Bye-bye tonsils

 In July, we visited an ENT at the recommendation of our Pediatrician's office because Evie was snoring a lot.  While this was somewhat cute, the stopping of breathing and waking constantly through the night was not.  Like the night I awoke to the little fuzzy headed one saying "Mommy, I just swallowed my throat." :(  We observed her struggling to swallow food from time to time as well.  So, Dr. Vander Ark (who is AWESOME by the way, I highly recommend) stated that while she wasn't to the point that they "had" to come out, he strongly suggested doing so.  Evie's surgery was therefore scheduled for Wednesday, August 24th.  This past Tuesday, I received a call telling us to be at the West Shore Surgery Center at 8:15 a.m.  Amazingly, we got there on time, nerves, hungry and thirsty child, and all.  We were registered, and back in the preoperative area by 9:00 a.m.

She thought the gown was pretty cool.
The "floppy socks" too.

 The nurse came in to check blood pressure, pulse ox, etc.  Evie was a brave little one, but tears threatened, she's old enough to know something big was going on.  Another nurse came, announcing that she was Evie's nurse, and Evie's alone from now on. The kiddo loved that one.  She got to smell three different tubes of fruit smells and choose one to "paint" the inside of the mask.  While this was going on, the Anesthesiologist asked Mommy a bunch of questions.  After both things were completed, the Anesthesiologist, showing this wasn't his first rodeo as my Husband said, quickly got us to give hugs, kisses, and got Evie moving with the nurse.  It was heart breaking and adorable all at the same time to see my little Brave One holding the nurse's hand, holding Lamby in the other, and walking along trying with all her might to stay calm and not cry.  Mommy and Daddy had the same difficulty.  And we didn't have a Lamby.  Although, the sight of my big strong hubby holding Evie's baby doll in her bassinet was pretty darn cute in it's own right.  

We were informed it would take about an hour.  We went downstairs for coffee, to stretch our legs, and for Mark to bring up a tear-jerker video on his iPhone.  Seriously.  Like we needed to watch the latest inspirational running video of the favored runner who blows his hamstring and is helped to "run" the race by his Dad.  There we stand, two idiots, crying in the hallway of a surgery center.  A woman stopped to ask if we were okay, we said yes, quite sheepishly.

We walked back upstairs and within a minute, the surgeon was out to talk to us.  Dr. Vander Ark said she did very well, her tonsils and adenoids were HUGE.  He expected her recovery to go normally, there were no complications during the surgery.  A few minutes after that, a nurse collected us to go to Evie in the recovery area.  She was just coming out of the anesthesia, poor thing.  I got to hold her and rock her like she was a baby again.  There was a little crying, but mostly rubbing of the nose.  On me and my shirt. That's okay, I'm fine being Mommy/tissue.  She took in an entire crushed up Popsicle fed to her on a spoon by Daddy, and then started sipping apple juice.  The sleepy head wanted to lay back down then.

Sleepy Peanut Head

 The only black mark of the time at the Surgery Center came now.  When they took us back to the recovery area, it was about 10:20 a.m. and they said she had only been there about 7 minutes.  About 15 minutes after we got to the PACU, they asked if we were ready to take her home.  Excuse me?!  She's just coming out of it, she's just had surgery, and you're trying to kick us out? I was not happy, but at that point, we figured we'd get her home to more rest, hugs, and kisses.  Besides, she got to sleep in the car on the way home.

 The ride home was pretty uneventful, she was still under the spell of the anesthesia, so Mommy just tried to keep her head from flopping around too much.  I also took this time to text everyone who requested it an update and to do a twitter/facebook post for those other interested parties.  I will say that at this point my stomach was still in knots, now because I knew what lay ahead.  The biggest worry for itty bitties recuperating from tonsillectomy is dehydration.  Having had my tonsils removed at the age of 12, I knew she might not be up for swallowing, but I certainly did not want to have to take her to hospital for IV solutions.  Things started out pretty well at home on that front.

Lamby even got a taste of the popsicle.
Thankfully, Lamby can go in the washing machine.

