The Tubes

Today was the day...Brenna had her ear tubes put in early this morning.

This was our day:

Up early~had to be at the hospital by 6:00 this morning to get checked-in. Good thing we got up early...the snow piled so high that Sean wasn't able to get his company car out of the driveway. His original plan was to meet us at the hospital so that when surgery was over he could head on to work, things didn't quite work out that way. Luckily we were able to barrel thru with the Jeep.

After registration we were able to hang out in the waiting room for a while. It was nice because B was able to play and get a little exercise instead of being stuck in a room on a bed where she couldn't do much.

About 6:50 they came out and took us back to the prep area. B changed into these very stylish doggie/balloon jammies along with some very bright yellow socks and a super cool hat!


The nurses did all of their checks, the anesthesiologist came in, her Dr. came in. It was a very busy and a little bit of a scary time for her because she wasn't really sure what was happening.

At 7:25 Daddy got suited up for his role as the blue man complete with hat, a blue zip-up suit, footies and a mask. I wish I had thought to snap a photo! Then at 7:30 Sean walked B down to the operating room where he was able to stay with her until she was almost asleep.

By the time he got out of his blue man suit and met us (Grandma, Uncle George, Nonny, and cousin Kaitllyn, and me) about ten minutes had passed.

We had just enough time to go over to the Starbucks (right across from the waiting area in the hospital) to grab a quick cup of coffee and get back over to the waiting area, by the time we got back and were getting settled the Doctor was out to get us to take Sean and I back to see her. We asked how it went of course: she had lots of fluid in both ears but she did very well. We asked how long it would be before she started waking up and he said "she's already awake"!

We were taken right to the recovery room where a nurse was trying to calm B while trying to get the pulse ox back onto her hand (B was NOT having it). She was crying but only because she was in a strange place with new people and it was part of the effect that the anesthesia had on her, not because she was in any pain.

There was a little bit of drainage from her right ear but nothing major and barely anything from her left ear.
It took about ten minutes to calm her down and get her to start taking fluids (in the form of Orange Pierre's Popsicle). As soon as she was done with her double popsicle and some juice, we were able to get her dressed and take her home. She was in a great mood and by the time we got her out to the waiting room she was ready to visit with family and wanted to get down and start playing again. The sheet we got from the doctor said that normal activity typically resumes within 6-24 hours...with B it was about 60 minutes...if that!

We were home by about 9:15-9:30, Brenna chowed her breakfast, played for a while and went down for a nice long nap like she would any other day. Just a little tylenol to take the edge off. Grandma came with us to spend a little time and make sure the little girl was ok and that I was ok too. Sean was able to head out after we got Brenna settled in at home (by then the driveway had been plowed).

This whole process was a lot less traumatic than I thought it would be. Probably more so for Sean & I than for Brenna.

All afternoon she played and ate and was very much herself! We couldn't have asked for a better outcome!

Sometimes I think there is just no stopping this little girl!

It will be interesting to see how the tubes work for her. We are hopeful they will do the trick and she will be back to her healthy self relatively soon.