Fixed! A photo essay.

I don't know what a photo essay is, but I kindof assume it doesn't have any words. Therefore I don't think this is technically a photo essay because there will be words. I hope that's okay with you.

We woke up this morning a little late, knowing that we wouldn't have to get to the NICU till the early afternoon. We checked in, and there was a cancellation at Children's Hospital, so there was a chance he'd be shifted up to around 10am or something. That would be sweet! We could get this all overwith super early!

That didn't happen. We goofed around all morning and planned for the original 3pm time. What we didn't plan for was Cole's new hat.







What the crap is that?! Turns out it's his IV. They tried to get one into his arm, his wrist, his leg, his foot, his everything. He's too chubby though, which is a great problem to have. Weird, because the result is a huge puffy hat with a giant needle going into his brain (it's not actually in his BRAIN, but that's fun to say if you're juvenile like me). Our nurse Liz said that it's actually a pretty awesome spot for an IV though, because this way there's no arm or leg that needs to be bound. It looks scary, but is really great for Cole. Definitely deserves a high five.



We hung around till 3, and then 3:30, and his appointment kept getting pushed back. It was totally like this:



But it was cool because we got to spend time with the nurses we love. This is Grace.



This is Grace and Liz, and Kate holding Cole with something on his noggin. Special shout out to Liz -- she came in on her day off, during her "working nights" rotation, or whatever it's called, just so Cole could have a friendly face at his side in the OR. How great is that? Liz rocks; it's a fact.



Finally, our time came. The ambulance came and we began packing Cole into the very fancy Pizza box. Special delivery!



There's a baby in that calzone:



Off you go buddy.



Precious cargo, waiting for the elevator.



The back of the bus is where all the cool kids sit.



Good thing you have all this hardware to bring you all the way to across the street!



Here we are finally at Children's. As you can see, if it comes down to it, Liz is ready to kick some ass on Cole's behalf. You may notice that Cole got a Curious George to keep him company in the OR, courtesy of the Children's staff. That's pretty awesome.



Clearly there will not be any ass kicking required, because everybody at Children's is awesome, and they fawn all over Cole. They think he is adoreable. I think they're right.



Cole was actually having a good time. If you click this picture you'll see he was all giggles!



He must have known that there were not going to be any flammable anesthetics used. Good thing.



Into the OR you go! Have fun in there!



Kate and I head over to endure the 2 hours the procedure requires in the waiting room.





We didn't have our Dinosaur stickers, but it's cool because we're over 12.



This was our view.



And then suddenly this!



Yay! How'd it go everybody? Very well thank you. Cole slept through the whole thing thanks to sleeping drugs and local anesthesia. And super kick ass surgeons.

When we got back to the NICU at BI (home sweet home!) they pulled him out of the pizza box and he looked great.



Curious George remained at his side as he reacquainted himself with his room, temporarily from the new perspective of a warmer rather than his crib. The nurses were sweet enough to shield his eyes from the lights 'cause they're bright! Ow!



Cole was fairly uncomfortable for a little while and Kate did a really wonderful job of comforting him. She is a kick ass mother.













And that's the story of Cole's surgery. He was inconsolable for a little while, but Kate hung in there and made sure he was happy and snoozy. He should be back to normal in like a week or so.