Family Life Hard of Hearing/Deaf

They’re In

Want to freak a breastfeeding mama out? Tell her she can’t nurse her baby for 6 hours prior to a procedure. Mission accomplished.

Friday, after a whirlwind week, C had Eustachian Tubes places in both ears. This was to help her avoid ear infections due to improper drainage. Because ear infections are no fun and apparently really bad when you are Hard of Hearing. You can read about last week here.

How it went.

I actually went to Pinterest to see if other mama’s had shared their blogs and experiences. I found one. You can read it here. I went to bed Thursday night with images of a starving miserable baby awaiting me the next day. It seemed like the momma was a bit relieved when the nurse took her little one back for the procedure. That’s not what happened. So… today I share my experience – this is just one mom’s experience with her baby having eustachian tubes.

Disclaimer, I may have the perfect baby.

Although I did not have a ton of time to prep for the procedure since it was only scheduled on a Tuesday night for that Friday, I still had plenty of time to be concerned about how my breastfed baby was going to handle not nursing after 8:15am. I envisioned her waking up from her nap screaming, miserable and hungry. That is not what happened.

The doctor doesn’t like to schedule baby’s procedures so late in the day because they won’t be able to nurse during their “waking hours”. Let me just say, it was God or the prayers or just my awesome Little Miss C but this was actually a perfect schedule for us. We nursed until about 8:10 am. My goal was to keep her asleep until 9ish, but telemarketers had other ideas. One ring and she was up and they were gone. ugh…. So, we showered together and I made some coffee. I decided not to eat around her because our normal routine is breakfast together. but Mama needs her coffee

speaking of coffee…

Ok, back from grabbing a cup. Seriously, do not ask me how many i drink in a day.

So, we played and around 10:15 C started getting fussy. She had been asking to nurse via sign for twenty minutes and was getting annoyed at me not allowing her to. (she nurses whenever she wants to) I changed her diaper and popped her in the car, along with the bag I had packed with a bunch of toys to distract her. I went ahead and used the BRB for this, you can read about that here. The car is C’s kryptonite, she was out by the time we hit the first light. I was hungry and grabbed more coffee and a breakfast sandwich and found a spot near the hospital to read.

About 11:45 we headed over to the hospital so I had time to get a great parking spot and then I waited for the 12:15 check in time. I actually had to wake C up, she was tired. We headed into the hospital with her in my Tula Standard – check it out below! It’s funny because I debated between a ring sling and a Tula for this, and I am really glad I went with the Tula.

The Tula really was the perfect choice. Sweet baby snuggles.

After check in, we were taking to a surgical waiting room. She was still pretty quiet but starting to wake up. By 12:45 we were in our own room and speaking with a nurse. Everybody kept commenting on how quiet she was, how happy she seemed and how shocked they were that she wasn’t screaming. As long as Momma was holding her, she was fine.

A lot of questions were asked multiple times. When was the last time she nursed? When was the last time she ate anything? Does she have any allergies? Are you aware of what the procedure is for? I had to take her jewelry off and strip her down for a tiny little hospital gown to go on. The nurse took this and her wet diaper and weighed it to be sure she had an exact weight for anesthesia. The operating nurse came in and asked all of the same questions.

Meanwhile, C continued to be completely relaxed. There were fish painted on the light fixtures and she learned to sign fish! It was totally cool. The ENT and Anesthesiologist both came in for me to sign some forms and approved me going with her to the OR and staying until she was out. All the while, she stayed calm. If she got restless, we just pulled out a different toy (I had like 8 for the 2 hours ahead of surgery). best baby ever

 

Anesthesia

So, I got to wear this gigantic one size fits all “bunny suit”. I looked ridiculous and C was unhappy for the 45 seconds it took for me to get it on! Seriously, I’d have worn fish guts if that was required for me to take her to the OR. We began the procession in and she just snuggled the whole way. The OR was pretty big and there were a bunch of people there. I wondered why so many were needed for one fifteen minute procedure.

I laid her down on the table when the doctor said he was ready and just talked to her. They put a tiny mask over her head, which she did not like, and her eyes quickly began to get heavy. I am so glad that I was there talking to her, telling her how much I loved her. But… This isn’t for the faint of heart. Your baby’s eyes literally get heavy and roll to the back of her head. If you aren’t prepared, I’d imagine it could be scary. I was so thankful because everyone kept asking if I was okay. I was. My baby had gone to sleep with me in view. I couldn’t ask for more.

You might ask, Girl, where was your husband? Well, I had told him it wasn’t necessary to come. He had work and I didn’t want to be a distraction. As I walked into our Pre-Op room, there he was, sitting and waiting for me. Some heroes don’t wear capes. They wear polo shirts and loafers.

Post – Op.

Recovery was a bit more difficult. By this time, C had not nursed or eaten anything in 7 hours. She was hungry and her poor little tongue didn’t work. There were 6 nurses hovering around her trying to comfort her while they went to get Hubs and I. I flew in, unlatching my top and bra as I got close and sat down boob exposed. No doubt in my mind, I was a sight. My sweet champion nurses just could not get a latch. It took about twenty minutes for that to start working and once it did she calmed right down.

We were wheeled into the pre-op room and C continued to nurse for a bit as they discharged us. The doc came back in and gave us some ear drops along with a prescription for more and C fell asleep. It was a wonderful experience, as far as a first surgeries go. I so appreciate all of the prayers and messages through out the day checking on us. It helped me calm my mama heart and that is what we both needed.

I’ll leave you with our post-op photo.

Snuggles Post Op

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