Plastic Surgery for 2 year olds

Well some may recall the incident we had in October just after T's parents were dropped off at the airport. We had a bloody boo boo. Unfortunately the 'wound care specialist' at Bethesda Naval Hospital, didn't do the stitches right and should have done some internal stitching, because the day after we took out her stitches she bumped her head again and split the same spot open a 2nd time. When I showed it to a doctor friend of mine, he said he would recommend taking her to plastic surgery to redo the stitches. Since she is a girl and it was on her face, we did just that. Thursday was her surgical date. Wednesday we went through about a half a days worth of paperwork, nurse and doctor visits. I felt awkward next to another family with a two month old going in next week for cleft lip surgery. His was a much more serious boo boo to be sure.

Poor Baby Girl though, having to be intubated and put under general anesthesia. I wondered if it was worth all the trouble. Then she would remind me that it bothers her (even at her tender age of 2!) when she would look at herself in the mirror and say "ouwee", or "yucky" when pointing to her scar. Whenever there was a band aide around she wanted me to put it on her scar. So I am glad we had it done. Luckily I had help from a friend who came to assist me. It was hard work keeping a baby distracted from food at 8:00 am! I am also sure I would have gotten lost on my way there without her help. My GPS was no help since the hospital was on a military base and the streets are not listed in the satellite system.

The interesting part for me was the comments that kept coming about how pretty my child was. Every health care professional was complimenting her right and left. "Look at her face! Those cheeks! That hair!" It was like they had never seen a cute baby before. All babies are cute right? Someone told me she should be in Baby Gap commercials. That was like the ultimate compliment. My friend Sister S and I were talking and the topic of being cursedly good looking (not us our kids) came up. She also has cute children who grew up to be nice looking adults. The comments can sometimes be a curse. People think you are merely decorative and possibly stupid. Or they hate and despise you for being so nice looking. So here I was getting a scar removed and at the same time showing my concern for having a child who may fall into the trap of a pretty girl who doesn't have much to recommend herself for on the inside. I was always taught that pretty on the inside was what mattered, but clearly pretty on the outside matters too, or I wouldn't be doing this surgery for my pretty little girl. Gives you something to chew on for a bit. And then spit it out, get breath freshener, powder your nose and smile for your close up...


Here we are post surgery-me looking oh so glamorous and Baby Girl trying to come out of the anesthesia.