Bilateral Ureteral Reimplantation

Yesterday morning, Megan had no idea what was coming.


She was ok with us taking pictures, although Jane quickly lost interest.

"Mom, Jane's not listening. Again."

We started the day off with our usual walk, with the special treat that Dad joined us. The girls both got apple juice on the ride--Megan couldn't have any food after midnight, and juice only until 8:30 in the morning. We let her have that bottle right up to the line.


After dropping Jane off at Grandma's house, we headed off to check in at Primary Children's Medical Center.


They use a system similar to a lot of restaurants. You get a pager that beeps when it's your turn to go back. Unfortunately, this one doesn't end with food...


Megan kept herself--and the other patients in the waiting room--quite entertained while we waited.


Chris stayed entertained, too.


When we were called back, the nurse pulled out the bubbles to distract Megan while the blood pressure cuff tried to squeeze her leg off.


Ready to go! She looked so cute in the hospital pajamas.


Too bad, though...they weren't ready for us. After letting Megan nap for an hour in my lap, we spent the rest of the time playing while we waited.


Surgery was running behind, so we ended up going in two hours later than scheduled. The procedure lasted two hours as well. That's how I managed to get halfway through Hunger Games in one day.

...Going In...

And then she had surgery.
All of that fuss for the one thing we can't take any pictures of.

...Coming Out...


She was out for the count. I've never heard her snore so loud before.


She was, however, highly entertaining when she woke up. Drunk is the best word to describe it...she staggered around on her hands and knees, occasionally lunging forward and sometimes just collapsing then popping right back up. Oh, it was hilarious. She also alternated between deer in the headlights eyes, weighted eyelids eyes,


and angry eyes. Made me think of Toy Story 2.


We had to distract her with glucose water to get her to hold still long enough to get her vitals taken.


Once she got Mom, though, everything was fine.


We got settled into our room around 5:00 in the evening. Megan just slept. How could I write a post about Megan without pictures of her sleeping?


Grandma, Deborah, Sarah, and Jane all came to visit. This was the best picture of Jane we got.


She took it herself. Can you tell?

Aside from throwing up all over me once as she came off the anesthesia, nothing terribly noteworthy happened to Megan during the night. I, on the other hand, passed out around 4:00 in the morning and had to be admitted to the Emergency Room. It was so dumb. I hadn't eaten enough and I hadn't slept enough, then I stood up too quickly after being in bed when the nurses came to take care of Megan. Since we just happened to be at a hospital, I ended up admitted instead of just going back to bed for a while and drinking some juice. Sigh.

The doctor did thank me for saving them a trip. I was just upstairs. Most people pass out in the parking garage.

Megan is doing quite well today. She's up and about.


She quite enjoys playing with all the wires she's got attached to her.


Her absolute favorite new toy is the stethoscope. We went out to the playroom to give her a break from her cage, and all she did was crawl around dragging the stethoscope. I hope they'll let us take it home. They seem to have plenty...they've opened three or four new ones since we came in.


Megan has had some good bonding time with Dad today. For the first time ever, she even fell asleep on him as I write this.


Everything went well. No complications whatsoever with the procedure. We should be headed home this afternoon. Megan has a stent (tube) coming out directly from her kidney through her incision. While that is in, she has to wear two diapers--one worn as usual, one worn on top of that for just the stent. We will come back Tuesday or Wednesday to have that taken out. Beyond that, she will continue taking antibiotics to prevent possible infections up until we go back for the follow-up appointment in four to six weeks.

Just know that for now, we're all fine. We're just waiting to get this little girl all the way back to herself.

Recent Events

That's a lame title...here's hoping the rest of the post won't be quite so boring...

A week and a half ago, we went to the Jensen Reunion (Chris's Mom's Mom's Family) in Bountiful. It was a perfect day to be outside--at least in the morning. Little toasty later on.


I had the opportunity to judge the newspaper outfit fashion show.


Who knew you could change the Statue of Liberty into the Angel Moroni with quite literally just the drop of a hat?


Janet (Chris's Mom) had surgery only two days before and wasn't able to come to the reunion. We sent her a get well card, signed by nearly everyone there.


And Megan took a nap. She's good at that.


Later that night, Chris, Jane, Megan, Brenda and I all joined a handful of family in Draper for the Draper Days fireworks.


Bill bought Mom a Diet Coke. You'll just have to believe me that it's funny.


A few obligatory fireworks shots...


and a cool picture of weeds. Weeds, yes, but still a cool picture. Good job, Christopher.


P.S. I was born right there. See that clump of trees taller than the rest? I was born in the house that used to be right under those trees. It's long gone now. Now it's a horse corral and parking lot. But I was still born there. Even if you can't actually see it because the picture is too dark.


For family home evening the next Monday, we went to Nauvoo.


Oh wait, not really. That's a float. We took the girls to the South Towne Expo Center to see the Days of '47 parade floats on display. I'm still getting used to the idea that all the LDS stakes in the valley submit their own float.

This is our stake's float:


Eh, I wasn't terribly impressed. Sorry to those who made it!

Lisa's stake's float, for which she was on the committee, was far more impressive.


My favorite, though, was this one.


The theme was "Then and Now"...get it? Then the Liahona was the guide. Now, the "Marmin" (instead of Garmin) GPS will lead you to the temple.


Jane got in a little workout, too.


For our actual celebration of Pioneer Day, we went up Millcreek Canyon with a few of Chris's cousins and other miscellaneous extended family.


The company was good, the scones were tasty, and the naps were surprisingly plentiful. At least for Megan. Again.


That evening, we had visitors.


Hooray for Logan friends! Thanks, Mark and Jess, for coming to see us and our new house. We had an unexpected side adventure along with this visit, when the power went out. We ended up cooking meat for tacos on the camp stove in the backyard. While on a walk another day, I found the power pole that was hit by a car.


If you can't see it, that is what used to be the power box next to the pole, full of burned wires. Luckily, the power did come back on (right as we sat down to eat, ironically) and Chris and Mark were able to play the inaugural game of pool on our new to us pool table.

My kids are still cute. So are Lisa's.


Jane and Dalton like doing laundry. It's especially fun for them to watch it all spin around. And I enjoy owning the nice, brand-new washer and dryer.


Jane likes playing with "Cole".


We have also instituted a chore chart for Jane. Every day, she is responsible for saying her prayers, making her bed, putting away the silverware, and wiping off the table. Sometimes she gets a little over-zealous on the table wiping, though.


When she's all done, she gets stickers. I've never seen someone so excited to get a sticker.


Finally, last night Chris and I were able to attend our stake temple night at the Salt Lake temple. Thank you, Lisa, for watching the girls. Thank you, Amy and Sarah, for helping her. We went to a chapel meeting first with President Lunt, of the temple presidency, and his wife, after which we went to an endowment session.

During that session, I had the single most amazing spiritual experience I have ever had in my life. It is much too personal and sacred to share, especially here, but suffice it to say

I am no longer worried about being a stay-at-home mom.