I am so glad that Emma has had her surgery..she has done so wonderfully..I am so proud of her.
We had a rough morning since she did wake up too early but finally did fall asleep before we left for the hospital.
Emma did great while we did have to wait for a while before they did take her back to get her started for her surgery..she went straight to the nurse while she was shaking her rattle. It was a long 2 and a half hours for me until her plastic surgeon finally did come out and told us that she did really well.
They finally called to say that one of us could go back and sit with her while in recovery..of course Ron said go and I did..The nurse was holding her trying to sooth her but she was not happy..She was still not very happy when I had her..so I thought she might act different with Ron..it did help at first but not for long..I know she was feeling really odd and not understanding what was going on. They even put us into a little room on the side so that three of us could be back there at the same time..which did help..We tried everything we could to console her..the nurse kept suggesting anything she could think of..we got some strawberry yogurt..which she did take a few bites of it. She didn't care for the bottle..since it was new..so Ron had to go get hers from the van and she started to try to drink from it...thank you Holly for telling me that I should take one...I probably would have not thought about that.
A room finally opened for her so we got to go up there..she slept quite a bit as we held her since her arm restraints were not on her...Mom and I kept taking turns with her. We decided we would try and feed her and she was ready..later that night she did start chugging her bottle down..which was great. We did put the arm restraints on so we could put her in the crib..which did not get used much..she didn't sleep very long when we did put her in it.
She does have arm restraints which surprisingly she does not let her stop her..she is adjusting with them..these will be on for 2 or 3 weeks..we are taking them off of her periodically so she can bend her elbows..this morning when she was really tired she really just wanted to hold and snuggle her care bear..she did figure out how to do it and finally relaxed and fell asleep.
The plastic surgeon came in really early and he was discharging us..Emma was acting pretty normal except she was really tired at times..she was still not eating a lot but enough. Once the IV and the pulse ox came off, she was a lot happier..as anyone would be. She was then able to go for a walk and go play.
I am amazed at my little girl..my mom said she was just like me when I had open heart surgery at 4 and half months old..I bounced back so fast that I was out of the hospital in 14 days. My mom helped me out so much. She complained about not getting any sleep..I told her she was not here to sleep..she was here to help keep Emma happy. She really did enjoy staying and helping out.
Today is Wednesday..we are 5 days until surgery. My nerves have gotten a little better. I have talked to a couple of people whose kids have gone through this surgery already. This has helped me a lot..now we just wait to see. Emma is a very strong baby and I know everything will be okay. My mom is going to stay with me the whole time at the hospital since Ron will have one child at home that night..we are lucky that we are so close to the hospital that if I need him he can be there quick. The surgeon thinks we will be there only for one night..I am happy with that.
Emma is now 19 lbs 6.2 oz and is 28 and a half inches. She is getting so big. It is sometimes hard to carry her around.. It is hard to believe that 10 months have gone by already. It has been too fast. I only have 2 more months until she is 1..I have really loved watching her grow into this little independent person who knows what she wants and figures out how to get. She is learning to step on things if it is out of reach..and it does not matter what it is. She is using everything and everyone to pull to stand. She is still mostly crawling with one knee one foot...I guess that is how she likes doing it and I can't get her to change. She is really wanting to get on those feet and start walking by herself. It is really cute to watch her do squats..she will pick something up and then will put it back down on the floor and will repeat it..over and over. When it is time to eat I used to have to get the food and then go get her..now I get the food and tell Emma it is time to eat and here she will come crawling to me as fast as she can.
I have been trying to teach her sign language..I have been doing a couple of words..I know she will not be able to do them for a month because of the arm restraints so I have not really pushed it. I will still do them to her.. she already will sign toy, and sometimes she will try drink..but now she is saying daddy..I was putting her to sleep the other day and she signed daddy a couple of times..I was happy to see that she is finally starting to respond..I don't have to teach her mommy since she knows that word and I hear it all the time..which I would not have it any other way..
Until later
The countdown to surgery is 11 days and so much needs to be done..to me it needs to be done..
Today ended up being the last day of physical therapy..YAY! She still does need a little work but we agreed that I could do that at home. Like using the opposite leg..not just using the same one..if I do see after her surgery that she does need help again with either occupational or physical therapy I just need to call the doctor to get it ordered.
The kids have been here as usual..Devin who is 8 can care less about Emma..he is just starting to want to play with her when he wants to..I think too Emma is bigger and doing more. Emma will follow him around and he will yell for someone to get her. Her sisters play, hold her, anything else she wants, they will do it all the time..The other day he decides that he will play with her on the floor..she does what all babies do.. she pulls herself up using him..he says to us we need to get a picture..I got the camera..he really enjoyed it 
even though his face may say something else..
Emma loves playing with her ducks..even out of the tub..She was sleeping when I bought her a new one..when we got home I showed it to her and told her I bought a duck and she looked at me and it sounded like she said "o kay"..it also seems like she is making the ducks sound..she was crawling to it yesterday and there was that sound again..I still don't know how she makes some of her noises.
Until later...
