MIri's procedure, Part III (or "The end?")

I'm happy to report that Miriam is alive and well ... um, at least in the process of getting well from her surgery yesterday. I was much calmer this time around since we had already had the dress rehearsal. The anesthesiologist gave her lungs a green light, so the nurses took her back to the operating room as scheduled at 7 a.m.

Miriam hanging out on the baby hospital bed. We kept her entertained with her book and monkey before the surgery.

She also did a bit of exploring before being taken back.

When the doctor was finished, he came out to talk to us. Apparently our kid is even more screwed up than we thought. They couldn't put the tubes in the upper and lower ducts to make a loop because her upper ducts are obstructed by bone that never opened up the way it was supposed to. So, as far as I understand it, the doctor was able to probe through the bone on the right eye in the upper duct, and we put a tube and plug through the lower duct on the left eye.

After that, I don't know anything the doctor said. Miriam had woken up in recovery, and the nurse handed her to me so I could comfort her. I heard something about her possibly needing more surgery later to correct the left eye, but maybe not because some people live whole and happy lives with their upper duct(s) obstructed. I wasn't trying to ignore the man, but I was too wrapped up in caring for my baby.

She was inconsolable and incredibly doped up at first, which is a weird combination. She would squirm and cry, then snooze on my shoulder only to wake up again to squirm and cry some more. After the nurse gave her two different forms of painkiller (IV and oral), she settled down.

Miriam sad and hurting after surgery. She had a drippy, bloody nose for the rest of the day.

Miriam dozing after surgery. Since she hadn't eaten anything that morning, I tried nursing her after surgery; her nose was too stuffy to stay latched on, so we had the nurse fill her sippy cup with apple juice. During her non-dozing moments, she would take a drink from the cup before falling asleep again.

I brought her home, and she slept until about 3 p.m. Then she acted more or less like her cute little self. I could tell she was getting tired after dinner, but I didn't want her napping that late, so we kept her up until 7 p.m., fed her, and put her down for the night.

She woke up this morning at 5:30 crying and with a little bit of a fever. With more ibuprofen and some cuddling and Cosby, she settled down but didn't go back to sleep until her regular morning nap time.

Today was an ordinary day except for the looks I got from people in Winco (I swear, people ... I don't beat my 1-year-old) and Miri falling asleep in my arms while I was visiting teaching.

We'll go back to the ophthalmologist's office to remove the tube in the left eye's lower duct in 6-8 weeks. This time, I won't be too preoccupied to ask the doctor some questions about what happened and what happens next.

Miri, one day post-op. She's swollen and bruised, but she's still smiling (and eating, if any of those crumbs did, in fact, make it into her mouth).