Yes, so soon.
At 6:30 a.m. on May 12, 2010, the phone rang in my hospital room in the Special Delivery Unit - an extremely rude awakening after giving birth to a heart baby less than 12 hours earlier. The first thought that ran through my mind was, "she didn't make it through the night."
Caleb answered the phone. I listened intently to his tone and watched his facial expression for a hint of what was being uttered by the stranger on the other end. He hung up, looked at me stunned and said, "she's going to have surgery today."
WHAT?!
We were told to expect surgery on Friday (three days after birth). Well, those of you who know Zoe, or any HLHS baby for that matter, know that the plan almost always changes. Zoe experienced some pulmonary overcirculation throughout the night and her cardiologist decided that it would be best to go forward as soon as possible. Oh, and Dr. Spray was available.
And so, 12 hours after giving birth to Zoe, Caleb and I were meeting with anesthesiologists and cardiothoracic surgical nurses and signing medical consents for Zoe to undergo her life-saving procedure. Shock does not even begin to describe my emotional state of affairs. The only real memories I have of that day are what I can recall when reading Caleb's blog posts from last year.
It is amazing to me that a newborn baby can endure the beating that her little body took at less than one day old. She is a true warrior.
At one year and one day old, we celebrate the new life that Dr. Spray granted for you. We celebrate all of the doctors and nurses who've brought you to this day. We are forever grateful for the opportunity to be this little fighter's Mommy and Daddy.
Zoe's Heart Hero Cape arrived in the mail this week. I thought perhaps my order got lost since it'd been over 4 months since I requested it. Obviously, the timing of its arrival couldn't be more perfect. Today, Zoe is crawling around the house, wearing her Hero Cape and letting HLHS know who's boss.
Emerson is insisting on playing "Super Heroes" all day. I'm game!
What a little miracle! It's so hard to remember back to that first surgery day. I was a ball of tears and a total wreck. I'm glad I have it documented to remind me how far I've come. I feel like a rock now! Ya know. Kinda like.. we got through that.. we can get through anything!
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