The Rest of the Story

Yesterday I posted about how happy KayLi was to be home and about how great she has been doing. So now that I have gotten a little sleep I thought I would tell the rest of the story.

They had told us that the anesthesia would take anywhere from 18 to 24 hours to get out of her system and I'm very thankful that it only took 15. They were long hours. The nurses kept reassuring me that her pain level was not very high. That the medication she was taking was taking care of the worst of it. It was hard to believe them though because KayLi woke up about every thirty minutes crying. Really crying. She was scared and disoriented in a heart wrenching way.

The highlight of our night was when a nurse brought KayLi a small crocheted blanket and a super huggable stuffed cat. Both had been donated to the children's hospital and actually made her smile! I never knew such simple gifts could mean so much. She wraps the cat in the blanket and puts it to bed...such a sweety. Many heart felt thanks to Project Linus for your kindness!

Around three in the morning she (we) finally slept. Unfortunately only until 6am when she wet the bed and drenched us both. IV fluids and Tyelenol with codeine are a bad combination! After we got things set right with the world she slept until 8 am and woke up almost 100% KayLi. Only now she has the sweetest voice ever!!!!

The surgery itself went beautifully. I think the world of Dr. David Genecov and his team. I really can't say enough about the International Craniofacial Institute in Dallas. They are simply awesome. I'm so thankful that God lead us to them. They have published a small book that is a great resource if you are considering adopting a child with a cleft lip/palate. If any one is interested in it, just email me and I'd be happy to mail it to you.

We had been uncertain about whether we would stay another night in Dallas but when they said we could go home WE DID! KayLi had asked to go to "KayLi's house" several times throughout the night and we really wanted to reassure her that she could go home again.

Now that we are home a liquid diet is our biggest challenge. Instant oatmeal thinned down with milk was are first attempt at it on our way home. Followed by a Mc Donalds milkshake, also with extra milk. Once we got home we tried "blenderizing" chicken noodle soup. Even with Emily excitedly drinking with her, it didn't go over very well.

Later we tried a yogurt and frozen raspberry smoothy and she loved it. Today I made thin potato soup with chicken broth that we all loved. I've been told that after a week or so I will throw anything in the blender.

When I blended some yogurt and strawberries today. KayLi just laid on the couch watching Elmo (have I mentioned how obsessed she is with that little red guy?) saying "No Mama" softly and repeatedly. She did like the smoothy though.

I had stocked a few things that I thought might work before we left but I'm heading to the grocery store in search of...well, anything that might work. So far drinkable yogurt, Pediasure and smoothy fixings are at the top of the list. If any of you have any ideas, I'm soooooo open to suggestions. I'll be doing a serious google search shortly!