And so we wait....

We made it to surgery day.  And now I am sitting in the lobby, staring at a screen that says patient number 130918 is "Intra-op."

After meeting with the nurse practitioner yesterday I had a sense of ease. She reassured me that this was a routine procedure and explained to me in great detail how the operation works and how a shunt works. I felt more confident that this is what is best for Piper

What did NOT reassure me was when the lab technician needed to draw some blood from Piper, and couldn't! He called in another tech who then called in "the boss" (they really called her that), who then called in a colleague. There were four adults and me in the room trying to get her blood samples.  It took them three attempts- one in each arm and one hand before they got what they needed. piper was not happy.

Today, we had the same problem when they tried to put in an IV. Two more pokes before they got it. This poor girl has my veins. When I was in the hospital I had so many IV attempts and failures that my arms were constantly bruised and I have scars on my hands and arms. The nurses were so impressed with her pleasant disposition despite her troubles. She's such a happy girl.

Piper must have known something was happening today because she woke up last night at 2 am. I held her until 4 and gave her a bottle since that was the last time she would be able to eat. As tired as we both were, it was peaceful holding her in the quiet hours of the morning.

I had the quiet thoughts of "Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?"

And so we wait.