Zzzzzzzzzz...........

Wow what a long day. And boy am I ready for it to be over! Up at 4:30am, we headed to the hospital around 5:20 and got here a little after 6am. Brooklynn was the first case in the OR this morning. They always try to take the little babies first. And because we had to coordinate with multiple surgeons (3), they don't want to change her time because then it would screw everyone up. So surgery was scheduled to start at 7:30am, and at exactly 7:30am, off she went. That is most definitely the hardest part of the day. I absolutely hate it! There is no worse feeling than having to kiss your child and tell her how much you love her, and then hand her over to the nurses. For those few grueling hours, she is out of my hands and I honestly honestly cannot stand it! They called about an hour in, and she was doing great. The nuerosurgeon's part took right at 2 hours, the orthopaedic surgeon a little longer. All together, they started at 7:30am, and we didn't see her until approximately 6 hours later, right around 1:30. We got quite a few updates through out her time in the OR. There is nothing better, yet nothing scarier than when that phone rings in the waiting room and "West" is called to answer it. Good news or bad news? You have this kind of awful numb, sick to your stomach feeling...until you hear those 3 sweet words, "she's doing fine." Then I can breathe again. Ahhhh. Another couple hours and the phone rings again. Luckily today, all our phone calls contained those 3 sweet words. The neurosurgeon's part went great. She did great, and the surgery was easy breezy. But for those who know Brooklynn, you know how much she loves to surprise us all. The orthopaedic surgeon got the surprise today. Her leg was much worse than he anticipated. For the sake of your sanity, I will leave out the details. But like a jigsaw puzzle, she has been beautifully put back together. The general surgeon went in last. His was a quick 5 minutes spent in the OR. Doesn't get better than that right? We are now all back in the room, the guests have left for the day, and Tim and I are finally able to sit on the couch next to her bed, and with a sigh of relief, we are all still breathing. (((And waiting on Chinese to get here!))) Brooklynn is getting plenty of pain meds (morphine and tylenol with codeine along with motrin), and is sleeping, although not as peacefully as we'd like. Her Sat's occasionally drop and she is being given a little oxygen until the doctor gets here. (He's been called because of her sat's). But this is not uncommon for her oxygen levels to drop right after a surgery. And THIS was a surgery! A painful one. But she continues to AMAZE us everyday! And today, she has proven to be the most beautiful, strong and amazing baby I have ever known. Thank you everyone so much for all your thoughts and prayers! There is no greater power than the power of prayer. She woke up for a little while earlier and we were lucky enough to spend about 2 hours with her. We talked and sang songs and when she wakes up again, we'll be right here by her side. Sleep tight.