Jude's Surgery

The morning of surgery, Jude was not allowed to eat (nurse) beyond 3am. So, I woke him up just before 3am Thursday morning and nursed him. Then we loaded up and drove to Birmingham. We needed to be there by 5:30am. Jude slept the whole way. We ended up arriving at 5am. I was hoping he'd continue to sleep once we got there, but he was wide-eyed and ready to play. It was 6:00 by the time we were admitted to his room. The entire team that was to work on Jude that morning came into the room and introduced themselves. Everyone was very nice.


Here's Jude in his hospital gown.


It wasn't until about 6:40 or so when Jude started fussing to be fed. He's used to eating after an hour or so from waking up.


So Jason put his feet and hands in the sink and let him play in the water. This distracted him for about 15 minutes, then he remembered he wanted Mommy to feed him.


So then Jason moved on to hospital-glove-balloon entertainment. This worked for another 15 minutes or so. By the time he started getting fussy again to eat, it was just about time for them to take him back. Below is a picture of the doctor's initials on the side of the skull to be operated on.


The nurse who came to get Jude had HUGE hoop earrings on. Instead of worrying about them taking Jude, I was distracted by my worries that Jude would yank her earrings out the instant she carried him off. So, just before she reached out for him, I asked her if she would prefer to remove her earrings because we have quite possibly the fastest, grabbiest baby EVER! She blew it off and said they come out easy if he pulls them. Well, sure enough, Jude went straight for the earrings instantly...distracting him from the fact that someone else was holding him (other than his mom and dad) and walking away from us. {can't say I didn't warn her} Jason and I were relieved to not have him crying as she walked off with him. What a blessing those hoops were!! The next toughest part was waiting for the procedure to be over and getting to see Jude. The doctor came to the room about 45 mins after they took Jude to tell us it went well. He was able to remove the growth without having to remove as much of the inner skull layer as the outer skull layer. He said they'll have the growth sent to pathology and identified by sometime next week. About another 1 hour after that went by before they brought Jude back to us in his room. He was still pretty lethargic from the anesthesia. He nursed a tiny bit, but kept falling asleep. He was super red in the face and feverish feeling. They decided to keep us a bit longer to make sure his fever diminished. I was glad they kept us. I felt a little uneasy taking such a lethargic baby home.


He slept the whole drive home. After a bit of wakeful time once we got home, he slept 3.5 hrs that afternoon. He went to bed a bit earlier than his normal time, but woke around 10pm to eat and again at 3am. Then he slept until 6-ish. Today he's been a bit more on schedule, so I'm hoping he gets back on track with his sleeping schedule.


He's been doing great, other than a little bit of swelling in his face today. Between his eyes and eyebrow area, he seems most swollen. He looks like a different baby. But he's eating, playing, and sleeping well today.


Hopefully tomorrow is even better. Love that boy!!!