 My hope setting her up on the couch was she could have a lot of distraction, TV, crafts, puzzles, but would hopefully rest when she was tired enough.  Turned out, she just thought the TV on so much was so cool, I had to take her upstairs to get her to sleep.  Daddy stayed with her, to, ahem, keep an eye on her.  I also stayed upstairs (and awake) to keep a watchful eye.

My Big "Kid" and Little One napping
after the big morning

 Things went pretty well, she ate about 3 popsicles in succession when we got home, drank a respectable amount, and rested for a good two hours.  My Mother In Law sent up a delicious dinner that arrived during her nap, so Mommy and Daddy got in dinner without feeling too guilty.  We went up to get her around 5:15, to try to get some pain meds in and see if she wanted anything soft to eat.  After bringing her back to the couch, she seemed a little off, so we started small with Gatorade and a popsicle.  While sitting and reading to her, Daddy suddenly jumped up, gave us kisses, and grabbed his book bag.  We had forgotten his new graduate school class started that night. Oops.  Good thing he got that nap.  20 minutes after he left, things went downhill.  Evie threw up (no blood thank goodness), and was not happy in the least.  I got her calmed down and cleaned up, threw away the eggs I had been cooking for her, and settled with her back on the couch.  She wanted to sit by herself and try to calm down, but wanted to be at the ready since her little tummy still wasn't feeling settled.

Poor Baby.

 We had one more round of that, and then Mommy put us both to bed.  It took a little while to get settled, as we played Goldilocks.  First we tried getting her comfy in her bed, she didn't like that.  We discussed Mommy and Daddy's bed (Mommy's preference at this point), but ultimately, she decided that the guest bed was the place to be.  So, armed with water, tissues, her white noise machine, the just-in-case bin, and Lamby (of course).  We climbed into bed and fell asleep.  For about one half hour.  Then started the semi-wakeful crying out.  When she did it around midnight, I could feel the fever.  So, I went for the prescribed Hydrocodone, thinking it would bring down the fever and help with pain.  Did you ever try to get a three year old to take a medication in the middle of the night that she didn't want to take because of the taste? No? Yeah, I don't recommend the experience.  Especially when your goal is to make them more comfortable and way less miserable.  So, back down the steps I went for the "cherry medicine" (acetaminophen).  I got that on-board and after a potty trip, she announces she wants to wake up Daddy, get a hug, and then go back to sleep in our bed.  Mommy was feeling just a bit vengeful, so she allowed this.  Daddy didn't mind.

After all of that, we all got 6 hours of sleep. Not too shabby.  At 6:30 another attempt to get the hydrocodone in failed, so we went with acetaminophen and the plan to dose her every four hours with that.  She was pretty hungry now, so I offered to make scrambled eggs. That went over surprisingly well.

She actually ate about half...I was surprised and happy!

 So, we're just about to noon-time on day one post surgery and things are going well.  Our morning was full of crafts, puzzles, a get-well card in the mail from "Bop" (my Mom), and lots and lots of Disney Channel.

Bop's card brought a BIG smile

Those foam thingies are pretty cool.
Mommy might have to play later.

The box says ages 6+. Clearly, they haven't met my kid.

Currently, she's asleep on the couch, she lost steam during her second puzzle.  I promised her it would be there waiting, so she gave in.  Well, that and the latest dose of "cherry medicine" at work.  I pray that her recovery continues on the upswing.  I hate that she has to go through this, but loving our quality time together.  

The second puzzle awaits the princess awakening.

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin

I made a realization tonight.  Well, to be more accurate, I made a realization about a realization/decision.  Let me back up.  About two years ago I had to fire a volunteer.  Yes, you can do that.  However, I did it rather poorly.  It was awful.  The main problem was I didn't deal with the issues as they arose, so in the end, the firing was one of the worst professional moments of my life.  After that, I told myself from here on out, I'd make the tough decisions and deal with the issues in the beginning, as they showed themselves.  I've stuck to that, to the point of having to give myself pep talks reminding me of this decision/realization.  I was/am so proud of myself, can't you tell!

