what should I bring to the hospital?

[mia's mom]

Mia's surgery isn't even scheduled yet and I'm already wondering what to pack! Should I buy a portable dvd player and bring some cartoons? she's not a tv junkie but she does watch elmo. I'm just wondering if it would distract her from her pain or surroundings. Anything else you can think of? I don't know how many days we'll be in there. thanks, sandy

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[wcs40110]

I took Dakotas favorite toys, her most favorite blankets and stuff that would keep her comfortable. I dint know about hospitals around you but I live in Michigan and Sparrow has like 10 million channels I'm not up on what exactly is being done or how old Mia is but Dakota could have gone home the day she had her lip repaired but I wasn't comfortable with that. I think they're crazy! Either way you probably want stuff for YOU to do too! All your little goodies you'd pack too. Anyways, I doubt I helped much... but it was worth a try.

[jacksmom]

Sandy, HI! I'm not sure about your hospital, but ours had tv's with DVD players in the room. They also had a media room where you could go check out movies. I'm sure you could call and ask if one will be available. I made sure to take clothes that didn't have to go over Jackson's head, and you will need PLENTY of (OLD) clothes for you. Jackson ruined several of my shirts with blood oozing from his mouth. Also, of course you will need Mia's bottles, and we took those microwave sterilizing bags made by Medela. The nurse's station should have a microwave you can use. I am usually not a stickler for stuff like that, but I didn't want to take any chances on getting an infection! That's about all I can think of right now, besides the basics. www.cleftadvocate.org has a really good list of things to pack if you get a chance to check it out. Good luck, be sure and post when you get a date set!
Allison

[mia's mom]

thanks. I'll post on thursday after the appointment.

allison- I saw in another post about being scared that you were unaware of the swelling. I had no idea that there would be swelling. How bad is it?

Also, to both of you and whoever sees this and responds- was it obvious that your child was in pain and then you gave him/her medicine or did you just give it to him/her every couple hours? Was your baby inconsolable or just grumpy? sorry for all the questions.

[jacksmom]

The first few days we gave the pain meds every four hours, as not to "get behind" Our PS said that if it's gets out of control, it is hard to get them caught up. The tylenol with codeine seemed to be making Jackson restless and grumpy, so we started just giving him the regular when we got home. Jackson had a lot of swelling, but like I said, we are not sure about it. Some of it may have come from the Morphine. I'm not sure how to post pics on here, but send me your email and I'll email you a couple of him right after surgery. Will Mia have the string through her tongue? I know some docs use it and some don't, but that is definitely something to ask about, so you won't be surprised!
I don't think I would say that Jackson was inconsolable. As long as I was rocking him in the rocking chair, he was fine. He just didn't want to be put down, which made it very exhausting! Don't worry about the questions...that is what we are all here for! Good luck tomorrow!
Allison

[Samm]

We just had lip repair surgery on jan 14th, there was a tv/dvd in our room. But quite honestly, Avery didnt care, after surgery they kept him on liquid loratab, it worked better than morphine and tylanol w codiene.

We stayed 4 days due to breathing issues, but most lip repairs only stay the night.

good luck