I wake up at 5:30 AM this morning, quickly get dressed, get Arianna's diaper bag packed (with bottle) and pack the car. I woke her up about 6:10, quickly said goodbye to 'dad-ee' and set off.
We arrive at the hospital at 6:50 for the 7 o'clock 'check in'. There is no one in the admitting office.
Thats because on Wednesdays the first surgery isn't until 9 AM!! So we are there 1.5 hours too early. She tells us to take a walk around the hospital... um, ya that'll be 'fun', with no stroller. I used to work here so I figured I'd head over to the office to say hello to people, but its too early, no one is there. So we sit down by the, now empty, water sculpture in the foyer and I read her a board book someone left there. After about 10 minutes she's done with that and we head back to the admitting waiting room where there are no toys. After about 10 minutes in there I go in to tell the secretary that we came back and were waiting in the pre-op waiting room. She told me they had opened the inside waiting room and we could wait there - this was a fun room because there were lots of toys.
Arianna was good in this room until about 20 minutes before 'her turn'. We met several really nice families - one of whom was getting tubes also. Once again I was reminded about how small my 14 month old is with such comments like "wow, she's just a peanut huh?" or "boy I didn't think my girl was so big but I guess she is". I don't know why they bother me, but they do.Anesthesiology came in and talked to me - I explained her NICU course and the two times she was hospitalized in the last year and all her minor problems and I was assured everything would be fine - I knew it would be, this is extremely minor.
Then I had to sit in the waiting room as she fussed due to being both bored and hungry and finally had to get 'gowned' up. She was 'done' at this point.
Then they called us back. The actual room was really bright and thats what really caught her attention and she sat on my lap while they gave her the anesthetic. She was much better about it than I thought she would be. The spacer for her albuterol is very similar in size/shape and she ALWAYS screams when I put it on her face, and figured she would do the same - but nope! She was great about it, just sat on my lap until she went to sleep. Must have been the bubble gum flavoring or something. But I was relieved.
Then they called us back. The actual room was really bright and thats what really caught her attention and she sat on my lap while they gave her the anesthetic. She was much better about it than I thought she would be. The spacer for her albuterol is very similar in size/shape and she ALWAYS screams when I put it on her face, and figured she would do the same - but nope! She was great about it, just sat on my lap until she went to sleep. Must have been the bubble gum flavoring or something. But I was relieved.I was shuffled out quickly and went and grabbed my bags and headed off to the post-op waiting room. I was only there about 3 minutes when the doctor came and got me. He said they removed alot of fluid from both ears and put the tubes in without any trouble. She was just starting to wake up and recovery would be calling the room soon. Sounded good to me.
Recovery called about 3 minutes later and I shuffled off to recovery and she was just waking up when I got there. Just one little wimper and I picked her up, shoved a bottle in her her mouth and she drank it all in a matter of moments.
She didn't have any trouble and didn't cry at all! After she was done with the bottle she was all smiles and laughter! Talk about strange.
This was not the Arianna I was used to - she almost always cries when she wakes from a nap!We were in recovery for about 30 minutes total and then we were done! I picked up all the bags and walked her out of the hospital to the parking garage - no wimpers, no whining, no ... nothing...
If anything she was happy - she looked around at everything and was enamoured by outside (where there was alot of construction) as it was loud. It made me wonder if she was just hearing everything totally new now that the fluid was gone.
We got home about 10:20 and I gave her breakfast which she ate quickly. We both took naps about 11:40 - 1:30 and then she had lunch. She's playing with toys now and still as happy as ever.
We have to keep water out of her ears - I need pointers on this. She HATES taking a bath and we have to be very quick about getting all the soap out of her hair or she'll thrash about and hurt herself. I usually just take a cup of water and dump it over her head. This is no an option with tubes so I welcome ideas.
Best part of all? She weighed in at 20.3 lbs. Thats a gain of nearly 3 lbs in just 3 weeks!!
3 comments:
Get those little orange earplugs that come in a pack of six (??) or so. You can find them at places like Target. They are like silly putty and you can shape them to fit the ears. If they are too big (which they usually are) you can rip them in half. They are usually in the pharmacy type aisles. GL!! Glad to hear in went well and cute pics!! Sounds like she handled anesthesia well:)
OOh thanks for the heads up! I hope she doesn't pull at them!
i'm trying to remember as my ear tube kid is now 15 and STILL has a tube in one ear. doc thinks that wax is holding it in and darling daughter #2 consistently refuses to le the doc go digging.
anyhoo...i recall having her wear this head thingy that resembled a visor. i do remember that shortly after the surgery not only did she start chattering away but also bathtime was a little less traumatic for her too. a lot of changes were noticeable...perhaps all that fluid out of the ears helped big time.
don't be alarmed if you see stains on the bedding from ear drainage. it is normal for a few days post-op.
i am sooo happy it went well.
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