Getting admitted to the hospital...poor little girl didn't know what was coming :(.
Post-surgery...little girl was intibated with a breathing tube and had IV fluids and pain meds... she was pretty zonked for about 18 hours. We thought it was funny that they left her shirt on for the surgery- we thought for sure they would cut it off!
This was pretty soon after they took the ventilator tube out of her airway- she was MAD!
Ahhh...a little more pain medicine...
Poor sweet girl :(.
She was super puffy from the IV fluids when they did an EKG test on her, also still on oxygen...
Moved to the complex airway unit and getting ready to go off of oxygen...
Caroline's bed in the complex airway unit- much less scary than the ICU!
Heading home the first time- unfortunately we would be back 36 hours later!
24 hours after the second surgery- no oxygen needed this time- much better! ;)
This expression says it all :).
Cara's room in the complex airway unit after being downgraded from the ICU for the second time...
Home at last, first thing on the schedule- a bath!!
These pictures were pre-surgery...Avery and I were at her preschool's "Mother's Day Tea" on the morning of Caroline's emergency surgery.
Avery's Mother's Day gift- an adorable painted potholder...
Square dance!
Fantastic big sister- love this girl!
These were also pre-surgery- we went to Nana and Papa's to celebrate Daddy's birthday on May 3rd!
Aunt Jen, Caroline, and Addy
The Beerman's came to visit the night before Caroline's surgery - thanks for the yummy dinner and treats, awesome Beerman family!
When our Caroline entered the world on April 19th, she didn't cry. Not once. Instead the doctor laid her on my chest and she smiled- no doubt due to gas, but a smile nonetheless. Over the next two weeks, little girl continued to be somewhat quiet- not a lot of crying, but when she did, she would turn a little blue and give us a panicked look. After several trips to the pediatrician, they insisted she had acid reflux causing the breathing problems. I continued to have a nagging feeling that something wasn't right and kept making doctor's appointments. On May 9th, those suspicions were finally confirmed as she was sent to Children's Hospital where a world-renowned ENT specialist told us that our girl had a thyroglossal duct cyst in her airway that would need to be removed that day- emergency surgery, and a rare one at that. We were stunned- baby girl was whisked into the operating room for a 2 hour procedure to remove the blockage. Pictures from the surgery were shocking- a dime-sized tumor that was continuing to grow. The doctors said eventually it would have blocked the airway completely.
A doctor told us the next day that the cyst was life-threatening, and if we had laid the little girl flat on her back to sleep for even just one night, the consequences could have been tragic, as that position would have made the cyst completely occlude her airway. For the first 2 weeks of her life, I had her sleep in her car seat
or bouncy seat to elevate her- just a feeling...I couldn't get myself to lay her flat in the bassinet- crazy!
Sweet Caroline definitely had an angel watching over her- the fact that the ENT specialist happened to be at Children's that day (and had recently done a presentation on the very rare thyroglossal cyst- such an expert on these!), that they were able to get her into surgery so quickly, and even those feelings I had that something wasn't right...we are beyond blessed that things worked out the way they did.
We came home after 5 days in the hospital only to return on May 14th as baby girl still had trouble breathing- the docs found scar tissue that had built up, and she had a second emergency procedure on the 14th. We stayed in the hospital for 3 more days to return home yesterday. Children's Hospital was amazing, but it was admittedly rough standing at her bedside for the first few days non-stop, and then holding her non-stop for the rest of the stay, trying to navigate IV tubes, heart and breathing monitors, oxygen tubes, and even more wires and monitors. Chris was there for most nights, holding the little girl so I could close my eyes for an hour or so before the docs came in for round-the-clock check-ins. I've never been so scared in my life, but you do what you have to do!
Caroline is home now, on breathing treatments with a nebulizer, and still trying to navigate swallowing with her new airway. She also does have a nasty case of reflux, so most of her feeds come back up which irritates her still-raw airway. She also got a case of bronchitis in the hospital so she's dealing with a cough and phlegm as well. We imagine at this point her inner monologue is saying..."This is NOT what I signed up for!" Poor thing has had a rough first month. :(
We are lucky, blessed, and grateful beyond words. Our family has been such a support, watching Avery and taking care of the homefront....our friends have been so very supportive, offering meals, kind words, and to take care of anything we need. Times like these make you realize how very true the saying "It takes a village to raise a child..." is- the support we've had has been amazing!
We are ready for some quiet and routine (ha ha!) at home now with our girls. Thanks to everyone for keeping us going- we will be forever thankful!
