Round TWO

On Tuesday morning, Colby and I met Mimsy at the new Children's Hospital for round 2 of ear tubes. Travis had a busy morning and wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it or not, so luckily Mimsy could be there with us (definitely not a one-man job)

After our big night, Colby slept until 8:00 and we were supposed to be at the hospital at 8:30, so it worked out GREAT (especially since Colby wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything.)

We got all checked in and signed a million papers.

Then we were escorted up to the children's day surgery area for weight and height check before they showed us to our room. Even thought I had basically thrown Colby into the car as soon as he woke up, he was in a really good mood and very cooperative (thank you Lord!)

Colby's nurse, Leah, was AMAZING. She hit it off with Colby right away and he let her check blood pressure and vitals like it was no big deal.

Child life came in and gave Colby a teddy bear (who he named Annie) and showed him pictures of what the operating room would look like. Colby was immersed in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the tv, so he wasn't really paying attention, but I think that was a good thing. She also let him practice blowing up the green balloon that he would have to blow up in the operating room to get his anesthesia. He loved showing the nurses how to blow up the balloon. :)

Daddy surprised us!! (thank you OB residents for letting him come!)

This was when it all fell apart last year. Colby was screaming, wouldn't even ride in the wagon and the nurse had to pry him off of us....that was NOT FUN. This year was a totally different story. No tears from either party. He was such a big boy! The nurses told us that he was perfectly fine in the OR and sang his ABCs for them while they were giving him his anesthesia (he made it to E before he was out.)

After about 15 minutes, Dr. P. came in and told us that everything went great. The left ear tube was replaced and the ear looked great. The right ear was full of yucky stuff, so they "evacuated it" (yes, those were his exact words) and then put in a new tube. He was very nice and we will get to see him again in a month for follow-up. A few minutes later, they wheeled Colby back into the room. He was still out of it and it took him about 5 minutes to wake up.

Leah brought him apple juice and teddy grahams. That turned out to not be such a great idea when Colby threw them up. :( Then he was crying and complaining that his right ear was really hurting him. Poor baby- apparently evacuating ear mucus is painful! They gave him some more super duper pain meds and before long he was smiling again and requesting a popsicle. They kept us around a little longer than usual to just make sure he wasn't still in too much pain and was keeping the food down. We were out the door around 11:30 with smiling faces. (mommy was ready for a nap!)

On the way home, Colby started crying, telling me his ear hurt and that his tummy hurt (not what you want to hear when you're on the highway between 2 semis.) I gave him the blue bag that they had given me at the hospital "just in case" but it was hopeless. Colby threw up about 3 or 4 times. :( He was covered, my car was covered, and we were still about 5 minutes away from our house. ugggghhhhhh....I guess his poor little tummy just wasn't ready for the popsicle....and the car ride.

Travis, my mom and the S&W nurses all recommended that I just wait until after nap to try liquids and light foods again to give his tummy time to calm down, but what do you do when your almost 3 year old is asking for crackers? You give him crackers! :) He was a hungry little boy and did great for the rest of the day. He took a 4 hour nap and I finally woke him up so that he would sleep that night. I'm so glad we got this behind us, and am very hopeful that the tubes will stay put and do their job. Ear infections are NO FUN!