S Day

So it is only 3 pm but it seems like an eternity ago that we woke up and made the drive to CHOP this morning.  Let me back track...I titled today's post S Day partially due to the history teacher in me and my interest in WWII and D Day.  The nurses and doctors will refer to tomorrow as day 1 so tomorrow will be S Day plus 1 as they referenced each day after D Day as D Day plus whatever the day it was.  So today was S Day (Surgery Day).
We had to be at CHOP by 5am so they could get blood work done and blood ready in the case of an emergency during surgery where they'd need to do a transfusion...nice calming thoughts before surgery!! 
I thought I'd format this post a bit differently with a sort of timeline:

12am - We turned the lights out in our hotel to TRY to get some sleep.
1am - I still couldn't sleep....not sure if it was due to nerves (yep, what a woose, the one that doesn't even need to have a serious surgery the next day is the nervous nelly!!), the AMP energy drink I had before my last shift of driving, or the nap I took while Shawna drove in the afternoon, keeping me from sleeping.  I was relieved, though, to be kept awake partially due to Shawna's snoring!!  I usually get really frustrated and give her a gentle nudge or smack with a pillow but this meant she was getting some sleep and not up stewing about with nerves!!  What a champ.
4am - We both woke up and made our way to the car.  Last week it took us usually around 25 minutes from the hotel to CHOP but due to the lack of traffic at 4am it only took us about 15 minutes and was smooth sailing....well, maybe smooth is the wrong word.  Because we could fly on the roads with no traffic keeping us going slow, we fully realized that New Jersey may be the only state in the union with worse roads than Michigan.  At least they have a reason....they have the second lowest gas tax in the nation just ahead of Alaska so their funding for their roads is about zero.  The gas prices are dirt cheap due to this so being as Dutch as I am, I didn't mind the potholes.  C'mon Gov. Snyder, we've got awful roads and high gas prices!!!
4:15am - We knew it was going to be a good day as a Cub's pitcher was just hours past his no-hitter and our EZPass worked on the toll before crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge (it failed us the day before on the Ohio Turnpike!!).  Good things come in 3's, right?  So we had a good feeling about the surgery.
5am - We got acquainted with our room and Shawna got her blood drawn.
6am - We were able to watch the local news on tv and the latest "Prep For the Pope" segment.  Seriously, he's not coming to Philly for another 27 days and they already report on it daily...it's quite the to-do and is not making the locals too thrilled about travel in the city as they plan to allow no vehicle transportation in the city center for the days he's here.  In an effort to try to calm the nerves and anger of the locals I believe it was the mayor or some high up who said something about Joseph and Mary traveling with out fear or anger to their birthing of Jesus....not quite the same, we felt, although we now feel that maybe our travels with our unborn child may have some connection.....nope, that's far fetched too!!
7am - Shawna received her epidural from the anest...whatever those guys are called.  This dude, Doctor Cohen looks sort of like an old mad scientist but I think is pretty cool. 
7:30am - Right on schedule, Shawna was wheeled out of the room to head in to the surgery room.
9am - Doctor Hauer, the Doc in charge of doing much of the neo-natal surgeries at CHOP came into the room to chat with me.  He waltzed in as if it was business as usual and briefed me that the babies back had been repaired and that all went well and that they were in the process of putting Shawna back together.  It would be like me teaching an everyday lesson about JFK being assassinated and then strolling into the lunch room and striking up a conversation about Trump making another controversial comment, yet his ratings keep rising.  I wanted to say, "Doc, this is unreal.  You just opened up my wife's stomach, uterus, fetus, etc., and operated surgery on my unborn child...Two lives were at risk and you can act like nothing big just happened."  Modern medicine!!!  I wanted to jump in his arms and give him a huge bear hug, but I let my better judgment take over and didn't.
9:15am - Karen, one of the nurses, who was in on the surgery and we've really enjoyed spending lots of time with (we're not sure, but we think she's kind of the mother hen in charge of all the nurses), came in to also update me that all had gone well.
9:30 - Dr. Adzick (the man, the myth, the legend....the more I talk to people around here, the more I realize how blessed we are to have him operate on Shawna and our baby....sorry, another analogy...If I told the med students at Penn - CHOP is on Penn's campus which is beautiful, by the way - that Dr. Adzick was in our hospital room this morning explaining to me in a one on one conversation how he operated on Shawna and our baby - which really meant nothing to me in terms of his stature - it would be like Michael Jordan walking down the street in his neighborhood to explain to the neighbor who is a computer engineer, nothing against computer engineers, and had not an ounce of athleticism or interest in athletics in his body, how he just spent an hour working with his kid on his jump shot) came in and chatted with me briefly that all had gone according to plan and was good from what he could tell.  Phew.  Prayers answered and I could relax.
9:45am - Shawna was wheeled back into the room.  As can be imagined, she was a bit groggy and in some pain but in good spirits and with the first words out of her mouth to me before I could even say anything to her, the great mother in her asked me, "How is the baby?"  It brought tears to my eyes.  No concern for her own self but only about her child.

Okay, sorry, that was a lot, and I've got more but I'll get another post out later this evening on some more updates. 

So, to wrap it up.  Baby and Mom are doing well.  Now we just pray that baby stays put as long as possible!!! 

I'll leave you with one of the best quotes I've heard in a while:

Jeff to Shawna: "So, how are you doing?"
Shawna's response: "Smile on my face, catheter in my crotch!"

CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff