Goodbye, Stitches!

Yesterday was Grayson's stitch removal day! We had to be at the hospital at 6:30am...so after I got up at 3am to feed him for his fast before being put to sleep, I felt like I had been up all night! He has had quite a few bad days lately. It has really been wearing on Charlie and me, but we just think that he has been uncomfortable because of his stitches and arm splints.
We got Claire up and managed to make it into the car and to the hospital right on time. Whew! That was a miracle in itself! We checked Grayson into day surgery and waited for a couple of minutes in the waiting room before being called back.
Just like the week before, they checked his vital signs and I had to put him back in a little hospital gown.

A nurse came and led us back to the same waiting room we sat in for his surgery and again the doctor, anesthesiologist, and nurse came by to briefly talk to us and answer any questions we wanted to ask. I felt really good when the doctor told us how great his lip looked. I had been worried because a few of his stitches had come out.

When the nurse came she took Grayson with her and told us it would take about 15 minutes to get his stitches removed. We were given a beeper (like at a restaurant!) so we went to eat breakfast while we waited to hear that Grayson was done.

We ate muffins from the only kiosk that was open this early. Claire got apple cinnamon and Charlie and I tried blueberry-banana. I think Claire chose the best kind!

She was so happy that she got her very own muffin and didn't have to share!
After we finished, the beeper went off. So, we rushed to the nurses station to see Grayson.
I could hear him screaming all the way down the hall!! The nurse had a hard time trying to calm him down and it took a few minutes (and some feeding him) to get him to relax. Then the poor boy fell asleep!

He looks great without his stitches! The doctor told us that his lip might draw up a little, but that in four weeks we will meet with him and he will teach us how to massage the area and that would help.
We stayed at the hospital until Grayson's vital signs had been taken a few times. Claire got two popsicles from the nurse and that made her day! We were told to give him Tylenol every 4 hours because he could be in pain from having the stitches taken out.
When we got home we all crashed on the couch. We were so tired from getting up early!
I really can't say enough how happy I am with how we were treated at the hospital.

Everything went well for Grayson. He looks great and we are just so pleased! The red line from his nose to his lip will fade and we don't think it will even show up in a few months!

With and without a cleft lip!