Back Together Again

The big news is that Phoebe's "reconnection" surgery has been scheduled. This is when the surgeon will suture the part of her intestine that works to the rectum. The technical term for this procedure is a "pull through". The surgery is scheduled for September 11. This is much sooner than we expected. As we've been writing in the blog, we expected that the Broviac would be removed at the end of the summer, and then that we would wait a few months before doing the pull-through. But, alas, the surgeon believes that Phoebe is ready for the reconnection now (he wants to leave the Broviac in for a little longer because she may need TPN again for a few days after the surgery). Phoebe has met all the objective criteria for the reconnection...and sooner than anyone could have predicted. Go Pheebs! Anyway, the three of us will check into the hospital in the morning on the 10th. Overnight, Phoebe will experience "bowel prep", much like what adults have to do before a colonoscopy. Phoebe's bowels will be cleared of poop and (we're not totally sure about this yet, but) we think she'll be given clear liquids in a bottle. Needless to say, anxiety is high again. We can't believe we're going to bring them our beautiful child so she can be operated on again. Now we just want to be on the other side of Sept 11. We're feeling better than we did during her stay in the NICU because we realize that in no time at all, her major surgeries will be OVER. After the surgery, she will need to stay in the hospital for 5 to 7 days. The major concern after the surgery is that Phoebe will experience what the surgeon described as a "raging diaper rash". If you think about it, her adorable, perfect, poor little bum has never been exposed to poop! There are a few barrier creams (much stronger than desitin or balmex) we can get to help with the rash, but we have this overwhelming feeling that we have no idea what we're in for. Regarding the rash. We pretty much know that Phoebe is going to be a real firecracker. And now for the fun part, the pictures. Phoebe started solid food...here she is enjoying some rice cereal. Yum.
Are you sure there's no more, Mom?
We took Phoebe for a ride on a friend's boat. It was a beautiful day, and we all had a great time enjoying the views, some relaxed conversation, some coronas, and a dip in the salt water. The definition of summer.
A cute one of Phoebe and her MommaGay.