We had another first this past Wednesday. Avery and Elias had surgery. Since they share some 98% of their DNA they both needed their tonsils and adenoids out. This is something we have known was a possibility for about a year and tried to fend it off numerous ways. We started with speech and saw huge improvements, added in physical therapy and saw even more improvements, threw in some chiropractor and again major improvement but then we seemed to stall out. The boys were having a hard time supporting certain sounds in speech because they couldn't get enough breath support to make the noise. Our pediatrician also noticed their top jaw had stopped growing because they never breathed through their noses so their mouth was always open. After a consult with an ENT that lasted all of 10 mins it became obvious that the tonsils needed to be out sooner rather than later. They were touching!! We debated on if we should do surgeries both the same day or two different days and decided that back to back was the way to go. So August 14th was set and we were checking off the days.
A fun fact I learned while checking the boys in, all surgeries by our surgeon were scheduled according to reverse birth order, so Elias was scheduled first. Here they are getting checked in and watching a movie while waiting.
I can't believe how fast surgery went! Elias was in and the doc was talking to us in about 35 mins and Avery was about the same. Jason and I had packed all kinds of things to do that day and in reality we only had about 10 mins without kids the whole day. I was able to hold each boy in a big bear hug as they were put under and give them one last kiss. I thought that would be the scariest part of the day but in reality that was the easiest part of my day. The anesthesiologist was fabulous and told me exactly what to expect and had Jake and the Neverland Pirate stickers for the boys. They were excited! The nurse that was going to be helping with the surgery leaned over and informed me that she had twins too. It's always nice to know someone is in your court when it comes to your kids. I was so at peace the whole time, anyone that knows me knows I am not a fan of hospitals so all of the prayers and warm thoughts that day worked! I haven't been that relaxed in a hospital setting ever!
While I was busy helping with getting Avery situated and put under Jason got called back to hold Elias. Unfortunately for him but fortunately for me Elias only wanted to snuggle with me so I got a fast track ticket to the back to snuggle Elias. He immediately passed out and slept restlessly with an ice pack on his throat. After he was deemed stable and had proven he could swallow we got moved down the hall but not before the hardest part of my day. Because we had kids recovering we got to seem them before they were moved to a more hospital room setting. This is great when you only have one kid but not so much fun when you have two. Because there was only a curtain separating us I had the terrible experience of listening to Avery come out of the operating room. The nurses did warn me and I'll spare you the details but it took everything I had not to rip down the curtain and scoop up my baby. They did assure me he wouldn't remember anything but I will. Poor kid.
Avery is quickly passed off to Jason and calmed down. Thank God for awesome nurses that know what to do to get everyone situated and comfortable quickly. Jason and Avery got to hang for a while until he was deemed stable and then moved across the hall from Elias and I. Elias at that point starting asking for chicken nuggets so we were given the green light to go home. Avery at that point decided to give us some fun and dropped his stats. He got a cool oxygen mask for a while but luckily he pulled it together and was able to get discharged shortly after.
The nurse suggested I bring Elias home first because we live so close to the hospital and he was doing so good so that is what I did, while Avery was still ok to go home they wanted him a little more alert just to make sure everything was ok. They rolled Elias out in a pint sized wheelchair that was so cute. I got him situated in Mimi's arms and went off to pick up Avery. By the time I got back Avery had perked up and was really ready to go so we busted out of there. Elias was home before nap and Avery was home just after nap. We didn't miss a beat!
Avery got carried out by dad so he didn't get a cool wheelchair ride but he was happy just to be in dad's arms so we went with it. Each kid got balloons and stickers so they were happy.
The first night was super rough. Apparently my boys get nausea from the meds and were really sick the first night (something I was not expecting) but after we got pain under control and hit the 24 hour mark we have slowly been making progress. We are already noticing a clarity in speech and Elias's sense of smell seems to have been awakened. He notices the smell of everything now!
The will of a 3 year old that is in pain and doesn't want to take meds will test anyone's patience. We have a wide variety of flavors and incentives for drinking medicine. Right now white Motrin wins hands down as the favorite followed by grape tylenol and getting to push the play button on the DVD remote are driving factors to getting the meds in. As long as the meds stay current they are for the most part acting like nothing happened. Here's to keeping them from jumping and running for 2 weeks, doc's orders (yeah right)!!
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