Surgery

The boys went in yesterday to get their tubes. We woke up at five in the morning, which is completely unheard of for both me and Kevin. To say we were tired was an understatement.

Evan had his school's spring concert the night before. Pawpaw Gammaw were there and so was Nonna. I'm not sure if it was the age he's at right now or the pants we put him in (he didn't like them), but when the curtains opened up and the music started playing all Evan could do was stand there and cry...through both songs. I didn't even bother with taking pictures, besides all I had with me was my cell phone. There's another story there, but for another day.

After the concert Evan went home with Nonna so we wouldn't have to wake him up and drop him off so early. He stayed that night and also last night and did really well at drop off this morning. From what I hear - no tears, absolutely unheard of for him.

Anyway, check-in at the surgery center was at 6:30 a.m. we got there and all got our bracelets on. I was assigned to Brennan and Kevin's designated baby for the day was Carter. We found out there was one patient ahead of us, but they were running on time.

Brennan was up first at 8 o'clock. It seemed like just as soon as the nurses whisked him away that the doctor was coming back into our room telling us he was out of surgery and in his recovery room. Everything was perfect with his surgery; they did find some fluid behind both eardrums, and once he came-to and gave the nurses a few rounds of good vital signs he was brought back and placed into mama's arms.

We were told all of these stories, okay nightmares, about what happens to kids when they come out of anesthesia. Most kids will scream and cry and thrash about, confused and angry about what had just taken place. Brennan didn't do any of this. He was brought back with a bottle of juice (his first time having it) and was happily sucking away, even cracking smiles behind it. No crying, no whining, and no wiggling about. He was absolutely wonderful; you wouldn't have even guessed he had just been in surgery.

A few minutes went by while they cleaned and prepped the operating room for Carter. They soon came back and got him, and daddy and I were focusing all of our energy on keeping Brennan occupied. It felt like it was taking a little longer for a doctor or nurse to come tell us he was out and doing okay, so immediately my mind started to suspect something was up. I kept myself calm and a few minutes later the doctor walked into our room. Surgery was successful, but they did run into a slight hiccup.

It appeared that Carter was just starting to get over an ear infection, which we didn't even know about, and that his right ear had some fluid in it and the doctor had a little trouble getting the incision in the eardrum, as it had a "gritty" texture to it, which caused it to bleed a little. Regardless, everything went fine and the surgery was a success. When they brought him back to our room he already had fluid draining from his ear. Poor thing.

Carter's recovery was a different experience than his brother's, but it wasn't terrible. And nothing like what I had chalked it up to being like in my head. He was a little fussy and would occasionally break out into mild hysterics, but he did so well overall. Having the bottle of juice really helped get his mind sidetracked.

We were discharged just three hours after checking in at 9:30 a.m. The boys instantly fell asleep and remained that way as we approached our house. I convinced Kevin to drive around so we drove, and drove, and drove because we knew once we stopped there would be no getting them back to sleep; it was best to just keep going.

After getting home and waking up, it seemed like any other day with the boys. Crazy busy and with it's ups and downs, but definitely nothing but normal - they were completely back to themselves making for one happy mama :)