Bilateral Myringotomy and other fun facts...

Well, our sweet baby got her ear tubes today. After months of trying all sorts of homeopathic remedies including chiropractic, massage, essential oil massages, garlic oil drops and not to mention antibiotics, we lost the ear fluid fight. While she didn't have a lot of infections, she has had chronic fluid in both ears off and on, and when we did her hearing test and noted it was not up to par...medical science had to step in. I didn't want to do it. But, now I feel and hope it has really helped her! Maybe it's just our imagination in a parents hopeful view, but Norm and I both commented on how she seemed to be walking straighter today! Not like the drunken sailor of past weeks. The surgery was quick. I mean, 7 minutes quick. Which was surprising. We barely had time to make it to the waiting room and open our magazine before they were calling us back saying she was finished! I surprised myself by not crying. One of the ladies I work with had warned me that the shot of seeing your little one strapped to a gurney and being wheeled away would bring you to your knees...but, luckily at this facility, they didn't do that! The nurse came in with a nice warm blanket, wrapped her up in it along with her passy and favorite lovey (cuddles) and took her quickly to the O.R...so we didn't get to see any of the gruesome stuff like anesthesia being applied or anything! Whew! She didn't even fuss when they took her back! Coming out of the anesthesia was a different story. She was definitely cranky. We got to give her a little drink and rock her, yes, this facility had their own little rocking chairs in each recovery room! How thoughtful is that?? She cried quite a bit, but finally calmed down when the nurse and Norm left to go move the van. I think she kept thinking the nurse was going to take her away again. ; ) But, once they left, she just quieted down and laid her head on my shoulder. It was sweet. The ride home she was pretty quiet, dozing off, and once we got home she took a 4 hour nap. Mommy took one too, as I was tired from my 4:30 a.m. waking time! After her nap, she's back to her sweet happy self. Playing, eating and talking. It was funny, I wonder now that all the gunk is out of her ears is her hearing that much better? It seems to be...when she was waking up from her nap, she kept talking to herself and giggling, like it was really cool to really be hearing her own voice as it should be. What a sweet baby. And brave girl! We go back for her checkup next Friday. Just have to be careful to keep water out of her ears at bathtime, and then when swim season hits she'll have to wear ear plugs or a special headband to keep the water out. Hopefully all will go well, and she'll keep getting better. I can only imagine how good it must feel to finally have all the gunk out of her ears! Thanks to everyone for all their positive thoughts!!