Charlie Gets Tubes In His Ears

Its been about a year now, that we've been dealing with Charlie's chronic ear infections. I really can't even remember the last time that he wasn't sick.

When we left Charlie with the babysitter, to go deliver his baby sister back in August, he had a double infection. I remember being nervous about how he'd react to us leaving him, since he was extra grumpy because of the pain, but- he did fine (for the most part). And then when Evelyn turned a month old, he started showing signs of another infection (gagging on anything he put into his mouth, laying his head on the floor- all the same things that he did with the previous infections). Finally, seeing how close together his infections really were, we got him in to see a new pediatrician, who sent him to an ENT, who scheduled a surgery to have tubes put into his ears right away.

That day was today.

Putting on his hospital gown

Since we currently don't have a vehicle (in case you missed it, Christopher got into an accident last week and wrecked the Van- hes ok btw), my good friend Carrie offered to take us to his appointment. Thank you Carrie! We were running late, and got there just 2 minutes before his scheduled surgery, but- we made it! They called us back as soon as we signed in, so... hope you're ready, kid!



A very nice nurse took us back into a chilly yet warm room, with a blue-ish sort of tint to it. Christopher's sweater, Charlie's pants, Lovey, the sheets, the gown- the way that the colors reflected off of the walls filled the air with an overall feeling of calmness. Kind of perfect, how it turned out that way.




Charlie was a champ, really. He shed a few tears, and said the words "go home" more than once. Surely he hated being in the cold room, with two socks on one foot, and strangers zooming in and out and about-



In between our distracting him with songs about his Loveys, (because we've gained a new one on top of the one that he already had) it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. I think somehow he had known that it was coming.



Before we knew it, Miss Debby came in, a friendly nurse with the very best smile, and said it was time to go. I kissed my baby goodbye, reminded him over and over again how much I loved him, and then followed him with my eyes as he rode on Debby's hip all the way down the hall, and around the corner into the Operating Room, both Loveys in arms.

I did my best not to cry, as he shouted "Bobby!", which really means "Mommy", as we were walking away.

We went into recovery room 2, a large space filled with rocking chairs and other mothers waiting on, or already holding their little ones- where we sat nervously, having conversations about nothing that made sense at all (to me at least), hoping to pass the time.

Soon, the doctor came out, and told us that he had put up a little bit of a fight (and that they had won, obviously), but the surgery was done and he'd be out soon. Thank goodness, bring me my baby!

About 15 minutes after we had originally taken our seats, out came my groggy little mini Sasquatch, wrapped up in a warm blanket, reaching for me, and quickly stealing the hearts of all of the nurses, and everyone else who happened to be in the room with us.



We rocked back and forth until it was time to go, not saying much, just enjoying the warmth from the blanket and each other. By the time we got home, he was back to his normal self, and ready to watch Space Puppies.

Our fingers are crossed in hopes of no more ear infections, and hey- hearing how things sound above the water (because hes been hearing things through walls of water), will probably be a nice change of pace for the kid.

You did great Charlie, we're proud of you.