Ivie Family: Ear Tubes

Hopefully painful ear infections are a thing of the past for the Munch. She suffered through SEVEN ear infections in one year. She got her first one around 6 months old, then had a few more before she turned one. We had a good spell for a few months and then the past 4 months she has had back to back ear infections. We were sick of seeing her hurt, taking her to the doctor and having her on antibiotics! We made the decision a couple weeks ago to go ahead with the surgery.
Turns out we made the right decision. The ENT told us after the procedure that her right ear had a scab from when her ear drum had burst to relieve pressure from repeat ear infections. No wonder she was such a grouch when she was sick (sometimes that is the only way I knew!). That right ear had been bothering her a lot!
The whole experience ended up being a piece of cake. If it keeps her from hurting it was totally worth it! We were both a little nervous about her having "surgery", even though it only was supposed to last 8-10 minutes. We were mostly concerned that she would be scared. She turned out to be a real trooper! Her Daddy was more torn up than she was. Gotta love her Daddy!
I was worried that Ryan would be ticked off when we woke her up at 4:45 a.m. to head to Dallas. She was the youngest patient so she was the first OR case. At first I thought, what the heck!? Do we really have to be there at 5:50 a.m.? Why do the youngest have to go first? Once the nurse explained the reasoning I totally understood. They do the youngest first so that they can drink and eat sooner. Makes sense. I wasn't sure how I was gonna deny Ryan her morning milk during the 2 hours she was awake before surgery, so I was happy that she was first. Since her surgery was at 7 and we had to be in North Dallas by 5:30, Chris got off work at 4 a.m. and we woke Ryan at 4:45. She was in such a good mood! I couldn't believe it! She was a lot more pleasant than I would have been if someone had woke me up 4 hours early. We loaded her up in her pajamas and drove to Dallas. It had been storming all night so I had been up since 3! I think I was a little anxious. We checked in right on time at 5:30 and opened up the goody bag of gifts that Unc Unc and Aunt Rocks had sent for Ryan (and for us!- it was entertainment for her). Ryan opened one at a time and the hour and a half flew by. She stayed cheerful and only asked for a drink 2 times. We were able to easily distract her with the next fun surprise. Thank goodness Aunt Mis and Uncle thought of the surprises!
At 7 we went back and met the anesthesiologist and spoke to the doctor. Ryan had to change into a little t-shirt and they gave her a little pink teddy bear. Bunny was snuggled next to her and got to go with her to surgery. The nurse came in to take her away and she cried out a little bit and reached for us, then she was gone. I cried cause I hated that she was scared. I went and got a cup of coffee because I hadn't been able to drink anything. (There was no way that I was going to drink something in front of her.) I came back to the room and a few minutes later the doctor walked in to tell us he was done. It was less than 10 minutes! They told us we would be able to go into recovery as soon as she started to wake up. Five minutes later a nurse walked in with our sleepy, crying daughter. Apparently she was already waking up when they wheeled her into recovery and she was getting mad so they decided just to bring her to us. Chris took her and she moaned and held on to him. Thirty seconds later she got MAD! Real mad! She started screaming and arching her back. Chris told me later he wished he would have cut her nails because she scratched the heck out of his face and neck. Thankfully, the exorcism only lasted about five minutes. After that she was laying with bunny watching cartoons. We immediately gave her a drink and some goldfish. They made us wait 30 minutes to make sure she was okay and then we were out the door. We headed straight for pancakes. She ate three pancakes and some eggs and we were back home by 9:30. Ryan took a four hour nap and woke up her happy self. She is awesome!

My snuggle girl waiting for surgery.