Pre-Op Tummy Report

Isaac's surgery is tomorrow!
We are going in at 1:40 in the afternoon and the surgery is scheduled for 3:40 pm.
He will be having an exploratory laparotomy. If during the surgery, they find that he does have intestinal malroation, as suspected, he will be having the Ladd Procedure to reduce the risk of volvulus and obstruction, as well as an appendectomy. (The appendectomy is done because the appendix is in the wrong place if people with malrotation, making appendicitis especially risky, and because it can be damaged during the Ladd Procedure).

Isaac will be at our local Children's Hospital for anywhere from a few days to two weeks, depending on the extent of his surgery and how he recovers.

The hospital is fantastic. I was able to tour the surgery department on Wednesday and everything is absolutely state of the art. They perform up to 100 surgeries a day there, so I know he will be in expert hands. The tour was for children having surgery, and I wish I had brought Isla last year before her PE tubes and adnoidectomy. The nurse did a great job getting all the kids involved, took us to all areas of the surgery center (except the ORs). They used a teddy bear to demonstrate somethings and let the kids try out the equipment they would use and practice doing vitals. In the Popsicle room (the room kids are sent to for discharge after the PACU), all the kids were given Popsicles, to end things on a positive note, and every one of the kids were happy when they left the tour! Isaac was the only kid on our group going inpatient, so I stayed after to talk to the nurse. I'll be able to stay with Isaac around the clock, and depending on how he is doing, he should be able to have visitors, including Isla.

Positive thoughts and prayers are much appreciated!

In other news, our little man is 5 months old today! Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!!
As Andrew noted, if someone had told us last September that he would be having surgery in March, we never would have guessed it was for his tummy. We are very thankful his heart is doing so well and grateful that his malrotation was discovered before anything life-threatening occurred.

After an e-mail exchange with our GI Dr., I have decided to stop pumping and do not plan to try to "un-wean" Isaac at some future date. She feels that his GI /growth issues have an allergy component and will not be resolved solely with surgery. I have a feeling that she was letting me continue to pump in order to wean myself from the idea of being a breast feeding mama. (I started crying when the RN 1st brought me the formula and I think she spoke to the Dr. because after that they encouraged me to keep pumping.)

When I asked her a few days ago if I should continue to pump to maintain my supply and mentioned that we were very happy with how well Isaac was doing, she (kindly) said she did not see any reason to continue pumping. I am glad I was able to gradually cut down on nursing Isaac and see success with the formula before deciding to stop nursing. Pumping combined with formula feeding was such a huge commitment and it will be nice not to have to spend 90+ minutes a day pumping, not to mention cleaning everything. That being said, breast feeding was one of the most amazing experiences. (...and 10 years ago I thought I'd never nurse and thought it was gross!) After providing for your child in utero, it is so special to be able to continue to provide for them once they are born. I had hoped to nurse Isaac until he was two and I'm sad to lose that special bond with him.
Isaac had a really hard time the first night I did not nurse him to sleep, but now I give him a few ounces of formula in the bottle, and the rest of our nighttime routine is the same - books, songs, and rocking. He falls asleep just fine, but he still has to bury his head in my chest and suck on his paci before he completely falls asleep. It is sweet.