Surgery is over

So yesterday came and went with a blur. Thanks to all of you who sent me emails wishing the girls luck with their surgeries! We got to the hospital at 7am, with the girls still in their PJs. It's not the first time that twins or siblings had surgeries on the same day, but let me say, it does confuse people from the registration desk all the way to the doctors, nurses, and anesthesiolgists. Making sure they each had the correct ID bracelets on, and that the nurse was writing info about Sophie on Sophie's chart, not Helen's, etc. We really had to be on our toes. At one point during Sophie's surgery, we were waiting with Helen in the pre-op room and a doctor came in, introduced himself and mentioned that he was an ENT (Ear Nose Throat) doctor. We paused for a moment, and then asked him why we needed an ENT for a hernia surgery? He had walked into the wrong room, so we all got a nice laugh from that one.

Everyone there was so nice - they even had a child life specialist who came in and talked to the girls at length about the surgery, in children's terms. She was really helpful. Sophie had quite a few moments of being really scared and upset, and so she did take the "calming" medicine before her surgery. Boy did that help! She was Chatty Kathy being wheeled down into the operating room. This picture was taken as soon as the medicine started working. Sophie is in the middle, with a bit of a glazed look in her eyes. I was all suited up to accompany her into the operating room. I was there until she fell asleep for the surgery. That was hard. They should have given ME some calming medicine for that one.

Helen is a tough kid, she didn't need anything to calm her down. She was too busy watching the Nick Jr on the TV in the room. I guess when you don't watch much TV at home, it is a real treat to have your very own TV in the hospital. When it was her turn for surgery, Marc walked her down, and it looks like a party in the operating room! Here they are with her surgeon and the anesthesiologist.

At just about the same time, Sophie woke up pretty happy in the recovery room! She was so brave!

When Helen came to the recovery room about an hour later, she was in such a deep sleep we thought she'd never wake up. She slept hard for almost an hour and a half, then woke up asking for a popsicle and some chocolate ice cream, both of which she inhaled.

And the long awaited wheelchair rides! The girls had been dreaming about riding in a wheelchair for ages. Too bad they were still pretty drugged out. I'm not sure they even remember much about the wheelchairs.

We got home just after 2pm, and then it was naptime again for the girls. The cats were thrilled to have sleeping buddies on the couches.They slept another 12 hours last night, and today they are laying low. They are doing well, but the incisions do hurt. Helen's hurt more, as she had two and Sophie only had one. Anyway, I'm glad it's over. I am feeling the exhaustion myself, as I think my stress was all bottled up inside, and now that it's over I can release it. Phew...

I did start one of the coats for the American Girl Dolls (which by the way the girls LOVED). It's a cute Easter coat that will look like this:

and I didn't get very far yesterday. But it shouldn't take too long. I am using Roma - what an awesome yarn to knit with! It is in the Holiday Wear pattern booklet.

I gave my mom the Rooster hooked rug yesterday and she loves it! She was really excited to get it and couldn't wait to get home and find the perfect place to hang it. What a good feeling that was - I loved making that rug, and seeing how much she loved getting it... well it was more than an amazing feeling. And hey, isn't that what it's all about?