No excitement for spring break this year, unless you count a plethora of doctor visits. The main event up today? Emerie getting her tonsils and adenoids removed, ear tubes for the third time, and if that wasn’t enough, pulling her top front tooth that met its demise last week against a toy, but isn’t quite committed to removal with her awake.
We were unsure if today was to happen, with a minor bug hitting all three kiddos in the past few days after a fun weekend to Seward. Emerie proceeded to puke all over my boots and the bathroom yesterday, but seemed well enough this morning to brave her procedure as planned. With Grandma Sue here to watch the other two and help the next few days, and school out for the week, this really is the perfect time for Emerie to rest up and recover, hopefully in time for all of next week’s birthday festivities.
At her pre-op appointment she told her life story to the receptionist and continued babbling to the nurse. The only tidbit of information she gleaned from the doctor was the fact bad breath will be present for a few days post procedure. She immediately went to her sisters later that morning to tell them she had to stay away after surgery, because her breath will be so bad. Funny what kids pay attention to!
We got up bright and early to head to the doctor’s office, convincing her that only two stuffed animals could join in on the fun. Only one adult is allowed in pre-op at a time and Emerie chose Craig, since she is predominantly on Team Dad when given the option. We will see how that goes, as she usually flips and wants me to snuggle once she wakes up.
The procedure lasted about 45 minutes and everything went smoothly. Craig returned for her wake up and I followed shortly after with a change of clothes. Everything went smoothly on all three accounts, and she came out of anesthesia pretty well after a short, post procedure nap. We are both interested to see if they return like Craig’s did, or if we are one and done with their removal (hopefully!). The doc noted she had fluid in both ears so the tubes would again help with that. With minimal tears and a purple popsicle later, we headed home to chill for the day.
Holier smile!
Harper and Reagan were happy to see sissy and her freshly removed tooth, and after a little Moana 2 on the iPad, Craig was able to convince her a nap would help. The rest of the day proceeded uneventfully, which is a good thing, and overall she is more chipper than we anticipated. She even played a little while with her sisters, and then continued to relax and watch television and suck down pedialite pops and apple sauce.
Thanks for all the prayers; and hopefully keeping up on her pain meds overnight will allow her to have a restful night of sleep as we ease into day two! I have also been advised the tooth fairy is not welcome to visit tonight and her tooth is safely tucked away on the counter 🙂
Today was a Harper day! After battling croup, ear infections and colds over the past few months, we finally scheduled her ear tube procedure, to stop the constant ear infections causing hearing issues. Harper was very excited for it all, unusually so since it’s a medical procedure, and likely because she finally gets her “day in the sun” and one in one time with the parents. After Emerie experiencing this a handful of times throughout the past five years; it is not lost on the other two kiddos that she received special treatment on those days. They seem to be unaware of all the other aspects that go with surgery, such as pain, coming out of anesthesia, naps to sleep a procedure off, and all the dreaded eye and ear drops. But you know, other than that it’s all fun and donuts right?
So excited!
Harper and I arrived at the ENT’s office at 7 AM, bright and early on a single digit temperature day, leaving Emerie and Reagan cozy in their beds until Craig took them to school for the day. Leaving the house in pajamas is a rarity for the girls and not something we do often -especially on one of the coldest days we’ve had- and Harper was quite the hit with the nurses in her matching pink, cozy pjs, pink boots, and furry pink coat, and baby seal and Princess Aurora in tow.
During all the pre-op questions she was pumped and noticeably excited, singing, hollering and making goofy faces, which cracks me up. She hollered the numbers on the pulse monitor at the nurses in the hallway, thinking she was so darn funny. The anesthesiologist checked in and noted they had the same birthday, which did NOT impress my six year old who already shares hers twice over. So funny. She was giggly and jolly even, having way too much fun with the pulse ox machine and the name bracelet tied around her ankle.
Either we didn’t wait long enough to find out, or she doesn’t react to versed quite as strongly as Emerie, who can barely hold her body straight or her head up after a dose. After reclining in the chair and sporting her hairnet and heated blanket, eventually she was a little more “jello-y” and chill, just in time to ride the wheel chair with her very own nurse! She asked ten questions about all the parts and pieces on that wheel chair, and then was whisked down the hall to the operating room, waiving goodbye to me with a slightly confused look, but no concern.
Sitting and writing a blog always distracts me from that concerned and stressed feeling you get when a kiddo is in surgery, and there’s nothing you can do to determine outcome. It’s not a fun place, but definitely one we’ve been to many times before with Emerie, and fewer times than many of our friends with littles.
After about thirty minutes the doctor emerged, saying everything went great. The main reason for tubes was fluid buildup by her ear drums, and he noted after getting in there, it was less like fluid and more like a glue buildup; not infected but definitely contributing to hearing issues and restricting vibration. He cleaned it out and put in the tubes, and she should have noticeable better hearing right away.
Ready to go!Waking upThat glove!!
