This July, soon after getting home from vacation, Ethan had his tonsils and adenoids taken out. He'd had a year of symptoms including sleeping terribly, snoring super loud, and having episodes of apnea. It was a year of bad sleep for both of us. While I was looking forward to him finally having relief, I was dreading the actual surgery but he did wonderful! Recovery was actually harder for both of us.
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| Getting ready for the doctor. He was very nervous. |
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| He relaxed a little when I let him listen to my iPod. |
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And was much better when he was finally able
to sit on my lap. Moments later we walked back to the OR,
with me carrying him of course. |
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Immediately after surgery. He was asleep and tried to smile for
the picture. Poor baby. He was so snuggly. He slept on my lap
for over an hour. The nurses said it's better when kids wake up
and then fall back to sleep for a little while. Somehow they seem
to recover better. |
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After waking up the second time, we got moved into
the little recovery room. Here we snuggled in bed,
watched cartoons, drank some water, and ate lots of
popsicles and jell-o! |
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Prior to this moment, he would swear up and down that
he hated jello. The nurse convinced him to just give it a
try to help his throat. He LOVED it and asked for three
more cups! We have a new fan of jell-O! |
We went home later that evening, just before dinner, and for the next 8 days, I was certain I was being punished for some bad behavior from the past.
My poor Ethan was pretty miserable. He hated taking his medicine. He was sick of popsicles by day 2. He hated drinking water. He was the kid they warned me about. The one that just wanted to sit and starve/dehydrate rather than move his throat, and then when he had to, he would just cry about it. For the first 5 or 6 days he would wake up in the middle of the night crying because he hurt so bad. I was glad I decided for both of us to sleep in the living room the entire time. It made things a little easier. The crying was not just when he was in pain but also when he had to take medicine. And when he had to go to sleep. And when he couldn't sleep in his own bed. And when he couldn't eat the same things we were.
Some of the foods he cried for were everything, but more specifically, bread, bagels, chips, and chicken. When I say "cried", I don't mean whining. I mean full on tears.
The upswing of this was the constant snuggling. He just felt better when we were on the couch watching movies all snuggled in blankets. I think he felt pretty special getting most of my attention.
While it was one of the toughest weeks of my life, it was so desperately needed. Ethan is such a good sleeper now. And for the most part, so am I.
