Good-bye, Ear Infections

I thought we were in the clear. Amelia has been such a healthy little girl! She had her first ear infection at 7 months. Her second and third at 14 months. Then, came February 2011. She had 3 infections in February and she was on antibiotics for four weeks. This made our decision to have tubes put in. I was so worked up about it but I really wanted my baby girl to stop hurting with ear aches. I stayed home Monday to clean and do laundry and get myself ready for this surgery. We had to be there at 7am on Tuesday. We got there and signed in and I held her so tight! She was in a good mood even though she couldn't have anything to drink or eat. I'm so thankful for her happy disposition. They called her back at 7:30 and only one of us could go back with her. Nathan waited in the waiting room. He waited and waited and waited while I wrestled and wrestled and wrestled. An 18 month old sitting on a gurney isn't the easiest thing to deal with. We tried coloring, singing songs, tickling, peek-a-boo, and even playing with latex gloves. Finally, the realized they forgot to bring Nathan back. He was so worried and he had been texting me but my phone was on silent so I didn't see them. He came back and held her and played and shortly after they brought her "THE" cocktail. Yep, that's the one! She was feeeeling gooooood in a matter of no time! Here's a picture of her chillaxin'.....She was so good and so brave. The doctors were wonderful as well. I was so uptight and nervous, I'm thankful for Nathan, he was so calm and assuring. I guess that's where Amelia gets it. Once we handed her off we had to go back out to the waiting room. I must have been a bundle of nerves. I couldn't sit still and I wanted to stand at the door and look through the window so when the Doc came to get us we'd be right there. He came out about 10 minutes later and walked us back to the recovery area. There she was. I'll never forget what she looked like. It was so sad. She was this little bitty angel laying on a big bed. She was wrapped up like a burrito in a blanket and her her head was turned to the side and there was an oxygen mask next to her mouth. She was sleeping so peacefully. Then, she started to stir. She was very groggy and she cried and moaned. The nurse said I could hold her so I scooped her up and held her close. She couldn't open her eyes and she couldn't say anything. She just cried and cried. Slowly she started to become more awake. We tried to give her a sip of water but she fought it. Then the nurse offered a Popsicle. When she heard that, she opened her eyes. She LOVES Popsicles. She ate the whole thing and in between bites she would sign for "more", "more". So sweet. We finally were able to leave and we got her in the car and I sat in the back with her. Nathan started the car and Elmo began to sing. There sat our little Amelia, barely able to open her eyes and focus. She sat there trying as hard as she could to dance. It was the cutest thing ever.
We made it home with no throwing up, thank goodness! She wanted to play when we got home but she couldn't stand, much less walk. I rocked her and we read a few books before she went down for a nap. She slept about 2 hours. In that time, Dad and Ludi came over to see her. She woke up and we all had lunch. After a more playtime it was time for another nap. Dad went home and all three of us took a nap for about 2 hours. I was so exhausted and my entire body ached. We woke up at 6 and she was 100% back to normal. I'm so thankful everything went well. Thanks to all my sweet friends who shared their experiences and put my fears to rest. I know that getting tubes isn't the most invasive of surgeries but to a mom, surgery is still surgery!