They put her under a bit deeper than planned because of the lingering croup cough; she slowly emerged from anesthesia without any negative reaction or indication of pain. She pepped up after a few minutes and finally peeked at us after a promise of juice. The highlight of her visit was getting a sticker, a mini pink slinky, and getting wheeled all the way to the car in a wheel chair (because she was still a little wobbly!). Sisters were also informed the nurses had PINK gives and let her take them home. In fact, in true Harper style, she was wearing a glove on each hand before surgery and one of them made it through the ride home!
After picking up Craig and the promised donut stop, she chilled for the day and all is well in the world, other than achy ears. When asked if today was scary or fun, she instantly responded fun, and that the highlight was watching seal videos with Craig at the crack of dawn before we left for the day, and getting a little iPad time. Glad to know her first surgical experience was met with no stress and a good experience! The next kid on deck will not be quite this easy…
We decided this week wasn’t busy enough so after daycare pick up today, we trekked over to the mall and went to get everyone’s ears pierced.
Background, the last few weeks everyone has been very vocal about my earrings, asking when they can have big girl earrings and be like mom. Reagan adamantly decides what I should wear most mornings, including my fancy beaded ones on our hike over the weekend. We talked a bit earlier in the week about a “tiny owie and then it’s over” type piercing, but didn’t go any further than that.
As usual, Craig was much more averse to tackling it while I hesitated and would have waited until they were older (I’m less fun), thinking that Emerie wouldn’t remotely do it and while Reagan thought she wanted to, she might chicken out when it came down to it.
The girls enthusiastically perused the store, checking out all the glitter, nail polish, jewelry cases and everything in between. Claire’s is literally the perfect place for the pink, purple and teal life theme we live; add little girl stuff, and they were in heaven.
They wanted to look like Emie!
Harper chose pink studs, of course, without taking much time to consider other options. Emerie picked multi-colored flowers, and Reagan chose the “teal flower” (she corrected me when I said blue) studs. In birth order, Harper trudged forward into the chair, absolutely confident in her choice to go first. That’s pretty common for her; little did she know it would be a pinch.
Needless to say, the other two watched in horror as she burst into tears after the first one. The employee doing it was so very nice and spent a bunch of time warming her up to it, making sure the impending holes were centered in the exact right spot, and explaining all the steps. Harper didn’t put up much of a fight for the second ear, although she ricochet off it like a bat out of hell and with some tears. A promised lollipop and look in the mirror stopped the tears and she was fine from them on. Thank goodness the girl was fast!
The event went downhill from there. Reagan was out of there at this point, claiming to be shopping around the store and avoiding the scary chair. She also found a wall of panda stuff, her happy place. Craig spent the next few minutes convincing Emerie, until her first ear was done. Waterworks, rage, demands for us to take it out. She yelled for me across the store, then yelled she wanted Grandma Sue. It took at least 20 minutes to convince her to hold still and get the second ear done, and a lot of snuggles afterwards and the purchase of a plush unicorn that she adopted through her tears. That one was rough.
At this point Reagan knew that didn’t look fun and wanted no part in it, and began asking for clip-on earrings and not her fancy teal ones. After some discussion, she was still not onboard, but at least Harper was back to happy and Emerie’s waterworks had stopped. I took the two off to celebrate their big-girl status with an ice cream, also giving Reagan a chance with less chaos for Craig to convince her it wouldn’t be so bad. It’s amazing how claims of pain and suffering vanish when ice cream AND sprinkles becomes an option. Harper and Reagan both picked the sherbert swirl with a load of rainbow sprinkles and waited for the sisters. Luckily we were across the mall at this point, as I assume the rage fire that is my youngest child was likely bubbling to the surface. Ultimately she ran toward us without any tears, excited for her turn at ice cream and to show us her pretty ears. So yes, in truth, we survived the entire event. Ice cream was enjoyed, dinner barely occurred later, and everyone is nearly asleep in their beds as I wrap up the evening’s adventure. Hopefully sleep will come quick and ears will stay clean until they are all healed up. I see more jewelry shopping in our future; that and I may need to start hiding some of my dangles, because I know of three little girls that want to try them on already.
Post evening torture photo. Emerie was over it and reading her book.
Here we are again at Emerie’s next surgery. This one is unique, a combination of new ear tubes and another left eye resection surgery. After three Botox procedures, one successful and two not as much as hoped, we are back to the drawing board on straightening out her eye and convincing her brain to keep using it.
Sunday night Emerie woke up with a major ear ache on one side, which the pediatrician confirmed yesterday as a definite ear infection. After two hours of tossing and turning and prohibiting Craig and I from getting sleep, she demanded to go sleep with grandma in the guest room. Worked for us and gave me a few minutes of shut eye before the next one was up. Fortunately this didn’t hinder having the surgery, with the doctor noting that he would clean out the infected side when the tubes were placed, essentially making it feel better, with the ear drops kicking the rest.
On the drive across town Emerie excitedly pointed out , at 5:45 in the morning mind you, that darkness means fall and that mean trick or treating, then Christmas, then my birthday and then hers! It was an impressive observation so early and from a four year old!
