Monday, after her bath, I noticed her leg was a bit red...I looked at it a bit closer and noticed what seemed to be a little piece of skin...no wait a minute...is that a sliver? I quickly put on my "Dr. Mom" hat and grabbed some tweezers...I grabbed the teeny tiny end of the sliver, and pulled out like 1/4"! I was dying! Few, glad we got that out!
On Tuesday, I had a look at her leg again...still red, and I felt a long skinny lump still under her skin...more sliver? I then went to the banister, and found the spot of missing wood that slid into my daughters leg! Time to go to the doctor. Our first appointment was at the Quick Care...they wouldn't do anything, so they sent me to the pediatrician later that day. He said that there was definitly more sliver in there, and that it was too deep for him to get out in the office, so he referred me to a surgeon! Surgery for a sliver!
It is now Wednesday, and we have an appointment with the Surgeon. He gently felt her little leg like the other two doctors, and determined that there was a good sized sliver in her thigh. It was very close to a main artery near her groin, and he wanted to see the precise location of the sliver before doing surgery, so he then sent me and my three children down to get an ultrasound. The tech did an ultrasound and found the exact location of the sliver, and drew a line with a sharpie marker on her leg...so that the doctor would know where to make the incision.
Meanwhile...I am freaking out that my little, tiny baby is going to have surgery tomorrow! She, however, is cool and calm...not even in pain...this toothpick sized sliver never even bothered her! The most amazing woman from the hospital called me and told me everything to expect for her surgery...she told me to squeeze Gracie's arm to prepare her for the blood pressure cuff...she told me to have Gracie breath inside of a cup to prepare her for the anestisia. We practiced, and played doctor that night. Josh gave her a blessing.
Bright...no, dark and early on a rainy Thursday morning, I woke up my little sweet girl at 6:30 am! We had to be there at 6:45 for pre-op. I got her dressed in some comfy sweats while she laid in her bed, then I carried her out to the cold car. Since we are still new, and don't have any friends that we would dare ask to tend our boys at such an early hour, and because all of our family is far, far away, Josh stayed home with the boys while I took Gracie all by myself...it was kindof lonely, but I enjoyed the tender mommy daughter time.
Gracie was so brave...she was calm, and amazing. She was a bit nervous when we first got there, but when we walked into her room they had a little hand made frog waiting on her bed to greet her. She got into her hospital clothes, and we watched cartoons for a bit. Then... the nurse brought in a Barbie doll dressed in scrubs...Gracie loves Barbies! The most darling anesthesiologist came in and brought Gracie a pink strawberry flavored mask and practiced breathing into it with her...They took such great care of my little girl! The surgeon (who by the way is from Utah, and is LDS...this added great comfort to me) came in to say hello, and then it was time...
I got to carry her down the hallway and kiss her goodbye, and then the anesthesiologist carried her back to the operating room. Thirty minutes later the surgeon brought me a sliver the size of a toothpick in a little container...and said that everything went well and that she was so brave and amazing! She was very sad and emotional in recovery due to the anesthesia, so I just climbed in bed and snuggled with her. We were there for probably an hour more and then she was walking out of the hospital like nothing ever even happened! Today I learned how amazing my little daughter is...I love her and am so blessed to be her mother!
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