Having taken some time off of work with Mia I have had time to "decompress" and let my world slow down a bit. I am learning first hand how important some of these things are. For instance, Touch is quite important to Mia. It brings her comfort, security and gives her a sense of love. Think about how big that is - all those things accomplished with just a "touch". Many nights she will wake up and cry. I will go and sleep next to her crib and rub her hand or foot and she instantly knows that she is ok, her mom is there and goes back to sleep. During the day, we spend alot of time snuggling, and yet there are many things in the house and in my business that are left undone, but I know those moments with Mia are more important than anything else. This time with her will be go by in a flash and I want her to move to the next phase of her life having felt the love of her mother - unrushed, uninterrupted and totally focused on just loving her.
Mia is healthy and happy and is very loved. She fits into our family just perfectly! I will hate to return to the rat race and not be able to see her every minute of every day. I only hope that once I return to work that I stop to enjoy the small, sweet things in life with my girls.
We just had our Chinese 2 year old daughter's cleft palate repaired by Dr. Buchanan. Like you, we had a January surgery date, but a cancellation opened up. I wanted to give you a few tips for the hospital. We were there 2 nights. We are a week and a half into the recovery.
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2) Stay ahead of the pain by using the meds. It was and still is a fight to get the meds into our little one, but it's best for her. We learned through trial & error at home...codeine had a crazy effect effect on her, and either the ibuprofen (that we tried) or antibiotics gave her painful gas.
3) Take lots of layering clothes (including very warm clothes), because it would be warm during the day, and freezing at night. Make sure you bring clothes that you don't mind getting bloody drool and medicine on.
4) Have someone else there with you. Our daughter would only sleep on me, not in the crib provided, so it was great to have my husband there to hold her when I needed to get up, or to have someone go get food downstairs for us, or to make decisions with regarding pain meds.
5) Recovery at home is difficult also, because everyone's sleep is disrupted. Co-sleeping can be beneficial.
6) You can do this! Just when you think you cannot do it anymore, she'll turn a corner.
7) I feel like I've had to be proactive about asking about ENTs & Speech Therapists. This may be because we got bumped up on the list due to the cancellation. So, be sure you ask about all of those things at each meeting with the doctor.
Anyway, hope that helps. Praying for you all!!!
Thank you sooooo much. Any advice definitely helps us navigate through this unknown event.
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