See, my biggest issue is that Britton is used to going to daycare at 7:00 am with a bowl of fruit and a sippy cup of half juice/half water, and I didn't want her inability to have anything to cause her a major meltdown. With her scheduled time of 9:25 am she was allowed to have food up until 2:25 am, and water and "clear liquids" until 6:25 am. This of course put us in the tricky position of deciding if it was worth waking her up at 6:25 am to have a drink, knowing she wasn't going to be allowed to keep that drink.
We decided it wasn't. The lady from the hospital suggested that we could wake her at 2:25 am for a snack, but apparently she doesn't have a seventeen-month-old as that was an absolutely ludicrous suggestion. Yeah, wake her up in the middle of the night to EAT, then expect her to just go back to bed with a kiss goodnight. So we decided to let her sleep in as late as she would (7:15!), dress her, then throw her into the car and head out. Hanging out at the house would inevitably lead to her sauntering over to the fridge for some breakfast treats.
We arrived early and got prepped, which really just entailed Britton changing her shirt into the baby hospital gown. Does it not just break your heart that they have gowns this little? We played in the "game room" waiting room, chock full of toys and even more full of nervous parents and hungry/thirsty kids. Twenty minutes early I was led to a pre-op room with Britton while the hub was directed to the waiting room, as per the hospital's policy of allowing only one parent to hang out before surgery. Britton had to get "giggle juice" (their term, not mine) which is an anesthesia spray up the nose, which causes the child to become "drunk" (again, their term). Britton was not a fan of the spray and coughed and gagged on it, all while giving me the "why would you hurt me?" eyes. We played with the OR's Dora the Explorer toy while Britton did give in to the anesthesia. She looked slightly drunk and downright giddy. She was escorted out by the nurse, and dang it all if that girl didn't even say bye to me, as by then she didn't really know what was going on or care.
It was no more than ten minutes later, and we were being updated by her ENT that the tubes were successful, there was a lot of fluid behind her eardrums, and that she would be ready to go home in about thirty minutes. Finally someone came to get us and took us back to the recovery room. Poor Britton, all hung over and ornery, was attempting to eat a popsicle but not enjoying the cold temperature of it at all. She refused to hold it by the stick, then refused the popsicle all together, and finally in a downward spiral just melted into a crying mess. Frankly, I can't blame her. The recovery room smelled of that distinct "hospital" smell, it wasn't exactly a cheery experience to begin with being a children's hospital and all, and that poor girl just wanted some apple juice and cheesy eggs stat. We got our discharge instructions after the nurse finally noticed that I was packing up to leave with or without the instructions. We changed Britton into her own shirt, collected all the stuff we dragged there (toys, Winnie, blankie, etc) and headed to the parking garage to go home.
We were warned that her tummy might be upset, she may run a fever, and a host of other side effects, but so far (knock on wood) Britton has been her normal self. Except for one huge difference - her pronunciation has already improved! You know why? She can finally hear well without all that fluid behind her eardrums! For instance, "abble" became "apple" the minute we got home. So, we're taking it easy this weekend, going out to the park tomorrow morning and staying close to home for the rest of the day. And just celebrating that my little girl, who has had TWO tube surgeries, is on the way to fantastically healthy ears.
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