Giving Thanks, Day 4 - Katie's Surgery

Before surgery, happy as can be, without any idea about what was going to happen.

Today I'm thankful for Katie's surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids.

I'm thankful for it for the obvious reason - because medically it will be great for her to alleviate her apnea and help her breathe and hopefully speak easier.  More than that, however, I'm thankful for the time I've been able to spend with Katie through this process.  And I'm thankful that we refused to do the surgery in Russia and waited until she got home.  I cannot imagine her going through this alone, laying in a hospital bed without someone there with her.

In recovery, she was pretty pitiful.  She came out of the OR sitting straight up, not requiring any additional oxygen.  She was very calm, but pitiful.

She perked up when there was another little girl in the bay next to her.  The other little girl was not happy, and Katie was so nosey.

Poor little thing had such an itchy face from her meds.  She rubbed her nose almost raw.  

We were not long for the recovery unit and got moved to our room pretty quickly.  Katie had some eggs, mac and cheese, and six ice creams.  For real.

We even got to go to the playroom the same day as surgery.  We only stayed for a little while, because she started to get tired and a little grumpy.

What I'm most thankful for?  The time we have had to snuggle and cuddle.  Katie is a daddy's girl, certainly because she spends more time with him.  The last few days have been great for Katie and me.  

We've spent lots of time rocking together.  We snuggled in her hospital bed and watched movies on the iPad.  We rubbed each other's hair and sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" over and over again.

She's such an amazing little love, and I'm so lucky to be her mama.  I loved being in the hospital with her, getting to take care of her while she was feeling bad, making her know that I would love her all the time, not just the easy times.

She was feeling pretty good the next morning and we quickly found out we'd be going home that day.  

We just spent time hanging out, rocking, and snuggling.  Neither of us slept well in the hospital, so we both were tired and feeling snuggly.

As her meds kicked in, Katie was feeling great!

She sang a lot of songs and did her Dora paper dolls that our sweet friend Misty brought for us.

She was tired when we left, but she was so excited to go home.  She kept saying, "Dada!  Dada! Go, go, go!"

I'm not sure if it was adrenaline or just her medicine, but she was super silly when we got home.  

Today?  She was back to feeling a little sad and clingy snuggly.  But I was OK with it, because she would come to me instead of just soothing herself.  Anyone who has adopted knows how important that is.  She didn't want to make herself feel better - she wanted her mama to do it.  This is something that is so natural for babies and children who have been in families forever; notsomuch for a five year old who was by herself for the first four and a half years of her life.  

So today I am thankful that Katie had to have surgery, and that it has made her realize even more that I am her mama, and that I love her and will always take care of her.  

Even if that snuggling meant that this was my view for forty-five minutes today while we sat on the floor in the kitchen. . .