April is the cruelest &%$#ing month

OK, so score one tiny point for me for letting my intuition guide me this weekend.

When Liv woke up with a generally achy tummy on Saturday I did what most mothers and grandmothers who came before me have done for generations. I asked: "When was the last time you went number two, Honey?"
When she couldn't recall, I gave her a Motrin and some hot tea. She felt better, and we proceeded with our day of picking up the house, getting a hair trim (mine) and other errands. She was able to eat a little lunch, but not much.

When we got home, Anna Marie came by and the two of them assumed their position on the sofa in front of the laptop with their heads glued together at the sides. At one point Liv stood up and doubled over in pain, clutching her right side.

That was it--after one phone call to run my thoughts by Mark and my mom-in-law who were out with Nate, we were on our way to the ER. My mother-in-law and I are both appendicitis veterans with the lovely scars to prove it, so we knew the signs.

After some brief examinations, blood tests and tears, Liv was in the operating room having a laparoscopic appendectomy. I became tearful only after the surgery was underway and Mark was with me in the waiting room. Honestly, it all happened so fast it took that long for the reality to catch up with me. Within 45 minutes after she entered the O.R., the surgeon came out with some digital photos of our daughter's intestine and the offending little, um, appendage. It had a little jagged black hole on the tip, the beginning of a rupture.

"Thank God you brought her in when you did," Mark said. And thank God the surgeon and his attending physician didn't listen to me when I practically begged for ultrasounds, CT scans and any other tests before they put my baby under general anaesthesia. In the end they stood firm and went with their gut (sorry), and for that I'm so grateful.

So, here's to over-protective moms and knowledgeable, slightly stubborn surgeons everywhere.

Today Olivia's much better, a little sore from the operation but eating, drinking and moving around slowly but surely around the children's wing of the hospital. Nate, her cousin Emma and her grandma have all been here making a fuss over her. Fingers crossed that we can head home tomorrow, that's the plan! Meanwhile, she'll have a great "How I Spent My Spring Break" story for next week.