Tubes

Sebastian had his first surgery on Wednesday, March 20.  Poor little guy had to have surgery to put tubes in his ears at 19 1/2 months.  He's had 5 ear infections since October and it seemed like he spent more time with a cold than healthy this winter/cold season.

I get my OWN TV screen?!  Bring on the Mickey & Jake!

Even for babies and toddlers, they make you fast prior to surgery, but the positive side is that we were the first operation of the day!  We had to check in at 6:15 and Seb wasn't too happy about the super early wake up call.  We checked into the outpatient surgery center, so it wasn't just kids.  There were a ton of nurses buzzing around getting all of the various patients prepped, and Sebastian was quite popular with them.  At one point we heard, "Shelly has a baby, don't take him back to the ER yet, keep him here!"  He had his own crib and the cutest little tiny hospital gown that was so huge on him it looked like he was wearing a dress.  There was even a little TV screen on an arm so he could watch cartoons while he was being prepped.  He got a little nervous, but I couldn't blame him, it's a lot to take in at 7am on an empty stomach.  He had a couple nurses, an anesthesiologist, and the surgeon all poking, prodding, and prepping him.

Why do they keep poking and prodding me?

Towards the very end he got an oral sedative.  He fought it for a little bit, but once it kicked in, he was a little drunken baby.  He was so happy and would laugh and laugh at any and everything.  He had the biggest wobbly smile for every single person he saw, and it made it a piece of cake when the nurse and anesthesiologist walked off with him to the OR.

Happy drugged up baby!

All in all, the prep took longer than the procedure.  After they escorted him back we went into the general waiting room.  We were there for about 17 minutes before the surgeon came back out to talk to us and tell us how things went and give us a post-op update.  Less than 25 minutes after they first walked back to the OR and we were with him as he woke up (very angry) from his procedure.  It's right on par with what the ENT told us.  Total time for the whole process is about 10 minutes and they're usually only under for about 5-6 minutes.  We tried to calm him down, dressed him and were home by 10:30.

It took Seb until dinner time to return to normal.  The anesthesia made him pretty grumpy all day.  He needed two really long naps and lots of cuddles.  At first he had an angry phase, then a clingy phase, and the whole time he was really, really sleepy.  Thankfully he didn't get sick from the anesthesia - just a little constipated.  We're dealing with ear drops right now and he hates them, but thankfully there are only a few more days to go.  It's too early to notice any real benefits, but for the most part he's been sleeping really good.  It seems like his balance is slightly improved and there's a LOT of babbling going on (he even said "i-pad" twice on Saturday night).  I'm really hoping he can finally hear clearly and the increased babbling will lead to talking.  We have a speech evaluation on Thursday, so we'll see what comes from that.  Words, buddy, Mama wants to hear you use your words!