We are home from the hospital. We were released around 9:30 this morning, but we had to wait around the hospital for Steve and the kids to get there to pick us up. Annaliese is such a trooper. She is doing really well, quite resilient. She relaxed as soon as we got in the car on the way home and fell straight asleep. We stopped when we were almost home and got a quick lunch. After we got home, we put all the kids down for naps (mom and dad included). Mom and Anna slept for two and a half hours. She's been great tonight, very happy to be at home with her sister. The two of them have been silly together all evening. The doctors told us to keep her on regular pain medicine for three days, because her throat would be sore. She hasn't complained about it too much though. You would hardly know she had surgery yesterday. They also told us to watch out for bleeding. A very small percent of children who have their tonsils out have bleeding between days 3-5 after the surgery. If bleeding occurs, we are instructed to go right to the A&E (emergency room) because they may have to do more surgery to stop it.
Right now our biggest concern is keeping Anna down a bit and we are praying against any bleeding. We are all glad to be back together as a family again.
Now I'll go through the happenings of the last two days.
Anna before surgery in her clown gown we had to wrestle her into. She didn't like anyone doing anything to her and she put up pretty good fights if anyone came near her. Once it was time for her to go in to be put to sleep she had calmed down. In preop, one of us was able to go into the room with her to hold her when she went to sleep. I let Steve do that. They used gas and air and she was out in about 25 seconds. After she was out, Steve left and we went down and got some breakfast. Also, after she was out they then put in her IV.
Mommy and Anna before surgery
Anna showing off her new watches. She didn't want them put on, but she is very proud of them now. She still won't let me remove them. She'll probably have them on for a week or two :)
Anna after her surgery and after lunch. Over here they don't do the ice cream and jello thing after kids have their tonsils out. They say to eat regular, crunchy food because it helps their mouths to heal. For lunch, I got Anna some sausage, smiley fries, jello and applesauce. She didn't seem interested in it as first. Steve headed out to get lunch for the two of us. While he was gone, Anna threw up. The nurses said it was common for kids to be sick after having their tonsils out. They apparently swallow a bunch of blood from the surgery and that upsets their stomachs causing them to be sick. After she threw up, she was immediately hungry. She ate most of her sausage and then proceeded to eat the rest of my sandwich and some chips.
She was wide awake most of the afternoon and sat with daddy while mommy slept in Anna's bed. Anna, finally, fell asleep hard late in the afternoon. We had to wake her for dinner. She didn't eat much, but she drank quite a bit.
Before Steve left, we took a walk out into the garden of the kids ward. They have a playground for the kids. She found a stroller, put her baby in it and took possession of it for the rest of the night. We just walked and walked as she pushed her baby through the whole ward. First thing this morning, we were off to find the stroller once again.
This is a picture of Anna's bed (mine folded down from the closet next to her bed). She was in a room with six beds and five of them were filled. Anna had a great nights sleep, only crying once in her sleep and we upped her pain medicine. Mommy didn't sleep as well. There were two babies that had surgery late in the day yesterday. They had a pretty bad nights sleep. They were crying, breathing hard and their monitors were going off most of the night. I felt so sorry for their moms. I also prayed many prayers of thanksgiving for my healthy children. We are very thankful that Anna is home and doing well. We can't thank you all enough for all your prayers and words of encouragement. We are truly blessed!
Last weekend, Steve and I had our romantic get-a-way to Venice, Italy. Steve's mom and brother graciously watched the kids so we could go. We had such an incredible time together. Venice is absolutely beautiful and a must-see place. I really think we would have had a great time anywhere just being alone together. Before our trip to Venice, it had been two years since we had been away alone together and that was to London for just one night. This time we had three nights and it was so relaxing. We enjoyed sleeping in, getting out of the hotel in record time (when you add 6 kiddos nothing happens quickly), seeing some incredible sights, laying on the beach, gelato, eating when and where we wanted, a break from being mom and dad, and enjoying just being husband and wife. We both agree that we better not wait two years until we get-away together again. I think we should go every 6 months. Steve is more practical and thinks once a year would work better. We are so grateful to Steve's mom and brother for taking care of the kids for us to have some time together. I do think they needed a vacation once we got back though. The kids kept them hopping.
This is the view down the walkway to our hotel (you can just make out the sign for the hotel)
This is a typical view in Venice. This was taken from a small bridge looking down a canal.
Picture of the Rialto Bridge. This was the closest bridge across the Grand Canal so we crossed it many times. Much to the disappointment of our tired and weary legs. I began to loath the bridge by the last day.
View down the Grand Canal at dusk. We had dinner at one of the little restaurants lit up down the right side of the canal on our last night in Venice.
Another self portrait in Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square). It was raining a bit so thus the jackets.
Another view down a small canal near Piazza San Marco.
Picture of our room. This hotel felt much more like a B&B than a hotel (which makes sense since this hotel was a former home for a famous Venetian Painter) We loved the hotel. It had a yummy breakfast and it was in a great location. The bed, though, was terrible. We were happy to get home to our own comfy bed.
We paid the big bucks for a Gondola ride. You can't go to Venice without taking a trip in a Gondola.
Picture of our Gondalier and the Rialto Bridge.
Marti walking down a narrow alley-way on our way to catch the waterbus to the island of Murano.
Picture of us with the Adriatic Sea behind. We went to Lido Island and walked a short way to the beach. The beach was full of people as it was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon.
Another self portrait. As you can tell, we were very relaxed and had a wonderful time just enjoying the sights and being together.
This is a picture of our hotel (we were passing by on a water bus). We sat on the lower level one afternoon and had a coffee and there were a couple of tables on the upstairs balcony where you could have breakfast.
