CI Surgery 5 - We're Home!

We made it home about 8:00 this evening! They had only been using Motrin to manage Tessa's pain since we moved over to the 10th floor, so there wasn't much need for an IV or a hospital. It was a little hard to come to the decision, but we're really glad we did...she seems super excited to be h-o-m-e! Tessa has shared some precious giggles and beautiful smiles. Parker came up to the hospital this afternoon and got a pretty stressed out. It was a little harder to explain to a 3 year old than I anticipated. Needless to say, big brother is stoked we are all home together tonight! Hoping and praying for a peaceful/restful night!

I like telling stories with pictures and videos...so here's today!

Smiles in the waiting room

Eskimo kisses with Daddy

Love this sweet girl!

Gown was huge, but of course stayed stylish w/ her pink bow & ballerina socks

"X" marks the spot...well, there's 2...the second one...further back

(it was a process ;)

Sugar water right after surgery...still pretty out of it

They did great managing her pain...it kept her pretty knocked out

Finally some good eye contact once we got over to the 10th floor

Doing so good after we got to her room

Ms. Toria came to visit her Ladybug...it was good for both of them!

A little play time

Precious giggles w/ Daddy, this definitely helped us decide to come on home :)

More smiles with Daddy...it's a given ;)

Did I mentioned she seems glad to be h-o-m-e? Here's proof!

Cutie pie!

We can't thank everyone enough for all the thoughts and prayers today. Tessa is inspiring to the core...and it is an incredible journey to be apart of! Thanks to everyone helping us love and pray for our sweet girl!

Exciting days ahead!!

~Whitney

CI Surgery 4 - First Pic

We are in our overnight recovery room now. Good 'ol 10th floor at Baptist...it's like a home away from home ;) Nice to see some friendly-familiar faces!

Tessa did pretty good coming out of the anesthesia, but pain management has been a little tricky. Definitely tough to see her this way, but she is making progress.

She had her first bottle and then I got my first smile around 1:00. She finally fell asleep about 20 minutes ago, so we're taking a little break before the 'next round' :)

Thanks again so much for all the prayers and support!

Here's a picture right after surgery...still pretty out of it:



~Whitney

CI Surgery 3

Just talked to doctor. Everything went great and he showed us an Xray of her new implant.

This may be the WORST part so far...knowing it's all over and having to wait to get to see her!!

Should be headed back to recovery any time.....sooner than later would be fabulous!! :)

Whitney

CI Surgery 2 - Sweet Company

Beverly and David...a sweet sweet couple that serves in the special needs nursery room at the church we've been visiting, came to visit and brought us a huge bag of goodies and gifts for both Tessa and Parker!

Love the unexpected things like that, where you can just feel God nudging that He's right by your side!

Waiting rooms are not the greatest place to be...but definitely tolerable with sweet conversation with people that love the Lord and love loving the special little angels here on earth (and their moms and dads ;)

Hopefully we'll be reunited with our little angel here in about an hour. Hoping and praying she is calm and comfortable...cause I know it's going to be a bit of a shock to see her in such a state!

Whitney

CI Surgery 1

Tessa just went back! She was in great spirits after getting a short cat-nap in Daddy's arms! She got an "X" to mark the spot on the right side of her head and the doctor is going to save the hair they shave off (shouldn't be much)....after all, it will be her very 1st haircut ;)

I'll keep updates coming as I can! Thank you so much for all the prayers...we are fairly calm, so they must be working ;) !!!

Whitney

Great News!

Tessa's right ear is free and clear of infection! Yay! We'll check in at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. and surgery will start at 8:00 a.m. this Friday. The surgery should take approximately 3 hours, then we'll move to recovery. We've actually already requested that she stay as long as possible just to make sure she handles everything okay. When Tessa's oral motor skills take a bit of a hit, she doesn't tend to take her bottles or keep them down very well. The combinaton of her vomiting, not keeping down her seizure medicine or pain medicine post surgery could be a little much, so she'll be placed under observation until we feel comfortable bringing her home.

Thanks for all the prayers, support and encouragement! Updates, pictures and videos to come...exciting days ahead!

~Whitney

Perfect Timing...

When Tessa first got her hearing aids back in August, we were told that it could be quite a challenge for little ones to leave them alone and not pull them out of their ears and try and chew on them. Well, we've never had to worry about that with Tessa because she hasn't had the fine motor skills to even reach up to her ears. For months now, that has been a 'non-challenge' in our realm...ha ha...until now!

Little Miss Tessa has discovered her right hearing aid (in particular) and we have found it in her mouth on more than one occasion. Funny thing is...it is less of a challenge and more of a celebration. Of course our little miss will have to learn "no-no!", but for now, the unexpected buzzing of her hearing aid because she has removed it from her ear...is met with joyful laughter and lots of smiles.

She has come a long way! This cochlear implant thing might end up being a little bit more of a challenge than we anticipated, but I have a feeling the more I have to put her CI processor back on because she's pulled it off...the more smiles might come across my face! She's a little turkey, that's for sure. Once I got her hearing aid back in place it was all smiles...the irony of challenges!

Needless to say I will probably reign in my enthusiasm and not pull out the camera in the future. But today I wanted this documented! Remembering when people would say "I can't imagine trying to keep hearing aids on my toddler" and the response in my head being "Well, it doesn't really make a big difference for us because our daughter has such limited mobility anyway". Bring it on Tessa Rayne...I welcome any and all opportunities to tell you "no-no!" :)

~Whitney