Friday, March 25, 2011

He's better


Bennett's surgery was on March 8th and on March 17th he told me that he was all better. He didn't have any bumps in his throat making him sick. AWESOME!!!!!! Only 9 days!!!!!!

The whole experience was fairly underwhelming in the best possible way. I don't really know what my expectations were, but I did feel there would be lots of crying, lots of whining and lots of napping. What happened was there was a little crying (mostly at night when he woke up because his throat was dry), a little whining (mostly when I took the iPad away because he had played it for over an hour!) and no napping. I think he napped a total of 2 times and those 2 times were at 4:30 in the afternoon when he just couldn't fight it any more!

We scheduled the surgery to coincide with Spring Break. Claudia was off on Spring break for 2 weeks so the week of Bennett's surgery I only had Caden and Greysen and Harrison was at school Monday - Wednesday. His Spring Break started on Thursday. Wednesday (day after surgery) Caden had preschool and I thought Bennett would fight not being able to go but he was really ok. Thursday was another story and after Harrison's WONDERFUL conferences, I gave in and took Bennett to school for about an hour. He did just fine, but I was still glad I didn't let him go the whole time and be there without me. He was a little tired when we left and I think it would have been too much for him to be there the whole 2 1/2 hours.

The only real hiccup of the whole experience was the waking at night. We had a humidifier going in his room, but Bennett sleeps on his back and his throat would just get too dry. He woke up 7 nights straight about 2 times a night. He would cry and cry until we forced some Tylenol in him and got him to drink something. Then he would pass out from exhaustion. Eating could have been a problem, except that we just choose not care what he ate for 14 days. Chris and I talked about it and we decided that these 14 days would go by quickly and in the grand scheme of his long life it didn't matter what he consumed in this short amount of time. Bring on the jell-o and ice cream!!!! Turns out it didn't matter. The child is a pig! I don't know why he doesn't weigh 100 pounds. He enjoyed Jell-o, chicken and stars soup, and lots of Gatorade. He also did not give up on his obsession with Hunchy, Bontsy Boats (Honey Bunches of Oats). He didn't have them for breakfast on Wednesday, but everyday after that he gave them a try and by the weekend it either didn't hurt or he didn't care.

The week after his surgery was Spring Break and other than waking up at night it was tough to remember that he had just had his tonsils out. We went to Johnny's for a playdate, went to the zoo and saw penguins, went to a music concert to see Denise Forney perform and met up with Kari, Will and Cale at the St. Paddy's Day parade. So much for being sick and miserable for 14 days. Lucky kid (and mom)!!!!!!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Surgery


Bennett had his tonsils and adenoids taken out this morning and ear tubes put in. It has been an interesting day.

We have always noticed that Bennett breathes a little funny. You can hear him breath and when he is sitting (reading, watching tv, etc) he breathes really heavy. It has never been an issue that we have been concerned about. He doesn't tire easily from exercise and he is never wheezing or trying to catch his breath. He does snore louder than any normal human should and his mouth is almost constantly open.
Sooooo... at a doctor's appointment a couple of months ago, I asked his pediatrician about it. She said that it sounded like sleep apnea and referred us to an Ear-Nose-Throat doctor. We had heard the sleep apnea opinion before. I wasn't terribly worried or anything but I figured that his tonsils and adenoids were coming out.

We met with Dr. Schulte on February 16th and were in for a bit of a surprise. Not only were his tonsils and adenoids coming out, they were HUGE! His adenoids were so large that they were causing fluid to build up behind his ear drums which in turn was causing him to hear like he constantly had his fingers stuck in his ears. OMG!!! Dr. Schulte was a little surprised at my reaction when he told us that we were going to go the ear tube route as well as the tonsils/adenoids. Of the two procedures, the ear tubes are obviously the minor. But, did he not understand that for the past however many months (probably 6 - 8) my baby couldn't hear?!?!?! I was shocked and sad. Why, when Bennett said "What, I can't hear you?" hadn't I taken this as a clue that he actually couldn't hear me!!! It was probably because I mistakenly thought that his excessive waxy build-up in his ears was causing him to not be able to hear me, but I really felt very guilty and thought that I should have picked up on the real problem somehow. What was lucky for us was that the fluid behind his ears was not infected and was not getting infected terribly easily. He had a couple of ear infections in the last 4 months, but nothing really horrible.

That led us to surgery today. We have been preparing by telling Bennett that the doctor was going to fix his ears and throat. I don't know that he knew there was a problem with his ears and throat, but once we told him that they were going to get fixed he was all about drinking lots of juice the weekend before the surgery! We got up this morning and collected new Douglas (looooong story) and our doctor blanket (THANK YOU, Caden!) and off to the surgery center we went. Greg and Pam were with us and my mom met us there. Harrison got a ride to school from Mrs. Mathews and got to stop at Panera to get a bagel and orange juice ("The orange juice had PULP in it!!!!"). They didn't let us come back with him to fall asleep and there were a few tears on his side and mine, but Dr. Schulte said that he was very brave.

After surgery he woke up crying which is very common. They put him on my lap and he fussed for a couple of minutes and then slept for an hour. They discharged us with a few instructions and then we were home. The timeline was, 7:30am - arrival and check-in, 7:45am - pre-op and nurse visit, 8:35am - doctor consultation, 8:44am - stole my baby, 9:20am - gave my baby back, 10:35am - out the door. I still think it is crazy that the whole thing was so quick, even though from 8:44am to 9:20am time was standing still and my heart was cracking.

When we got home Bennett wanted his promised Jello for breakfast. It was 11:00am but I wasn't going to tell him that this was more like lunch. He was so excited for the rare "Jello for breakfast" treat! He then had some juice and I tried to give him some chicken noodle soup broth and some applesauce before giving him his tylenol with codeine, but he didn't really want any. So 20 minutes after I gave him the tylenol, I wasn't really all that surprised when he threw-up liquid all over me. His second dose of tylenol with codeine was preceded by a Go-gurt!

Other than that it has been a strangely normal afternoon. Bennett wouldn't take a nap so we watched a movie and then he followed Chris around while he did some chores and then we played a little catch and followed that with some Legos. Currently we are watching some cartoons and getting ready for bed. I hope the honeymoon period continues for the next 13 days!!!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Christmas in March

Not the best picture quality or correct time of year, but still pretty cute and funny!


Harrison's first Christmas - 2004


Harrison's second Christmas - 2005


Harrison's third Christmas - 2006


Bennett's first Christmas - 2007


Christmas 2008


Christmas 2009


Christmas 2010

Quotables

Sometimes I start a blog and then get interupted and have to come back to it. Sometimes I start a blog and forget that I started said blog and don't come back to it. There are about 5 of these in my blog box right now... This one was started on December 2nd.

Miles: I'm 2!
Harrison: I'm going to be 6 tomorrow. MOM! Oh my goodness! I am going to need two hands to count my age!

Harrison: Kids don't want to see adult movies because, like, they're deadly and vicious.

Harrison: When can I get a phone?

Bennett: I am thirsty. I am thirsty and hungry.
Caden: Bennett. Are you serious? We JUST had cupcakes!

Miles: Cake will make me feel better.

Miles: Beth, I'm getting big. Really big. Really, I'm huge.

Bennett: We are not going to play the iPad. I am just going to show you something because it is really cool. Do you know what really cool is?

Me: Bennett, what are you doing? (he's sitting on the couch with the play phone)
Bennett: I'm just playing Angry Birds on my phone.

Graysen and Annabelle: BA RA RA RA BA RA OOOHHHH LAAAAA (translation - Bad Romance by Lady Gaga) Soooo funny when they sing together in the car!!!!

These and so many others make my days wonderful.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Murray

Miles is a wonderer. He wants to know a lot of information and then when you tell him about it, he retains about 95% of the information. He has GREAT recall! Personally I think he is a genius but... :) Anyway, he often quizzes me on this information and this morning, Miles started out right away:

"Beth, you know Shakira?"

"Yes, Miles. I know Shakira."

"I love Shakira. I am going to see her in concert."

"Oh. Wow. That will be fun."

"She dances. I like the way she dances."

It is always like this. He wonders who I know that he knows and then he tells me about it. Soooo cute. About 15 minutes after the Shakira conversation we start again:

"Beth, you know Murray?"

"No, Miles. I don't. Who's Murray?"

"Oh? You don't? I do. Murray had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Murray had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow."

I am so happy I have been introduced to Murray!


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Sly

At dinner this evening I was telling the kids that I had enrolled them in Science Camp. Harrison would be going to Space Explorers and Bennett would be going to 3-2-1 Blastoff. Chris commented on the space theme by telling Harrison he could move on from his Air Force career to astronaut. He could go to the moon, visit Mars, meet aliens... Harrison said "There's no such thing as aliens." and continued eating. We were all silent for a couple seconds because there was a natural break in the conversation when Harrison said in a very sly voice and with great comedic timing "Or are there??"