As fiesty as Ellie is, she is constantly sick! The poor kid has literally has a cold since last August and has had back to back ear infections going back to January. It’s extremely frustrating as a parent and there is only so much infant Tylenol a kid can handle!
After many visits with the ENT, Dr. Dillon, we decided Ellie needed tubes to (hopefully) curb the frequency of the ear infections. The surgury was scheduled at 7:30 am on a Thursday morning. My folks graciously took Zoe for the night prior to the surgery (and had a blast with her!)
We needed to be at the hospital at 5:45am. Ellie was cooperative, but not thrilled with the early wake up time.
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Once we arrived Ellie was weighed, and had her vitals taken. She was remarkably calm. In fact she didn’t cry when being weighed or poked and sqeezed. We may try to schedule all her doctor appointments at 6:00 in the morning. The sweet old ladies of Hinsdale had sewn a darling blue and pink dog pillow for the pediatric patients. Ellie fell in love with it.
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The three of us hung out in her room for about an hour. We read books.
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Played with the cool bedside remote.
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And colored a picture:
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Ellie appearantly thought the floor needed some flair:
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At 7:00 we put Ellie in her darling hospital gown.
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Just after 7:00 a nurse gave Ellie a syringe of “happy juice” to relax and calm her for anesthesia. Zak and I put on yellow hospital gowns.
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Over the next 15 minutes Ellie got extremely relaxed and sleepy; however, she never totally fell asleep.
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Soon, Dr. Dillon, arrived. We discussed the prcedure and we handed our baby over to a nurse to take to the operating room. Zak and I made our way to the family waiting room. We checked our e-mails and Zak made me the worst and smallest cup of coffee ever. After a very long 25 minutes Dr. Dillon returned to let us know that it was over and she had done great! Whew! She was not yet awake, but as soon as she woke up we’d be able to see her. I called my mom and about 4 minutes (and 20 tears of relief) into the converstaion a nurse was back to guide us the the recovery room.
We immediatly heard her horrible sobs and found her to be very distressed. No amount of cuddles and hugs calmed her. After a few minutes of total chaos the nurses suggested she may be thirsty. We gave her a 4 ounce bottle of pedialyte that she downed in 1 minute flat, without ever stopping the sucking to breathe. A second bottle was just as quickly consumed and the crying started to cease. We took a wheelchair back to her room on the pediatric floor. Zak and I tried our best to calm and comfort our baby.
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It turns out the Elmo was a great help in the operating room.
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We waited for about an hour and half in her room. Zak and I took turns walking the halls with her (I watched Oprah while Zak and Ellie were out.) Eventually she calmed down so it was decided it was a good time to rip off her EKG disks and start the crying up all over again.
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After a final round of vitals were taken, Ellie got dressed and was discharged.
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We were home by 10:30 and ate bagles and watched the previous night’s American Idol. Both Ellie and I napped from 11:30-2:30, while Zak graciously went to Geneva to bring Zoe home. After nap, Ellie was pretty perky and ready to play.
Did they work?
That is the million dollar question. She did pick up a cold in the hospital and, as far as we know, it has not turned into an ear infection. Her follow up appointment is tomorrow afternoon and I imagine we’ll be told everything is fine. She does have to wear ear plugs when in water and has slowly adjusted to that concept.
Now if they would only make nose tubes to stop that poor kiddo’s CONSTANTLY running nose!
**You probably noticed the injuries near Ellie’s eye in the photos. Yeah, well so did every single doctor, nurse, volunteer, and staff person we ran into at the hospital. She had fallen down the stairs the day before and landed on a bunny shaped Pez dispenser. I really was watching her, but she tumbled before I could do anything. She is fine now and her eye, and ears, are as good as new.**
