3 ounces lighter

We are home from Emmy's surgery and everyone made it through it with flying colors! I was really worried about the poor little man because his surgery was scheduled for 2:30pm with him having to stop eating food midnight the night before. Luckily he could drink apple juice until 10:30, so that helped a little. But by 10 he was crying and letting us know that he was really hungry. But as soon as we got in the car to head up to Primary Children's Hospital in SLC, he fell asleep and forgot all about his tummy talking.


Once we got there, the toys in the waiting room and all the colorful murals everywhere were enough to cheer anyone up! And back in the exam room, we were still able to find fun things to do.

It was once we got to the pre-op waiting room when things got a little tougher. There were lots of toys, and after a while there were even other kids there to play with, but his 2:30 surgery was delayed until after 5:00 because of emergencies and a temporary power shortage. That's a long time for a little guy to wait for food and drink! We walked all around that second floor looking at the balls and kites on the carpet, the dinosaur themed fish tank in the hallway, and guessing which elevator would be the next to open. (the elephant one was the most frequently opened one, while the hot air balloon only opened once - just a random fact we collected in our waiting time)

Once he finally got to go back, the surgery itself only took about 35 minutes. When the doctor came to talk to me he said that his tonsils were really swollen and pus filled, and that it was probably good that we had them, even if it doesn't stop the fevers. But our fingers are still crossed that we have seen the last of these fevers and the seizures that come with them!

He woke up in the recovery room in a lot of pain, so they gave him some morphine and it knocked him out again for a couple of hours. This is him right after surgery - baby and blanket both got to go through surgery with him! Even with a swollen face and bloody lips, he's still a cutie!

He started out in a crib, but once he started waking up and it was almost time for an actual bedtime, they wheeled a hospital bed in for he and I to share through the night.

He stayed hooked up to an IV all night, and every time he started waking up, I had to keep him from yanking on it. He really wanted it out! He would tell me "ouch", then kiss the top of his hand trying to make it better...so sad! He would also point to his mouth and whisper "Ouch". I just kissed him and told him I understood, and that seemed to help him a little. That and the Loritab he was on every 4 hours. I learned the hard way last night the importance of keeping him on that medicine schedule. It might seem like a good idea to let him blissfully sleep, but skipping a scheduled dose only leads to a lot of weeping and wailing!

While we were there, a boy scout troop brought a box of quilts they donated to the hospital, and then the nurses handed them out the kids. Emmy got a Curious George one. He calls it "oo oo aah aah, hat"

He had drank a cup of juice last night, so he was released this morning. But so far, he hasn't drank anything since then. I tried everything we had here in the house: apple juice, grape juice, Gatorade, pudding, jell-o, Popsicles, ice cream, root beer. Nothings going down. So the boys and I took him out to Sonic for a smoothie while Tig was at a late-over. He took a few sips of that, but more of it was spilt on his pants than actually went down!

He came through this so well! He is such an easy going little guy, and even in this picture, he has a fever of almost 102, hasn't had anything in his tummy for over 24 hours and is still smiling and ready to say cheese for the camera!

As for me, it wasn't as hard on my side of the OR wall either. I have absolutely wonderful friends who stepped in and took care of the older three while we were gone, and I didn't have to worry one bit about them the whole time. The hospital we were at is phenomenal - one lady in the waiting room with us had driven 10 hours from Montana so her some could have exploratory throat surgery done...10 hours! And I don't know if it was the prayers that were sent up in our behalf, or if Heavenly Father bolstered me up and gave me strength I didn't really have, or maybe I'm stronger than I think, but I didn't cry at all yesterday. I thought I would for sure when I had to hand my baby off to the doctor and they take them away crying and reaching for me. I cried when they did that with Teagan's surgeries. And I even had to do this twice yesterday with Emmy because after they took him the first time the power surged and the hospital went on generators, and they didn't want to start surgery until the power was restored, so they brought him back to me. Twenty minutes later we had to do the whole scene again with the anesthesiologist taking him away crying. But I didn't cry. I was sad to hear him so sad, but I could hear her talking to him about the balls on the floor and the starfish on the ceiling, and I knew it would be okay. And it was. It was nice not to waste extra energy on worrying about the what-ifs.

A tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy seem like such a run-of-the-mill types of surgeries. One you hear about and think, "oh, that one of the easy ones." And for the doctor it is, I think. Being in the mom's seat, it seems so much bigger than when I think of other people getting their kids tonsils out. To a point it was a big thing - he's so little still, and it was a major surgery, but I can also say that it was a routine surgery that went textbook. And boy am I glad! Thanks, everyone for the prayers and the good thoughts and the help ~ they worked!