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!!!
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