Day 1: Waiting Room

Those double doors read authorized personal only and my baby was just taken through them, along with all the love I can send on wings of God’s angels.

To pass the time, Jacob and I got breakfast at the HBO Cafe; veggie eggs and gravy biscuits. Call me insensitive, but somehow my stomach cravings did not surrender to this surgery. In booth seating, I people watched a family with a baby girl wearing the same ‘sleepy little tiger gown’ wondering what operation she was awaiting. We spent a good amount of time in the cafeteria, trying to relax and updating family.

Then we went to the waiting room, with the dimmed lights and the tv screen with children’s numbers and updates on surgery progress. Chloe’s number, 2865, had a green bar that said ‘In OR’ - 46 minutes. We watched that time closely, moving to 120, 153, 208, 280…

The Greatest Showman made the minutes seem less like hours. For $6 we rented a 48 hour HD digital showing on Google Play. For weeks I had saved this movie as a distractor and it definitely did.

Dr. McComb updates us at about the 2 hour mark, reporting the skull was removed successfully with minimal blood loss. They told us earlier that no news is good news, but HONESTLY, god news is the BEST news!

The movie ended. The circus tent closed. And Jacob and I decided it was best to eat before her surgery finished.

We informed the front desk attendant who looked at the chart time and said, “Oh, I would bring it back here to eat… just in case.” We chose to quickly consume our pizza in the cafeteria instead.

While biting a red onion, bell pepper slice, I saw three tables down a doctor with an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Urata. He took a bite of his sandwich.

“Jacob, is that Dr. Urata?” I could see the capital ‘U’ on his nametag.

“Sure looks like him,” said Jacob, “Oh, look! There’s his assistant, Ibrahim!”

We walked briskly back and saw you were still ‘In OR’. Fifteen minutes later it read, “In Recovery”.

The waiting room attendant gave us a third floor room number for the PICU.

We were going to see OUR BABY!!

The longest time and distance I had been separated from you prior to surgery was 2 hours in the L.A. Temple while Hanna babysat across the street in the visitors center. Somehow, two floors up in the operating room still seemed much, much further away.

When we reach your room on the Wal-Mart level, I peak in and see a beautiful girl with a cause beanie resting on a California king-sized crib. Kaylee, the PICU nurse, seemed surprised to see us.

“Everything went well!” Did the doctor already speak with you after surgery?”

“No, but Dr. McComb saw us half way through.”

“Oh, okay. Well, she’s going to be waking up from anesthesia for hopefully the next few hours, but you can hold and use her as soon as she starts stirring.”

An hour later, you were in my arms. The swelling was still minimal. The coloration was still fair. But the forehead shape was dramatically different! Not a box so much as I had pictured, but very flat. Like an Arizona mesa… or a Ihop pancake.

Nana was anxiously waiting to visit her grabby. Mommy was nervous about how the morning would go, so daddy let family know we wanted visitors to come once you were in recovery. Nana said she would just come wait in the parking lot all day then. Haha Nana sure loves you! She was just kidding though... maybe…

Papa also came to support his only, AND FAVORITE (but not by default *winkie face*) grand baby.

When you started waking up any stimulation was too much. The once beloved FaceTime ring tone was now a hammer for your headache. We quickly realized this and texted family updates instead. A musical Lion King crib toy from, I believe, my 90s era, was brought your your bedside but never turned on. It made me sad to think of all the laughs you would normally have had with a toy like that. Still, I was grateful we were on ’The Other Side’ and you would soon be playing with your V-Tech sit to stand in the comfort of our plush-carpet living room.

Nurse Kaylee was very attentive at checking your pupils with a flashlight every hour, giving Tylenol every 6 hours and antibiotics every 8, checking temperature and blood pressure vitals, and making sure Mom and Dad were comfortable with water and a foot-rest.

Then Allison took the next morning shift and YOU were her only (and again, FAVORITE, but not by default) patient. This was her first day back from a 7 month maternity leave.

After 24 hours your eyes were super SWOLE. I held your hand during a CAT scan. You would have loved all the Disney* character decals in the room: Frozen, Minions (Dreamworks* I know), Monster’s Inc… Mommy and Daddy wore lead aprons and you wore a velcro swaddle which was a throwback to your first 3 month swaddling days. The circular/donut machine began to spin while your head was in the donut hole.

One day you will really appreciate all my food analogies.

And my foodie terms of endearment. Love you my little pumpkin, muffin, sugar plum, sweetie pie. <3