today's update

as many of you know, yesterday our precious little Zoey had her first surgical procedure (it just amazes me what these little babies have to endure) ... she had a "G-tube" put in! For those that don't know what that is or why - here's a brief explanation: it's a feeding tube inserted through her skin (on her tummy) directly into her stomach, she needed one as a more reliable way to finish her feedings when she doesn't take the full amount from the bottle!

we cuddled, kissed, and cooed as much as we could, until
the nurse got the phone call that they'd be up in 20 minutes to
get her (of course, it was actually more like 45 minutes!)

she was all ready and sound asleep by the time they came up,
thanks to a loud something going off, though, she woke up for her
ride downstairs to the operating room

Gary snapped this right before we said our goodbyes, and
yes - I cried! none of my children have ever had any sort of
surgery and it was hard, even though it was a "simple" procedure

it didn't take near the three hours I was told the day before for her to be all
done and back to her room ... the procedure itself was done a little over an hour
after we left her, but it didn't take that long to do (there was a birthdate
discrepancy - I was in the NICU pumping when the nurse got the call - about
35 minutes after we left her - and it had to be confirmed) We were at lunch
when our pager buzzed, Gary had gone the first time (the birthdate thing) so I went
this time ... the doc said all went well and they were able to do it via just the
small incision! The doc estimated she'd be back to her room in 15 to 20 minutes,
so - we ate our lunch and headed up there - and there was our sweet little
princess:

she was on pain meds and very sleepy! we went back later last night to see her again
and we brought the picture sent from Annicka - isn't it sweet (I especially love
the poem: roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you ... what a great
big sissy) She was still very sleepy, but it's always good just to see her!

she was a bit red too, from the heated bed! ... and why they left that nose
tube in - we have no clue?!

and this was our princess this morning, they even had her dressed - which
really surprised me! she was still fairly sleepy but did wake up and I got
to hold her and we had quite a nice little visit! she also had a new blanket!!!

so, thank you to all who were in prayer for our Zoey - God kept her safe and guided the surgeon, doctors, etc. and everything went smoothly! We visited her again this afternoon and found out she had eaten! They're starting with 30ml and back on her three hour schedule, then every six hours they up it by 10ml until she's back to the full amount! We were relieved she had eaten, as this morning she was acting quite hungry (oh yes, and yesterday before the surgery she was too -as she hadn't been able to eat since her 5am feed - poor baby) ... maybe now she'll realize how much she wants to eat?! Praise God she's doing great and hopefully will come home within the week!