Keeping Up With the Joneses: Just like new!

Paxton got his ear tubes in today. It was much more traumatic for mommy and daddy than it was for Paxton!

When we scheduled the surgery, we were told that he couldn't have anything to eat after midnight, but could have clear liquids from midnight through 4:30. This made Jim and I nervous because Paxton's sleeping habits have not been the greatest. He usually wakes up around 2 or 3 to eat. We decided we would wake him up right before midnight to feed him.

The night went better than anticipated. We woke him up at 11:40 for his bottle and he barely opened his eyes while he ate it. We knew that he could have clear fluids until 4:30, so of course at 4:40, he started babbling. Thankfully he fell back asleep but was done sleeping by 5:45. I jumped in the shower and Jim got up with him. He wasn't too fussy, but kept crawling to me since I am usually the source of food in the early morning!

We got to the surgery place by 7:15 and had to wait a little bit. They took us back and did all the pre-op stuff like weight, blood pressure, pulse, temp, etc. He did so good and sat patiently through most of it! I think he was probably just fascinated by all the noises and flashing lights. He then had to change into a teeny hospital gown, it was too cute! He also got to pick out a little stuffed animal to take home. My parents were there with us, which was nice. After the nurse was done, we had to sit and wait for the anesthesiologist. He was really nice, but made me laugh because he said "Oh he probably doesn't have any teeth in there, does he?" Oh no, only 8!

Next the ENT came in. I really, really like her. She was so calming! She explained the surgery and answered our questions. Then the nurse came and took him from me, which was the hardest part. Thankfully, he went happily and didn't cry. After that, we all walked into the waiting room and were there for about 5 minutes. The nurse poked her head out and said "Ok you can come in the conference room and the doctor will meet with you!" It was SO quick! I was shocked! The ENT said that his right ear was clear but his left one had goopy fluid in it. And she said he did perfectly. After that, we went back into the waiting room.

We were there for only about another 5 minutes before they called us back to see him. A nurse was holding him waiting for us to get there and he looked so sleepy. He couldn't hold his head up at first, which was cute and sad at the same time. He cried a little, but was just a cuddly little bug. They gave us a little room with a rocker in it and I gave him a bottle, which he sucked down. After that we changed him, and we were out the door! We were in the car by 8:50, when the surgery had started around 8:20! I sat in the back with him on the way home and he was super smiley and happy. He went down for a nap as soon as we got home and crashed hard.

The nurses said he was so good throughout the whole thing and even had a smile on his face when he was under. What an amazing little boy we have!

The rest of the day went smoothly and Paxton was back to his normal self after his first nap. He never pulled his ears or anything. You would never have known he just had surgery! It certainly didn't impact his eating habits (which he gets honestly from mom and dad!). He even tolerated us putting ear drops in!

We go back to see the ENT in four weeks to make sure everything looks okay!

Check out my cute gown!