Surgery day!

In preparation for the surgery my husband Ryan gave Karsten a blessing with the help of a couple of our friends last night. It was such a beautiful blessing and one that brought us all such comfort. I am so thankful for my husband and for the priesthood that he holds. 

Our day began at 1:00am today. Karsten ate his last feed and was then put on an IV. He was pretty uncomfortable to so we held him until about 2:30am. 

At 6:00am I woke up and rushed back downstairs to get a few more snuggles in before his big procedure. Around 7:00am  Karsten's surgery team came down to go over the procedure and everything that would be happening. They were all so sweet and so patient with all of our questions. At 7:15am we walked with them as far as we could until we had to say "see you soon" to our sweet boy at the operating room doors. 

I held it together really well up until those operating room doors closed. I looked at Ryan and the tears started to silently roll down my face. I felt so peaceful and knew that everything would be okay, but it was still so hard to know your baby would be on the operating table at such a young age. It's hard knowing that the first time that Karsten left the NICU nursery was today and it was to have surgery.

Karsten surprised us all and didn't need to stay on a ventilator after the surgery. He was taken off because he was breathing all on his own! He was put back in his open crib and came right back to the NICU where we immediately put him back in our arms. I snuggled him while he slowly woke up. He ate right away which was just one more amazing thing to add to his list. Honestly, you wouldn't even know that he had surgery if it wasn't for the incision!

Karsten is strong. He is a fighter and he proves himself every single day. I am so thankful that the surgery is over and that he recovered so well. I am beyond thankful for the wonderful team that he had and for the time and care that they put into making sure that everything was perfect. 

I love you my son.