Laser Treatment #1

(I made the pictures small in case you don't want to see the details - click to enlarge.)

Well, we're back, and all went well. We cannot thank you enough for your prayers - they were answered! It was a long day, but all in all very simple and uneventful, considering.

We left yesterday morning and headed to the capital. Husband stopped for coffee (Starbucks of course) on the way out of town, and Chickster took that opportunity to relieve himself.

So we had to stop for a diaper change before we even got out of town. And in the process he peed on the back seat. So goes life with a baby - or a boy, whichever way you'd like to look at it. No harm done - I was prepared with all sorts of towels and rags.

Because I'm just like that. I should've been a Boy Scout. Girl Scouts don't have the "Always be Prepared" motto, so yes, I meant Boy Scout. Girl Scouts are sugar-pushers with their obesity and diabetes inducing too good to pass up cookies. But that's a story for another time....

Anyway, we stopped to let Chickster have an early lunch, the last he would eat for a while. Then we stopped for lunch and ate in front of him. I would've felt bad except that since he hasn't yet tasted a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich, he didn't know what he was missing.

As we were getting back on the road, Children's called and asked if we could possibly come early, as Laser Beam Doc was running a bit ahead of schedule. As Chickster had become so very weary of being in his car seat, we were more than happy to know we could be seen early. We arrived at the hospital 30 minutes early and had not even warmed our seats in the waiting room when we were called back.

After all the paperwork, weighing, measuring, and all that good stuff, we dressed Chickster in a very soft, enormous, yet still somehow open-in-the-back gown. And pants. Why do they give babies pants and not adults? These pants could've almost fit me, though, so they were rolled up quite a few times. He also got his own little ankle bracelet, which he didn't particularly care for and kept trying to pull off.

We met several very kind nurses, who all doted on Chickster and told us how adorable he was. We believed them for some reason.

Chickster had done extremely well up until this point, but was getting very tired and was starting to get hungry. Just after the Anesthesiologist came and talked to us, he finally fell asleep in my arms while we watched Bruce Almighty on TV.

Which says nothing about the movie, really. It's actually quite entertaining.

Finally, at about 30 minutes ahead of our scheduled procedure time, the nurses came to get Chickster. It was time. Since he was asleep, I carried him to the doors of the OR hallway, then laid him on his giant bed with wheels. He still had his paci in his mouth and was hanging onto his cloth diaper. They let him keep his stuff, covered him with a warm blanket, and wheeled him on back.

We'd been told the procedure would take about 10 minutes, but still figured it would be longer than that before we heard anything. But within 15 minutes we'd heard from the doctor.

Laser Beam Doc said Chickster was a stellar patient, the procedure went well, and gave us a few instructions. She was careful to remind us of how Chickster's face would look, and told us the bruising will fade over the next few weeks. We sat back down to wait for a call from the recovery room.

In just a few minutes, the very kind head recovery nurse came to get us. She told us she'd personally come to get us because she wanted to tell us how sweet our baby was and that the nurse who was caring for him wished we would just leave him there.

Our little Chickster was happy to see us, though a bit groggy still. His recovery nurse, Ms. C, was cuddling him and didn't want to give him up. Chickster was ready to eat, however.

After he ate, Ms. C helped me get him dressed, cut off the offending ankle bracelet, laid a few kisses on Chickster, and gave him his anesthesia mask to play with in the bathtub (she said it will float). And after a short wait for the doctor to discharge us, we were on our way home.

We had an uneventful, if not noisy, trip home. Chickster stayed awake the whole way and alternated between being giggly and unhappy to be strapped in his car seat.

After we got home, Chickster was glad to be able to play for a bit before a late bedtime. He slept well, the long day having taken its toll.

Husband and I were weary (though not too tired to watch LOST), but glad everything went well, and thankful for all of you who prayed, emailed, called, and texted. The Lord is good to answer the prayers of His people, and with all of you guys petitioning on our behalf, I don't think there was any chance of Him not sending angels to watch over us and our little munchkin.

So thanks again...we'll do it again in 3 months! Maybe next time without the pee pee in the back seat.