PDA Ligation Surgery - Part 1

I left you right before I went back to work and after three days I am completely beat, but am dealing ok. It is just a very long day, but I do not spend my hours at work upset. I think that will come when I go back to work after being home with her for a few months like it does to all working Moms who return to the daily grind.

Enough about me, what we all are really concerned with is that after over a month of deliberating over treatment, Natalie is getting her PDA ligation surgery tomorrow morning. 

I have explained what the PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) is in an earlier post, but I stole these images from Stanford's Children's Hospital website:

OK, science lesson over

As it was explained to me, they go in through the left side and "smush" the lung aside (obvious medical terms they use for us laymen) and then they tie or clip the ductus closed. The actual procedure takes less then 15 minutes, but it takes over an hour for them to prepare her for it. They said a large factor is how the infant handles having their lung smushed (smooshed?) since there is already so much pressure on their lungs and heart because of the PDA strain. Luckily, Natalie has always done excellent in the respiratory area, so they are confident this should not be a problem.

So, that is all for now. She is the first surgery of the day at 7:30 am, but it will probably take a few hours before she is back up in the NICU and we are with her. We are getting there at 6 am to sign consent forms and all that legal stuff and to sit with her before she goes down. I have been in positive spirits, but I would be lying if I said I did not hate every single minute of this part. However, I am very excited to get this behind us. 

For the first time in awhile, it was very hard to go home tonight. She was all cuddled up and going back to sleep after being awake for a few minutes while she was changed and cleaned up, completely ignorant of what was to come in the morning. I am grateful for many things, but one of the major things is that she will have no memory of all of this. She has the same surgeon working on her that did her NEC surgery a month ago and who will do her reconnection surgery in two weeks. He is the best (and I am not the only one at the hospital who thinks that). I hope he truly understands the impact he has on so many lives and not just the little children he works on, but everyone connected to them. 

So until tomorrow - prayers for Natalie Rose. She has proved countless times she is a fighter and we are more proud of her than I can express. I have every confidence that tomorrow will be a success. However, I am human and it will be a long night and an eternal morning while we wait in the lobby tomorrow. We will update you all as soon as we hear the good news.

Here is your dose of Miss Natalie Rose

How I found her when I arrived at 4 pm on my first day of work

Kangaroo Time (Mommy needed it more than her that day)

We were there late enough we saw her get weighed. She does not enjoy this process.