Shunt Surgery

Today was the day I had been so anxious about. I woke up before my alarm this morning and laid in bed a good 10 minutes and just prayed. I made some coffee, got Ben up and saved the bug for last since she couldn't eat and I didn't want her to be cranky! To lower infection risk they told us she should have a bath before surgery so Ben took care of that (thanks babe!) then off to the hospital we went. The check in process felt like forever. We signed papers, waited, talk to some nurses, waited, changed her into her gown, waited then it was last kisses before they took her back for anesthesia. It didn't seem long at all before the nurse came out saying she was done. We went back into a consult room to talk with Dr. Levy about her surgery and ask any questions we had, he said everything went well and she is a very good baby (durrr). The longest part was waiting to see her in the recovery room. It took FOREVER and if not for my beloved xanax I would have been freaking out. Finally I got to go see her and she looked so sweet and relieved. She was sleeping with a faint smile on her beautiful face and I couldn't believe how much her head had already gone down! On the sides you can see where her plates are pushed out more from the pressure over there but hopefully within the next week or two that will smooth out. Her head is very soft in the spots that have no skull, which is a lot of it so that will take some getting used to..Ben and I are both feeling like she's super fragile now and we're scared to take her home all over again. Once she got to her room in the Intermediate Care Unit we went home for showers and some down time around 6. We got back up there around 9 and the nurse was giving her a bottle, we could hear her as we were walking in making little sounds as she ate, she was very happy for some milk! She was still very sleepy and groggy so we held her a while then let her get some rest. It was pretty dark in the room with it being nighttime so I didn't get more pictures but her head is down already from the ones I took right after surgery! When Ben was holding her sitting up to burp her you could just tell her head was so much lighter for her and she wasn't quite sure what to do with it lol. Her eyes are also looking much better, more coordinated in their movement and NO sundowning! I am very excited to see all the benefits of this shunt and if it helps her vision get better. Well, it's past midnight and we will be going up there in the morning so I better get to bed. I will update more tomorrow and post more pictures. I forgot my camera at the hospital but I did take some 'befores'. Thank you again for all of the love and prayers you've been sending our way, they are much appreciated and obviously work wonders :)