Oats,
It all starts with the dentist. Similar to Lexi, the dentist has commented on the size of your tonsils on a few different occasions and suggested that we get them looked at. After learning from Lexi’s experience, we skipped the pediatrician and went straight to the ENT.
He said you were definitely a candidate but it was up to us on if we wanted to remove them or not. Daddy and I talked about it and ultimately decided we think we should do it. You snore SO loud and are very restless when you sleep and we wanted to make sure we were setting you up for success and make the recovery as easy as possible as a young little guy verses having to do it when you’re older.
We set the date for Wednesday, August 7 in Maple Grove. You were pretty nervous, scared and apprehensive about the whole procedure and talked about it a little bit upfront, but mostly didn’t talk about it.
On Tuesday, Grammy took the girls to her house overnight, which gave you some good quality time with Mom & Dad. We played some golf in the backyard, then you and I went on a long bike ride to the Coon Rapids Dam–and you rode your little bike the entire 7 miles! After that, we went out to dinner and you got your fav, corn dogs and then made a quick trip to Target where we got you a Lego kit to do during your recovery.
Wednesday morning came and we got up around 6:00 to be to the hospital by 6:30. We filled out a little bit of paper work and were then called into your pre-op room. You went potty, put your operating gown on and you and Mom sat in the chair together and watched Nickelodeon while we waited for the various doctors to come in and talk to us.
Around 7:45, they told us they were ready for you, so Mommy put on the sterile gown and you walked your very brave self back to the operating room. Thankfully, you were pretty calm and had Doonie in tote. I lifted you onto the table and you lied down and the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist had put the mask over your face and had you try to blow up the little balloon. I think you maybe took 10 breaths and then were out. I walked back to Daddy and we headed to the waiting room to anxiously await updates.
This time around, we actually received text messages letting us know when the procedure had started, ended and when you were in post op. Overall, the procedure went really well. Your tonsils came out and they reduced the size of your adenoids. When you started to wake up, you were pretty scared. Daddy and I came back to meet you pretty quickly and I sat down in a wheel chair and Daddy put you into my lap and they wheeled us to a recovery room. We hung out there for about an hour before they discharged us to go home. You ate 3 freezies (green, what else!) drank some water and also took some medicine and kept asking when we could go home and build your lego boat.
Your overall recovery was much easier than Lexi’s. You took your meds like a champ for the first 5 days or so. You drank lots of fluid–ate Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, sherbet and so many popsicles and freezies. As the scabs were healing on days 6-10, you needed to medicine blended in with a freezie to help it go down. I think you only took one dose of the codeine, which was on the first day and then after that it was all Tylenol and Children’s Advil–but near the end–you actually asked to take the codeine because the others hurt that much more to swallow. Similar to Lexi, the hardest moments were on nights 6-12. You would wake up in agony and ended up sleeping in our bed most nights. A few sips of water, a Freezie and some medicine and you were snoozing again.
I’m so glad we did this for you. You aren’t tossing and turning and are getting much more restful sleep. We’re proud of you buddy!
Love,
Mama
Peanut Smiles 