Welcome to Yankee Stadium

Although it kills me to say it and even more to write it for the world to see, I told a friend of my brother's a while back when he was considering job offers to go and play for the Yankees, the best of the best. Let me tell you, Yale-New Haven Hospital Children's Hospital is Yankee Stadium to me right now. From the orderlies to the nurses to the doctors, everyone in the place is obviously a seasoned professional at both what they do (clean the floors, deliver lunch, operate on 18 hour old babies) but also how they do it, with a smile and a tone that comforts us and lets us know that we (this includes our families and friends who have been great) are not alone in this process although we are feeling that way right now.

Eleanor was operated on at the ripe old age of 18 hours on Sunday, April 9th.

Very briefly, what the surgeons found is that she was born without a significant portion of her small intestine and had essentially an open tube coming from the top of her digestive tract and an open tube coming from the lower portion of her bowel. Only about 15% of her small intestine is in tact.

The doctors essentially replumbed her bowel and connected the loose ends to make a continuous tube from mouth onward. What this means for long term recovery is uncertain but the best the doctors can tell us is that she will be here at Yale for at least a month and maybe longer. She may need care for her whole life and may never function 'normally'. My mom asked me for an example of who functions normally and I laughed through my tears that night.

She recovered in the Baby Intensive Care Unit the following day and we were allowed to visit her as she recovered, even touching her and taking pictures:
Seeing a baby with tubes and wires was a shock for me but through all of the wires it was till my daughter (that is till taking time to say smoothly, by the way).

She would squirm and wiggle for us when we would tickle her toes and hands and even think about opening her eyes every now and then, but was still very sleepy from anaesthesia and pain meds, but the surgery was a success.