Monday, August 8, 2011

The Most Exhausting 10 Days of My Life

Well, the last 10 days have been rough. Not only for me and Robert, but especially Chase.  On July 29th, Chase had his tonsils and adnoids removed, along with getting a new set of tubes.  His old tubes just fell out and he had already started getting another ear infection the day before the surgery.  His tonsils were so large, doc said that if he ever got strep throat, it could be pretty serious, leading to blockage of his airway.  He also snored so loud; louder than his daddy at times. 

My mom went with us to the hospital.  She would have been worried sick otherwise.  Chase was first for surgery which was nice since he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 9pm the night before.  He got a dose of the loopy medicine and went back for a surgery that lasted approximately an hour.  We got to go back to recovery and he was already drinking apple juice and drifting in and out of sleep.  After the sleep wore off a little, he enjoyed watching Little Nemo on the DVD player and drinking and eating two popsicles.  They said he was doing the best out of all the kids, and we finally got to go home around noon.  That day, he slept a lot, but he didn't drink as much as he had in the hospital.

Over the next few days, we worried so much b/c he wouldn't hardly drink anything.  He wouldn't even eat ice cream. What kid doesn't like ice cream?  Apparently, mine.  He just became terrified of taking medicine as well, and he needed Tylenol and Codiene every 4-6 hours.  He fought the medicine so much, screaming as we had to hold him down.  It was hard to know how much he got and if it was hurting him by screaming so much.  He started sleeping in our room that night and would wake up every few hours and then be wide awake at 1 or 2 in the morning, really antsy for a few hours before finally going back to sleep.  Then, it led to me trying to trick him into going to the doctor/hospital at 3am Sunday morning if he wouldn't drink.  I drove around in my pj's and he was just in a pull-up.  We drove for about 30 minutes before he called my bluff and I had to go back home.  Over the next few days, he started to drink a little, but definitely needed his meds.  We even tried to give him Tylenol suppositories, but they didn't work as much as the codeine.  Robert, his Maw-maw, and his Mimi all took turns watching him during the day when I had to go to work.  I know now that if I have to do this again for the next kid, I will be taking 1-2 weeks off work for sure.  During his time home, he has become increasingly dependent on TV, watching Dora or Bubble Guppies.  Sometimes DVR is a bad thing, b/c it has allowed us to watch those shows at any time.  I have now seen more Dora than I ever care to in a lifetime.  On the other had, Bubble Guppies is still tolerable to me b/c I like the songs much better.  They are pretty catchy, especially the recycling song!

The last weekend, he has steadily improved. He has started eating more. Poor guy is getting so skinny.  I even had to buy smaller pull-ups b/c the others were getting too big and leaking too much. Potty training has gone out the window for the time being.  Today, Monday, is his first day without meds, and he did GREAT, especially for his daddy who took care of him all day.  He started getting tired around bedtime, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try to go back to his crib.  He'll be getting a big boy bed later this week, but I need some sleep in my bed NOW!  He cried a while during rocking/singing time, but settled down.  He then only cried about 3 minutes when I put him in the crib.  Much better than I had anticipated.  Now, if he sleeps through the night, that would be a miracle. 

We continue to thank all those who prayed for Chase during his surgery and recovery.  We'll go back to the doctor Thursday to make sure all is well, then back to day care on Friday.  I'm ready to get back into our routine for a little while, until Chase's little brother shows up in a couple of months. 

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