Bluebonnets + Blue Bell: Tubes-Day

Last week was one of those stressful ones - Jeremy and I were both busy with work, and Sawyer was sick the majority of the week (and missed Halloween!), and he had ear tubes put in last Friday. Thankfully we had a restful weekend and things were back to normal this week.

Two weeks ago I picked Sawyer up early from school with a slight fever, plus a runny nose and just that normal gunk that happens during the fall and winter. Sunday morning I noticed red dots all over the palms of his hands and around his feet, spreading up his arms and legs. I had a hunch, and Dr. Google confirmed what I thought - hand foot mouth disease. Yuck! (Sidenote: I don't recommend scrolling through Babycenter.com's pictures of different rashes if you have a weak stomach.) Sawyer was pretty fussy so we thought getting out for a drive (and watching Cars) might help, but he ended up even fussier. We stopped by Lolly & Pop's for some ice cream (they can get sores in their throat so I thought that might help) but he just wasn't feeling well, so we took him by an urgent care clinic just to verify that it was HFMD. They were so nice and didn't even have us check in (maybe due to the screaming baby) and sent a nurse out to check him out. Yes, it was HFMD. Some Advil helped a little and then two mom friends saved my night - Ashley and Melanie have both been through this and recommended a magical medicinal cocktail to soothe the pain, coat his throat, and make him loopy enough to not feel bad. Thank you, friends!

Lolly kept Sawyer Monday, so he didn't have to go to school and so we could work, and Tuesday, her normal day. Monday we were supposed to get Sawyer dressed up in his Ewok costume and go to the Fall Festival at HFBC, and I was so sad to miss it! We didn't even dress him up or have any trick-or-treaters. In fact, Sawyer went to bed early, we ordered pizza and Jeremy worked. How exciting. Tuesday afternoon we took him to the pediatrician just to see if he could return to school Wednesday, and to make sure this thing wouldn't affect his ear tube surgery at the end of the week. Sawyer has had fluid in his ears since August, and we recently had his hearing tested and it showed some (temporary) impairment, so this surgery was going to happen! Sawyer was cleared for school but we found out in addition to HFMD he had another ear infection!!!! Are you kidding me? No wonder we weren't getting much sleep at night! But even with the infection, he was still good for getting tubes.

I stayed home with him on Wednesday - we just didn't want him picking up any more germs at school and getting sick before surgery, and my mom kept him on Thursday. I think we made the right decision because I got an email from his school Thursday notifying us of a strep outbreak in class.

We finally made it to Friday morning - tube day! Sawyer could have clear liquids (juice or water) from 12:30am to 6:30am, and then nothing after. He woke up about 10pm and I gave him some milk, but luckily he didn't wake up again until the morning. He's not a huge breakfast eater, so he actually never asked for anything or seemed to care about not having eaten. The surgery was at Texas Children's and he was pretty happy playing with all the toys in the huge waiting room. We had to keep getting pulled away to meet with the billing people, a nurse to take his vitals, then the nurse practitioner, then the doctor, then the anesthesiologist. It was nice to meet everyone though! Sawyer can tend to be very clingy to me in new places, so I was really anxious about when they'd have to take him away from me but they promised it would be a quick few minutes before he was under general anesthesia. Now whenever I warn someone about him screaming, he never does it, and same thing this time. The nurse came to take him back, I wrapped him in his blanket, kissed him and handed him over and he just let them walk away. I think he was starting to get hungry and sleepy and wasn't in the mood for a fight.

Surgery took maybe 15 minutes and then we were called back to see him in recovery. I could hear him crying when we walked in, but grumpiness was to be expected. I held him in a rocking chair and we got him apple juice (so happy!) and some Tylenol (happy mom!). Jeremy left so my mom could come back and see him, and after his doctor came by to see us, we were headed out the door! I think we were at the hospital for maybe 3 hours. We got home, put on Cars, snuggled on the couch with Lolly and ate some goldfish. Sawyer seemed fine with the food on his stomach - hungry even! - so my mom brought him a Happy Meal and I have never seen him eat so fast. He took his normal nap and then he was completely back to normal - happy, running, playing, talking. It was great to see him feeling so well! We had to give him ear drops three times a day for three days, so by this Monday he was back in school and done with any medicine from the procedure. Everyone I talk to raves about the difference in health before and after tubes, so I am really hoping this helps a lot over the winter.

Here are some pictures from Friday morning: