From an Outie to an Innie - UPDATED PHOTOS

Baylie was born with an umbilical hernia. We were told when she was a baby that if it hadn't corrected itself by the time she was three, she'd have to have surgery to correct it. Today was the big day.

We tried to prepare her by talking about what would happen, explaining it would hurt a little bit and that when it was finished, she'd have an innie instead of an outie. We also bought her games, movies, a new barbie, new nightgowns (one from Grammy) and fun things to eat. We may have built it up a bit TOO much because she eventually became excited and would ask about when she was going to have her surgery. That mostly happened once she found the barbie in our closet.
We got up very early this morning to go to the hospital. Baylie wore her new jammies and sparkly purple shoes. She took her new and old barbies and was eager to be on her way.

I was really impressed with the children's hospital. Apparently children from all over the state come here to be treated. It was very kid friendly, which you would expect. We waited for a little more than an hour before we were taken up to our room. Across the corridor from the waiting room was the oncology wing. I couldn't help but think of how grateful I was that my child was not suffering from cancer or some other devastating condition. Ours would be a quick trip.

When we got to our room, Baylie took of her nightgown and put on her hospital outfit. She thought the yellow socks were cool. Once she was changed, she could play with the hospital toys and they had LOTS of super fun toys. They asked her what scent she wanted sprayed into her surgical mask and she chose bubblegum. We waited a little over another hour and then they came to get her. (This time while we waited, several people came to talk to us - the anesthesiologist, a couple of nurses, the doctor. Everyone was very nice.)

After a while, they came and got Baylie and had her walk to the operating room. She was very brave. She didn't cry while I was there. Later I asked her if she cried a little and she said, "I cried a little lot."

The surgery was supposed to take about an hour, but it only took about 15 minutes. I was relieved because I was nervous about her being under anesthesia. One of the nurses called me when they started the surgery and called me when they were finished, so I would know what was happening. I thought that was thoughtful.

When they took me to see Baylie in the transition area, she was pretty upset. She had been crying and when she saw me she cried harder. Once I was able to hold her and get her settled, she calmed down. She needed to know I wasn't going to leave again. She was able to eat and drink and that helped too. The Tylenol with codeine was also much appreciated. We spent 30 minutes there and then another 30 minutes in a recovery room. After that they let us come home. (We got there at about 7:15 and left at about 12:30.)

We set Baylie up in our bed and put up a gate to keep Jalen out. She was excited to play with her new toys and games and watch her new movies.


She got used to being waited on and loved having lunch in bed. It wasn't long before she became quite the little diva. She is milking the situation for all it's worth. Of course, she is tender and sore and will be for a few days. She won't get the tape off her belly until July 13. She can start swimming and playing next Wednesday. I have been so proud of how brave and tough she has been.

As for Jalen, he and Daddy filmed an anthology of what men do when the women are gone. I'll share parts of that with you in a future post.

In the meantime, he's rocking the new surgical cap...

... and enjoying the ice cream we bought for the occasion.

July 2 - Update - Gauze bandage off, but steri strips still on.

New belly button.