Hospital

When Caitlin was 2 days old she had her first surgery to close her back which went well.  I was discharged the next day and spend every spare minute with her in the Children's Hospital.  I couldn't wait to get us home and the surgeons were hopeful that she wouldn't need a shunt as her hydrocephalus was stable.  After 5days we got the good news that she was doing so great we could go home the following day!
That morning I arrived at the hospital fully expecting to get her home and as soon as I arrived I heard her crying really loudly.  She had developed an infection and was very sick.  She was sore and had a fever and needed to be put on a drip.  Then her hydrocephalus started to increase.  As soon as her infection started to go, plans were made to insert a shunt.  We had hoped that we would get her home for Christmas but on Christmas Eve Caitlin went into surgery to have a shunt fitted.  We were really upset that she had to spend her first Christmas in hospital but we were able to get a camp bed and our own little side room so at least we were together as a family.
Unfortunately Caitlin's surgery had some complications and she ended up needing an emergency scan at 2am on Christmas morning as her surgeon was worried he had nicked her bowel during surgery.  Thankfully he hadn't and on Christmas Day you wouldn't have thought she had just had surgery, she was just back to her usual self.  She amazed me and still does.
On Boxing Day we got to go home! We were so excited, we couldn't get out quick enough! We thought at least now the shunt is done we don't have to worry about it, right?
Wrong.  Just a month later Caitlin's shunt malfunctioned and she was rushed in for her 3rd surgery at just 2months old.  Again, she recovered really quickly, she was so brave.
We got home 2days later and Caitlin really started to developed a little cheeky personality.  Once she started to smile, she never stopped and we were devastated when at 4months old her shunt malfunctioned again.  But it never fazed my little girl, the nurses were even surprised that after her surgery she didn't need the pain relief usually needed, she just bounced back and recovered brilliantly.