Preparing for Surgery

So we set a date - just about four weeks from the day I met with the surgeon.

I used those four weeks to prepare myself and my family for the surgery. I visited every blog I could. Read every piece of information I could get my hands on. I watched every video the doctor gave me. I emailed links to my family. And we talked, every time we saw each other. I wanted to make sure that my loved ones would be ready.

It made for interesting Sunday dinner conversation.

I froze dinners. I made & froze enough baby food to last Bug for at least one month. I stocked up on all the essentials: Toilet paper, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, shampoo, Tylenol, chewable vitamins, liquid vitamin C & fish oil, books to read, soduko puzzles to complete, Imodium. These all became essential when I came home following the first surgery. I even made sure that Bug had enough diapers to last her into her teen years!

And boy did I clean! The house was scrubbed & vacuumed every day. Even as I performed the bowl prep the day before the surgery I was vacuuming! If the baby hadn't been sleeping when we left for the hospital, I probably would have vacuumed one more time.

There were a few things I forgot to stock up on though. Lipton soup with saltine crackers became my favorite meal post-op. I guess many people crave salt afterwards - give into the craving. I wish I had stocked up on those in advance. My husband got really tired of running to the stores for soup and saltines. And thank you notes. I had no idea how much support I would receive going through this.

I learned that I have the greatest friends in the world.

And I should have bought more thank you notes.