Double Adenoidectomy and a Couple of Ear Tubes

Last night in what had to be a miracle, Adam, Colin, and Claire were all asleep by 7:30 pm, which left time for Shannon (mostly Shannon) to pack for the twin's adenoidectomies and Claire's ear tube surgery this morning, and for me to go to bed early.

My mom came over to stay the night so that she could be there when Adam woke up and hang out to help us for the day.

Claire's "sweet spot" for a large bottle of milk falls between 2:30 am and 3:30 am every morning. I know she is almost one year and really shouldn't be waking up every night for a meal, but I've put it to two main things and one (sort of) minor thing: She's been in a constant growth spurt since birth, so she's hungry... She has chronic ear infections, so night time is when she's the most uncomfortable. When she wakes up from the pain, she thinks, "well, I might as well eat." And three, when she cries it's hard to make her fuss it out because if she goes long enough then Colin wakes up and thinks, "well, if she's going to eat then I better damn well get a bottle too." (And Colin, while he has been sleeping through the night pretty consistently for almost 10 months, does not take it lightly when he actually does wake up and does NOT get that bottle).

But last night they couldn't have anything to eat or drink past midnight, so Shannon set his alarm for 11:45 to try and give her a bottle before the cut off, in the hopes that she would not need one later. Well, she was mad that he woke her up and even madder that he was trying to make her drink, and in the second miracle of the night, Claire slept soundly until I pulled her out of bed at 5:45 am.

We went to the pediatric surgery center and the twins were fine, just wondering where breakfast was and made sure every nurse who visited with them to tell them how cute they are got a smile (well, Claire was not quite in the mood to give everyone a smile), and a little half complaint to let them know that they didn't get breakfast and that they definitely noticed.

But when they went back, neither of them needed the medicine to help with separation anxiety. Claire frowned at couple of nurses that made them think she might pull a fast one on them, but she was comfortable and open to being held by strangers. The surgeries were quick - Colin's adenoidectomy took about 20 minutes even though after they put him under anesthesia and went to find a vein for an IV they had a lot of trouble, poking him 7 times before they found a good one. They said his adenoids were very large. Claire's adenoidectomy and ear tubes took about 20-25 minutes also. They said her ears were pretty filled with fluid and mucus despite being on antibiotics for 3 months and that her adenoids were a little bit big, but not as big as Colin's. I had suspected as much.

When they wheeled Colin back to observation after his surgery, he was passed out, on his stomach... butt in the air. It took him a little while to come around to waking up and when he did he laid in my arms and chugged about 10 ounces of apple juice, his favorite.

When they wheeled Claire back to observation, the nurses had their hands on her because she was sitting up on the bed, eyes open and half smiling behind her pacifier when she saw us. They laughed when they brought her in and said, "We gave her the surgery, we swear!" Claire was not fully awake but she was not willing to lay down, sit still or be cuddled, and Shannon wrestled with her to get her to drink a few ounces of apple juice.

The nurse was impressed with them and said that most babies their age would be mad, crying, upset and even panicking. She said it was amazing that they both were so calm and basically happy, considering they were coming out of anesthesia. They told us that it went "beyond perfectly" for both of them.

They dismissed us, and we came home with two very awake babies who thought that the worst thing that happened to them in the first hours of the day were that no one had given them real food. So they promptly each ate half a container of blueberry yogurt and a whole piece of toast and then played and laughed for about an hour before taking a brief nap and getting up to play happily again.

They told us that we could probably expect them to sleep the rest of the day (False), and that they might also feel uncomfortable for about a day or so (Double False). They had a great day, with only a few moments of feeling not quite themselves. Colin kept trying to stick his fingers down his throat to get rid of whatever was uncomfortable, but they ate fine, played fine and were hardly even affected by the anesthesia.

My Mom took Adam for a ride and entertained him most of the day, she did laundry and played with everyone. I ran some errands and took a nap, and my Dad brought us barbecue for dinner. All in all, not a bad day.