things are by far the hardest part of this whole process.
Everything he eats has to be blended up and pourable from a cup.
They said they expect him to lose a little weight but the goal is to make sure he has at least 3-4 wet diapers a day and doesn't get dehydrated.
The first 2 days home we've had to get creative to get him to eat.
He's done pretty well eating baby food from the cup but he refuses to take more than 3 or 4 drinks (at most) of any liquids from the cup.
Since he is getting so much less in his belly, he has been sleeping horrible!
He fights when we put him down, then wakes up about 1-2 hrs later. Again, he'll only take a few drinks of milk and we have the hardest time putting him back down.
He'll scream and cry (for up to an hr straight) before we give up and put him in our bed with us.
Then he thinks its party time and wants to play and wrestle and whine for another 1-3 hours.
When he finally passes out, we might get 4 hrs of sleep before he's up crying again.
I think most of it has to do with waking up hungry. He basically begs for his bottle and we know he would chug it if we gave it to him so it kills us not to be able to do so.
We had his 1 week follow-up today and his surgeon said everything looks great so far!
The sides have already closed up and his sutures are healing good.
His stitches should dissolve in another couple weeks and after our 1 month follow-up we'll get the all clear to return to totally normal.
We also asked him about the sleeping problems and if crying/screaming would inhibit his recovery at all.
Since the answer was no.... sleep training is starting again tonight.
{ugh}
Only 2-3 weeks left to go on this liquid/soft food diet
and then we'll be back to normal!
We are so grateful everything went was well as it could have!
He's done pretty well eating baby food from the cup but he refuses to take more than 3 or 4 drinks (at most) of any liquids from the cup.
Since he is getting so much less in his belly, he has been sleeping horrible!
He fights when we put him down, then wakes up about 1-2 hrs later. Again, he'll only take a few drinks of milk and we have the hardest time putting him back down.
He'll scream and cry (for up to an hr straight) before we give up and put him in our bed with us.
Then he thinks its party time and wants to play and wrestle and whine for another 1-3 hours.
When he finally passes out, we might get 4 hrs of sleep before he's up crying again.
I think most of it has to do with waking up hungry. He basically begs for his bottle and we know he would chug it if we gave it to him so it kills us not to be able to do so.
We had his 1 week follow-up today and his surgeon said everything looks great so far!
The sides have already closed up and his sutures are healing good.
His stitches should dissolve in another couple weeks and after our 1 month follow-up we'll get the all clear to return to totally normal.
We also asked him about the sleeping problems and if crying/screaming would inhibit his recovery at all.
Since the answer was no.... sleep training is starting again tonight.
{ugh}
Only 2-3 weeks left to go on this liquid/soft food diet
and then we'll be back to normal!
We are so grateful everything went was well as it could have!
1 comment:
He's seriously the cutest! So sad that he had to go thru this, but you all are such troopers. It's probably so hard getting him to have a liquid diet. Your a great mother!
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