11-12-13 What a beautiful Day

A friend of ours pointed out that surgery was scheduled on 11-12-13 -Isn't that awesome? Seems like fate to us..God's promise that he is taking care of us in his time.

Yesterday was surgery day and was also the first snow of the year- Quiet and beautiful- But not easy to navigate on the roads!

We went in about 545 and all of our family was there to see us and support us which was very nice.First they took mom back for surgery- She waited a good while in the pre op room where there were lots of other Doctor's and patients- They let family come back one more time before surgery and Mom was able to kiss Madeline Goodbye before she went in.

Next thing she knew she was being woken up 'rachael, rachael - we are all done now' the Dr. said. She could hardly believe it- She didn't even remember putting a mask on or being put under or anything. She actually felt pretty darn good for just having a kidney removed- Not at all like she expected. Except her throat was very sore and dry from being intubated. The Nurse gave her a sponge and said to go slow with it in terms of wetting mouth/sipping water. Being that Mom was feeling super thirsty she went ahead and had a sip of water anyways-BAD IDEA- it's amazing how sick that one sip of water made her stomach! She felt so nauseous they had to give her anti nausea medication which did not help very much. They were about to give her another kind of anti nausea med when she started feeling better so they moved her up to her room.

 Meanwhile, Madeline's surgery was wrapping up and she was doing WONDERFUL. Already started urinating and Doctor's said her numbers were looking good. Looks like mom's kidney is starting to work real well for madeline! She was later moved to the PICU for monitoring where she slept almost the entire night. Her dad stayed with her in the room in the evening. He did an excellent job of running between buildings to check on his ladies and kept everyone updated during all of this.  He snapped some pics to share below-

Back in Mom's room she was struggling a bit with nausea and breathing issue. At one point during visit with friends and family she started dry heaving because there was nothing in her to puke up and ended up letting out a bunch of gas via belching. It is all part of the process they tell us. Several times mom caught a bout of the hiccups which is actually quite painful because of the stress it puts on the rest of your body. Then came chest pains and tightness- and feeling like someone was sitting on her chest- It was making it hard to breathe. They did two EKG's and a blood test just to make sure her heart was ok but everything looked fine. They had to remind mom to push her 'pain button' (a little button mom can push every 6 minutes that distributes pain meds). This helps a little- and more Zofran was given for the nausea.. The nausea is actually the worst part in mom's opinion. Worse than any hangover she's ever had ;) haha- Just kidding- But it was very debilitating.

It's an odd feeling to be so weak and to have a hard time even sitting up in bed. Not to mention falling asleep talking or typing.. or both. Sleep is good but there is a lot of in and out with Doctor's and nurses etc which can make it difficult at times to  rest. Mom is up now due to a blood draw at 430 this morning.

Took her first steps around the hospital room and cleaned up a bit. It definitely used up all her energy.Thankfully she has been able to drink waster today without nausea which is a plus.

Called the PICU to check on Madeline they say she's been mostly sleeping but did wake up, point to the tv and say 'fish; :) We have a feeling she will be bouncing around soon enough.

It is really surreal that this day finally came and we are done for now.. ready to move forward from here. It's a good feeling.

Also, I have been saying it over and over but I won't stop until everyone hears. .Thank you from the bottom of our hearts all the love you have shown us. We couldn't believe how many prayer chains we were on, how many people shared our status and asked their prayers, friends and family that came to the hospital and held mom' s hand while she cried and dry heaved into a bucket.. It's hard to even put into words our gratitude. God has blessed us with an entire community of loving people- and we won't forget. Thank You -

And Praise be to GOD who has made all things possible for us. He gives us so much despite  the fact we don't deserve it. We are so blessed.God reveals himself to us more every day and we are honored to be in his presence.

Anyways- Mom is falling asleep again while typing so it may be time to go and rest a little again .

Lots of love to all of you -Here's some picture recap of yesterday..

<3 <3 <3