Tuesday August 18th, 2009 Caitlyn had her first surgery. She got tubes in both her ears. This girl had 8 ear infections in less than 6 months. The last double ear infection was while she was on a preventative antibiotic. We met with the ENT on August 11th. Jared was pretty much set on this surgery before we even went in to talk to the ENT. He had tubes as a baby (numerous times) so he was comfortable with that decision. It was not that easy for me. What got to me is that the ENT was sure that the infections were keeping her from walking and from talking and babbling more. That the infections could effect her hearing permanently. Once I made the decision to go forward with the surgery I wanted to schedule it as quickly as possible. I just wanted it to be over with. It wasn't the surgery itself that scared me. It was my little baby girl being under anesthesia. I was so afraid that they'd put her under and she'd have some sort of reaction and she wouldn't wake up. Monday afternoon before her surgery daycare called me - she had a fever of 102.5. I started freaking out. I called the ENT and they assured me that as long as she wasn't congested that they would go through with the surgery. The ENT had a sneaky suspicion that she had another ear infection causing this fever. So I went and picked her up early from daycare that day. Tuesday morning we got to the surgical center at 6:30 in the morning. I was really worried because I couldn't give her her morning bottle. But she didn't fuss once about not getting her bottle. This was because she really wasn't feeling good. She basically just laid in my lap watching cartoons (which she never sits still for normally!). She still had her fever, but her lungs were clear so we were going ahead with the surgery. The ENT came and talked to us after the nurse got all her stats. She said it would only take 10 min and she'd come out to talk to us. She carried Caitlyn back to the surgical room. I was surprised that I didn't cry when she took her from me. I was amazingly calm up to that point. We went out to the waiting room. We both went to the bathroom. We sat for a few more min. I was watching the clock. At 10 minutes I was asking Jared where she was at. He thought I was nuts and assured me she'd be fine. The ENT came out a few min later and said everything went well. She had another double ear infection which she was able to clear out while she was in there. She said the nurse would be out to get us soon to take us back to her. They had warned us ahead of time that she'd be cranky (their word) when she woke up. Nothing could have prepared me for the way she was acting when they took us back to her. She was SCREAMING / CRYING. Uncontrollably. They said she was hungry so we made her a warm bottle. It took awhile for her to realize I was trying to give her something she wanted. She did finally take the bottle. And she was calmer after the bottle, but still fussy and seemed uncomfortable. They said she wasn't in any pain, but I don't know how they could know that if she couldn't tell us. They said she was acting totally "normal" from waking up from the anesthesia. She was disorientated and super fussy. I basically just sat and rocked and cried with her. It was the worst feeling I've felt so far as a mother. After about 15 minutes they asked if we were ready to go home. I thought they were crazy for letting us leave before she had totally calmed down. I was so afraid of going home and her not calming down and what were we going to do??? But once we got into the car (I rode in the backseat with her) she really started calming more. I guess they do know what they're doing! I gave her a few graham crackers on the way home. Once we got home I put her in her sleep sack and she went right to sleep. She slept for 4 HOURS! After 2 hours I called the nurse to make sure I shouldn't be waking her to check on her. The nurse laughed at me and told me to enjoy it. That usually babies slept for 3-4 hours after anesthesia. During that 4 hour nap I got most of our bedroom painted! She woke up happy as can be after that nap. Like nothing had happened that morning and she had forgotten all about it! Putting drops in her ears for the next week was a challenge and I'm glad Jared was always there to help me. I don't think I could have done them alone! She's not quite walking yet...but she's now standing on her own without holding on. I think walking is just around the corner!
Now she's working on 2 more teeth!
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