Getting Ear Tubes
By Guest Blogger Tiffany Lazenby
The thought of my 13 month old being put to sleep no matter how minor the procedure might be, was simply horrifying. My oldest was never sick. I think he may have had one ear infection in his 13 years. This time around however was a whole new game.
I felt like such a hypocrite taking my sweet Ella to the doctor every other week; in some cases every week. (This may have to do with the fact that I binge watched “The Act” during this time.)The overwhelming feeling of guilt hit when waiting for the doctor to hopefully confirm my mommy instincts and explain why my sweet little baby turned into a tiny,angry,chubby North Korean dictator.
Half the time it was an ear infection. The other half it was standing fluid in her ears. Either way it was making Ella miserable and after several months the dreaded tubes conversation was brought up.
My husband was totally good with it. I on the other hand was not good with any of it. I had this nightmarish daydream of my poor sweet baby girl screaming on a cold sterile table and no mater how hard I tried I couldn’t get to her.
After some gentle coercing on my husbands part, I knew it was in my daughter best interest to meet with the ENT. After just a few minutes it was clear that allowing my baby to get tubes could stop any future discomfort and prevent ear infections.
The truth was, Ella was miserable and my husband and I were walking zombies with a constant IV drip of caffeine. If this could ease any of what my baby felt and allowed us some much needed rest I needed to suck up my nightmarish thoughts put my big girl panties on.
A week later we found ourselves entertaining our toddler in the waiting room of an outpatient facility. We were told Ella was the first on the list.
After being called back to pre op, Ella was weighed and given a fluffy teddy bear. When the moment came to pass my baby off and walk away I blinked away tears and walked as fast as I could to the waiting room.
In less then 15 minutes the doctor came out and told us she did perfectly. Moments later we were ushered to the screaming cries of our daughter. She was beyond irritated and expressed those feelings perfectly. We were told before hand that most toddlers respond this way. I felt like the crocodile hunter wrestling a tiny reptile.
Twenty minutes later we were in the car and on our way home. Ella cried most of the way but eventually fell asleep. As soon as we parked in the drive way she was wide awake. She ate a big breakfast followed by a decent nap.
She was back to herself in just a few hours. The whole procedure took less then 10 minutes. I couldn’t believe I had freaked out in anticipation of all this.
In the end it has helped with discomfort and she has not had an ear infection since. We had hoped it would prove to be magic tubes that made our baby sleep through the night. No such luck, but we do have a happy healthy baby.
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