Ear Tubes

The ear tubes are in!

Monday's surgery went very well. We got up at the crack of dawn to drive out there for our 6:30am appointment. It would figure that the ENT recommended most to us is clear across town, but that's how it goes with everything when you live in Greenwood, I suppose. We spent a fair amount of time waiting in the pre-op room, but David kept himself pretty well entertained bouncing back and forth on the bed. A few doctors came in to talk to us and then a couple nurses took him away and told us to wait in the waiting room....

I didn't even have enough time to get upset before the doctor came through the door to tell us everything went great. Seriously, we were sitting there maybe 15 minutes. They only used gas to put him under during the procedure so he was awake and ready for us pretty quick. He definitely wasn't happy and was probably confused about where the heck he was and what just happened, but we were just thrilled that all was well.

By 8:00am we were on our way home!

The morning was understandably a little moody, but by the afternoon he seemed perfectly happy and healthy. Tuesday he was literally a ball of joy. That kid was HAPPY!!  The daycare ladies even commented on how much they had been missing his goofy smiles. He's clearly feeling much, much better. Still not too into those bottles and we think he's just weaning himself, but it's a little early for that so we are sneaking them in as much as we can.

He's all over the place, talking up a storm, laughing and just being plain adorable.  We couldn't ask for more!  Let's just all hope they do their job and we are done with the constant doctor appointments, for just a little bit anyway. His follow up is in 2 weeks... 

myringotomy

Well, Mr. David is getting tubes (myringotomy is what the procedure is called). 

We had our ENT appointment on Wednesday. I made a detailed list before we left of all the dates of his ear infections and what medicines were used to treat it and how much. The doctor looked at it and said it was probably one giant ear infection that never healed. Since May!  Poor baby!!!  She then looked at his ears. One was “ok” and the other she took one gander inside, said “now this one is very bad” and immediately leapt into her speech about tubes.  We didn’t need much convincing and just like that surgery was scheduled for Monday morning.

He’s been pretty off and on since then. Running a fever, going from happy to cranky at the drop of a hat, not napping, not eating much and sleeping restlessly at night.  So yeah, Monday can’t get here soon enough.

I’ve been pretty anxious and haven’t been able to concentrate on much since then. I was ok with the thought of tubes and the surgery up until the point she said “tiny knife”. I don’t know why, but that part is really messing with my head. I know it’s routine and I know he’ll be fine, but I won’t be able to rest easy until it’s over and he’s healthy again.  I look forward to him feeling better, that’s for sure. We’ve noticed he isn’t babbling quite as much lately and she thinks the amount of gunk in his ears makes it sound like he's underwater so that may be the reason. I’m really looking forward to getting my chatty, happy dude back.

Wish us luck.

David is 10 Months Old!

Oh hey, 10 months, way to sneak up on us. Double digits, here we go!

I had to go back and read his 9 month update. So much has changed since then!!

First off, we are mobile. WAY mobile.  He started crawling shortly after he turned 9 months and hasn’t looked back since. He gets faster every day too and seems to be really loving his new found freedom.  His main objective is getting into the pets water dish because if we put him down, he immediately bee-lines right to it.  I pick it up and then inevitably one of the pets is sitting there whining or meowing for it to be put back down.  Fun times!

He just started pulling up last week.  He had to really work hard at first, but now he can pretty much pop up with the support of anything. His favorite spots are the back door, the gate we have blocking off the living room and his activity table, with honorable mention going to the dining room chairs, the pantry and Missy.  Once he’s standing I’ve noticed he likes to let go and stand on his own for several seconds at a time. When he’s done he plops right down on his behind, looks at us to make sure “it’s ok” and smiles so big!

9 months was also The Month Of The Ear Infection.  He’s had a constant ear infection for over a month now.  Three rounds of antibiotics of increasing intensity and it’s still going strong. I’ve had to leave work, work from home and take vacation more days than I can even believe. Luckily everyone has been very understanding. We have an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor on Wednesday and we are hoping for some answers.  It absolutely kills me to know that he’s been in pain for this long. He’s hardly drinking his bottles because it hurts and we are all getting really frustrated.  Despite all of this nonsense, he's still a pretty happy guy.  We are lucky!

Here's a little video of him on one of the days I had to leave work and go get him from daycare. I was told he was being a ball of woe and sorrow.  Hmm...

Even though he doesn’t want much to do with his bottles anymore he’s eating regular food like a pro!  We’ve pretty much moved on from baby food (as he now hates to be fed off a spoon) and have moved on to finger foods!  Banana is his current favorite. He also likes quesadillas, pasta, peas, blueberries, bread, squash and of course, Cheerios.  He eats whatever daycare makes for lunch and snack too (which is sometimes kind of crazy, like soup!) He loves to eat, that’s for sure!  We are still working on the sippy cup, but he will now take a few drinks if we hold it up for him. Progress!

As far as words, he’s definitely got “mama” and “dada” down and I’m pretty sure he says “dog” a lot too.  There are several other words we can tell he’s working really hard at too. I'm pretty sure it might be "No, Missy", "Knock it off, Ted" or "George, get out of here."

Next up? Family pictures, first haircut (gasp! sob! whimper.) and lots of mommy and David time as football season gets in to gear! We have Nebraska season tickets and Zach scored a job with the Chiefs so I've got my work cut out for me, making this kid into a football fan!