Our Brave Little Boy

So yesterday was the big day, Bradley's ear tube surgery. Dan and I were both a little nervous the night before even though we knew it was a simple, routine procedure. I think what worried me the most was the anesthesia part of it. But Bradley has had so many issues with his ears we knew this was the only solution to give our little guy some relief. And maybe mommy and daddy too in the form of better sleep.

We were told to arrive at the surgery center at 9:00 am and of course right when we pulled out of the garage it started pouring. Luckily the drive wasn't too bad and we made it right on time. The whole process really started the night before, though. Bradley was not to have anything to eat (food and/or bottle) after midnight, and then only clear liquids until 7:00 am. Yikes. Bradley was in a great mood Wednesday night so he actually stayed up until 9:00 pm. We figured the later he had his bedtime bottle, the less hungry he'd be in the morning. Then at 6:45 am I tried giving him Jello and apple juice (diluted with water). B had never tried either so I knew this would be interesting. He immediately spit it out, I imagine Jello must be a pretty strange thing to eat for the first time. He ended up having 5 or 6 bites of Jello, and about 1 1/2 ounces of apple juice. Not nearly enough for breakfast but it was going to have to do. Oh, we also had to do another breathing treatment, so that was tons of fun.

I am still amazed at how quick and easy the whole process was. Bradley was only away from us for about 10 minutes, and that included the anesthesia, surgery and recovery. The surgery center had a great parent's lounge with bagels and coffee and we barely finished our bagels by the time they said we could see B in recovery. And then we were sent on our way, simple as that. B made it about halfway through the car ride home before the "I"M HUNGRY!! FEED ME NOW!!" meltdown began, but that is completely understandable. After he had a big bottle and took a nap, he was all smiles and back to normal. Our little guy is so brave!

Here some pictures I snapped with my phone (sorry for the poor quality) yesterday -

 

{playing in the waiting room}




{on the car ride home, pre-meltdown}