Fast forward to tonight.  As previously stated, we read to Evie every night.  Tonight her selections were all Little Golden Books (love those)  First was Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.  Second, Animals at the Zoo, and finally, The Three Little Pigs (1933 Disney version).  We get to the final story, and as I am reading I recognize that the "realization" I made two years ago was actually a lesson I learned when I was probably about Evie's age.  What's that book?  Everything I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten?  4 years undergrad, 3 years graduate, I hold an MS in Management...and apparently all I needed to effectively manage was to remember the oldest pig's motto of hard work paying off.  Yeah, yeah, yeah...build the house of bricks, no wolf can get in.  There's also the children's story about an ant and a cricket, one prepares for the coming winter, one doesn't  I think we all know what happens to the lazy one.  But what about the dense 30 something?  I learned from the Three Little Pigs throughout my life: straighten up after you play, makes for lighter cleaning later; study every day so you don't have to cram in later and fail the test; clean as you go while cooking; etc.  But, as I grew older and tried to be a "grown-up", I forgot the basics.  So, once again, thank you to my Little Peanut for reminding me of the important lessons in life.

Sewing Chronicles

Over the past 8 years, I've sewed.  The first four, rather sporadically, the last four - pretty regularly.  Of course, that 3 1/2 year old munchkin has a lot to do with it.  At the risk of sounding egotistical, I've gotten pretty darn good.  I've received compliments on items I'm wearing or Evie's wearing that I made, and those giving it did not know it was of the homemade variety.  I even made a bassinet for the Bitty Baby, quilted fabric, boning, ruffles, and all.

I have only been defeated by one type of sewing.  The Costumes.  Seriously.  I know people who say they'll sew costumes only, but won't go for any of the "tough stuff" like making clothes for themselves or their children.  I do not understand them.  Clothing might be challenging from time to time, but never the hair pulling, swearing, and yes, even crying trying to sew a stupid costume elicits from yours truly. Two years ago I started out to make Evie a bunny costume.  I got about 1/4 of the way in and called in my Aunt who's AMAZING with sewing, crocheting, knitting...you name it.  Of course, with her, my Mom's, and my work it came out adorable.  Like the good Mom/Aunts they are, I still ended up doing it, with lessons learned and help given.  But I still got to say I made it.

Fast forward to now.  I took on a gold brocade fabric to make Evie a "Princess Dress."  She did not ask for a Princess Dress.  I thought we had been invited to a Princess Brunch and since there are no Princess type outfits in this house, well, to JoAnn Fabrics I went.  The Princess Brunch turned into a breakfast party, no theme.  But, I had begun the work, so Gold Princess Dress for Halloween it is!  To appease my cool kid, I must amend that statement to say "Pirate Princess Dress."  Love her.  But, I digress...even further.  SO, I've been working on and off on this thing and I'm done now.  The dress is not finished, but I'm DONE.  D. O. N. E.   The fabric frays everywhere, the petticoat netting is longer than my sewing room, and the darn thread keeps breaking.  Ever since I've started this whole running thing, I have a new mantra which goes something like "Oh heck no, I'm FINISHING this" Applies to a lot.  It also has stronger language when I'm muttering it to myself.

We all know what's really going to happen here, right?  As soon as I'm done with this blog, I'm calling my Mommy.  And my Aunt.  Then, after the costume is done, I'm going back to dresses, skirts, Bitty Baby Clothing, matching outfits for Evie and Bitty Baby, PJs for the family....but NO COSTUMES.

So much to (re)learn

When Evie was first born, and I discovered this whole blogging thing, I went on a crash course to learn as much as I could.  I read other blogs, I learned HTML or whatever it was I had to do to do "strike through."  I probably drove Manic Mommy nuts with questions.  But, I became pretty comfortable and apparently had a lot to say.  After a 2-3 year hiatus, I'm having a bit of difficulty getting back into the swing of things!  My brain is wired for 140 characters, I actually think in status updates from time to time.  Given my true nature of story telling and talking one's ears off, I think it shouldn't be too long until I'm back to long winded diatribes about whatever occurs to me on any given day.  I know. You're all on the edge of your seats.  I have noticed that in the interim, Blogger has gotten a lot more user friendly.  So to that, I'm making the pledge to blog at least once per week.  I think that's a nice low ambition to begin with.  I think this is my second this week already, so I'm exceeding expectations.  Love it when I can excel like that...