Tubes, Round 3

Today was Saylor's second set of tubes, and the third go round for our family. We are quickly becoming pros at this!

Say's first set of tubes were put in November 2011, two months before she turned 3. They fell out sometime around this past January, so they made it about 14 months which is pretty average. We hadn't had any ear infections, but for the past several weeks I had been questioning her hearing. Last week it was obviously not right, so we headed back to the good ole ENT. Lo and behold, both ears were totally thick with fluid and she failed her hearing test bilaterally. We decided not to mess with trying antibiotics and antihistamines to drain her up, but just bite the bullet and go for a second round. I did not want to mess with several more weeks of hearing loss with a good chance we'd have to go ahead with tubes anyways.

I am happy to report that today's surgery was much easier for Say than her first go round! I told her ahead of time what to expect: You get to wear a hospital "dress,"and a matching bracelet with mommy. A doctor will take you back and put you on a table. Then he will put a mask on your mouth that will make you sleepy. You can take your bunny with you. (To which she replied: "but mommy, how will I sleep without my sound machine and my fan")?

I had been contemplating getting her an American Girl doll for while now, and this seemed like a good time to bribe her bring it up. We told her if she was very, very brave and went back to the table with the doctor without crying, we would take her to pick out a doll later in the day. My whole goal was to avoid the extra meds they had to give her last time since she was scared, crying and wouldn't go back with them (because these made the wake up process so much harder).
Here she was almost two years ago in the same room:

I really wasn't sure what to expect. I knew she wanted a doll, but I also could tell she was nervous in the days leading up. And I never know when that strong will of hers is going to kick in hard core! Once we got there though, she played happily on my ipad while we waited.

Her lovely hospital dress. She didn't mind it but she didn't like the itchy socks.

When it was time to go she hopped down without a whimper and walked right back.

I was so proud of her! It took less time this time since they didn't have to do her adenoids. We went back to see her in recovery and found her curled up like this:



She was sooooooo much calmer and more relaxed this time around! Just chatting with the nurse. Such a big girl! She did complain about her tummy hurting and then puked in the car once on the way home (I guess from the anesthesia or the apple juice she chugged afterwards), but even that didn't phase her too much. Just another reminder to me how much she is growing and maturing.





I am so thankful for modern medicine! Almost immediately afterwards we could tell she could hear us better, and she has been more attentive and with it all day today.

Gray was a trooper and tagged along. We had to leave our house at 5:30 so he was ready for a nap by mid morning. While we were driving there in the dark, Saylor said: "Gray, there aren't very many cars out right now...the only cars you see are people going to get their tubes in."

 And, as promised, we later trekked to American Girl and looked at many dolls before deciding on this one.

A successful day, all in all! Here's to hoping we won't need a round 3!