the little man has surgery

On Tuesday, Krew had surgery.  We've know since he was born that he was most likely going to have to have a hernia repaired, and the day finally came.  Of course, I hardly slept the night before, worried and anxious.I was glad that he didn't know what was coming, but also worried that I wasn't going to be able to help him understand why he was in pain.  Kade had an almost identical surgery when he was four months old, so I knew a little bit about what to expect.  I'm not sure if that made things easier or harder.

 I do think that Krew looks super cute in his little hospital gown!

 I held it together pretty well considering Bart wasn't there with us for the first hour or so, since he was getting the other boys ready and to a neighbors house, and Krew and I had to be at the hospital at 6:15am.  I was okay talking to the nurses, helping Krew change, talking to the anesthesiologist, and talking to more nurses.  I was super thankful that Krew did not ask to eat or drink anything, since I would have had to tell him no.  I was also thankful when Bart finally got there to be with us.  I felt like I was on the verge of crying all morning, (I'm a crier, if you didn't already know!), but after talking to the surgeon, I lost it.  It didn't help that he said as he was leaving, "It's harder on moms than it is on the kids.  I've never seen a mom that didn't cry when we take their little ones away."  That did it!  One of the hardest moments I've had since becoming a mom was handing my four-month old little Kade to the nurse and watching her take him away to surgery.  And just thinking about doing that again made the tears flow.
Luckily, the nurse anesthetist that was going to be in the surgery knew Bart and offered to let him go back with Krew to get him sedated.  So, instead of watching the nurse take Krew away, I got to see his strong daddy take him down the hall in his arms.  Bart got to stay with him just until he was asleep, but it was so much better knowing that Krew didn't have to go to that strange, scary room, with all those people fussing around him, alone.
The waiting while he was in surgery was exactly as difficult as I had expected it to be.  When the surgeon finally came to see us, he said that things had gone well, but that the hernia was much bigger than he had thought and it had taken quite a bit longer to take care of it.  But, Krew had done well and it was over!!
As soon we could, we went back to recovery to see him.  And as soon as I held him, the tears came again.  I was so relieved that it was over!!

 He was quite groggy for a long time, and when he did open his eyes, I could see the morphine and not my sweet baby.  But, he did drink some apple juice in his sleep, so they let us take him home!

 He spent most of the day sleeping in my arms.  He would wake up for about 20 minutes at a time and just sit with me, and then fall back asleep.  I loved spending the day snuggling.  It's funny because there are lots of days when Krew wakes up and I hold him and say, "Let's just spend the whole day snuggling." But of course we can't ever do that.  Well Tuesday we did!  He finally perked up around 6:00 and played and laughed and even though I could tell he was in pain, I was happy to see him be himself!
The last few days he's been almost back to his happy little self, and I'm sure it won't be long before he is back to the crazy, happy, silly, sweet, mischievous Krew we all love so much!