Update on Lincoln's ears

So we went to the pre-op. The doctor spent probably on hour trying to convince me that he didn't need tubes. According to her he didn't have fluid in his ears, and since he will be two before winter he probably won't have any more ear infections. She kept telling me over and over that most kids don't get ear infections once they are two. That may be true, but most kids also don't get 9 ear infections in one year. Oh, and did I metion how naughty my kids were at the apt? Ya, it was really fun.

So the next day I dropped Savannah of at my friend Heather's house at 7 am and headed to the hospital with Lincoln. We arrived at 7:30 am, and it had been 12.5 hours since he had eaten or had a drink. He was so good! He wouldn't sit still, and we ended up walking up and down the small hall outside the waiting room forever, but he was so good! Finally at 10 they took us back to get prepped. The surgeon came in and spoke to us. The Operating Room director came in to speak with us. Just as the anesthegiologist was coming in, Lincoln took his shoes out of my purse, put them on, said, "I go now," climbed off the bed and walked out of the room waving at everyone. I picked him up and started talking to the anesthegiologist. By the time they were done explaining everything Lincoln was alseep! So they did what they called "Stelth Sedation." I sat him down as gently as possible, they wheeled the bed into the OR (I got to go!) then they held the mask over his face for a few minutes until they declared that he was out (how they could tell I have no idea) then told me to give him a kiss and I had to leave. That was at about 11 am. At 11:15 the dr came in and told me that they were finished. She said that he did in fact have fluid in his ears. I can not tell you how validated I felt! She made me feel like a horrible person for insisting that he needed the tubes, but I just really felt like he did. So, at about 11:30 they called me on the waiting room phone and told me that I needed to come to the recoevery room. I walked in and two nurses were attempting to hold him while he was trashing around and screaming. I picked up and he calmly ripped off his toe sensor and threw it on the ground. Then he ripped off both of his hospital bracelets and threw those on the ground. Then he put his blanket over his head and went back to sleep. Then they told us that we could leave. We were out of the hospital by 11:40. As soon as we were outside he was begging for food, so I bought him a Jamba Juice, and by noon he was backing running around being wild Lincoln.

Its been 2 days, and I can already see a huge difference. Wednesday morning he heard a firetruck and started bawling. He was so scared! That was my first, "Oh my gosh, my baby couldn't hear!" moment. Also on Wednesday he mimiked a sound for the very first time. He talked so much all day! He's probably said 30 or so new words in the past 2 days. I mean I've never worried about his speech, but it is totally different now! I make a sound, and he does it back, he's saying more words, everything he says is clearer. Its just amazing! I'm so glad that I stood up for my baby and insisted that he had the surgery.