Grandma Sue came with me this morning and Emerie loved every second of it. Balloon gloves blow up to look like little blue sharks and the longer the versed was in her system, the more hilarious that seemed to her. Lots of giggles occurred as we waited to see both doctors, and Emerie cooperated for her pulse check much better than usual. She didn’t appreciate the little girl crying across the hall, who I overheard was also getting eyes and ears worked on, but eventually blocked that out and relaxed.
We opted to do both procedures under the same anesthesia, which meant one less time going through the whole surgery process. Arriving at six AM, we were the first in line for the day for Doctor Winkle (eyes) and Doctor Kowolski (ears).
She went back with the nurses to the OR about 7:45, and by 8:10 Doctor Kowolski was out to tell us the ear tubes went in without any issues. Doctor Winkle didn’t come out with his update for more than an hour after that, as expected, and another forty minutes after that before we could go back and see her.
Everything went well. Doctor Winkle noted that her inner eye muscle was a bit tighter than he expected and that he put a little liquid (can’t remember the word he said) to help with the scar tissue, which is an issue when repeat procedures occur over the years.
Today’s recovery was different than previous surgeries. This time she really didn’t want to wake up; in fact we spent almost two hours in recovery where she lightly snored, snuggled under the heating blanket, completely out to the world. The nurse removed the IV from her hand and her chest monitors without even a flinch. Eventually we were able to con her into consciousness by rubbing the cherry popsicle on her lips, just enough for her to subconsciously want it. We tried talking to her about it first, and threatening to eat it or give it to a sister, neither of which helped. She then proceeded to eat the whole thing with both eyes closed, mumbling short word responses to questions.
Prior procedures resulted in a completely asleep child diving straight into a demanding, I need a popsicle now, kid. We typically head home within 30 minutes or so. This time around, we didn’t head to the car until about eleven, she instantly went back to sleep in her car seat while hiding under her blanket from the sun, and slept in her bed until after two! The rest of the afternoon was watching movies with snuggles- a rotation between wanting me, Craig and grandma- and warm washcloths on her eye with several pedialite popsicles. Her ears don’t seem to be any bother (albeit they look red with dried blood), but her eye is swollen and red and puffy. Not droopy like the Botox procedures, but definitely swollen and sensitive and greatly bothering her.
While we normally delay a bath for two days after a procedure, she begged so badly for one that Craig let her sit in the tub, with promises to not splash anything sensitive. Early bedtime was a definite must, with Harper and Reagan both quite supportive of letting their sister get to sleep to feel better. Early bedtime for the adults too I hope, as these days are mentally exhausting and I could have fallen asleep hours ago. I imagine it’s going to be a long night once the pain meds wane, and hope tomorrow will be a bit better for her and that we all get some rest. First thing is her post-op eye check, probably followed by a quiet day at home and a lot of coffee (for me!)
It’s been a bit since I posted a blog and thought I’d give a quick update and share some of the latest quirks the girls continue to share with us. Work continues to be incredibly busy for both Craig and I, him on the annual end of year closeout and me helping cover the rest of the grant season for airport development projects, in addition to my standard project management and job duties. We are both very thankful that the allergies and ear infections that hit mid-July last year have not yet reemerged and that the girls have been healthy and able to go to preschool continuously while we stay caught up on work.
As we start drifting toward end of summer activities, such as rain adventures, blueberry picking, and less outdoor water activities, the girls continue their current flower (bouquet) obsessions. Rose, daisy, and my poor front pansy plants now litter the living room and back deck; at least there are enthusiastic children happy to creatively play. Harper and Reagan enjoy picking raspberries from the backyard and eating them before returning inside; Emerie likes to taunt – ahem play – with the ever growing chickens, who now forcibly demand to explore the backyard, outside of their cage.
The toddler cars also reemerged and our neighbors get the honor of enjoying the spectacle of our kids driving down the street and the parents trying to keep them from getting run over by real cars or running into parked ones. Emerie greatly improved on her steering skills this summer, but also forgets the pedal is to the metal and will drive forward while looking backwards or concentrating on something that isn’t driving the car. Harper and Reagan seem to have the steering skills down and both enjoy driving. This picture fully explains everyone’s enthusiasm, Emerie’s face and all!
After last month’s unfortunate pet events, we welcomed a new member into the household, a three month old kitten. Her name started out as Molly until Reagan convinced everyone a more fitting name was Sassafras, which stuck. She’s a wild little thing and demands our attention at two or three in the morning every night, unless we manage to wear her out in the evenings. Good thing our children prepared us for that habit to continue! She really enjoys sleeping on Craig’s pillow, C-PAP and all, but turns into a raging, playful maniac the moment the first kid wakes up mid night, which is usually Reagan. A few nights I’ve caught her cuddling and sleeping in bed with Harper or Emerie; a few other nights I’ve dragged said monster out of their bedroom before the toe biting and playful scratching occurs. Overall, Sassafras fully embraces the busy, kid oriented household that surrounds my life and loves to play with the girls and run around. The girls love using the toy wands and running away from her. The chickens don’t seem incredibly upset with her presence either and simply crowd around when she gets in “their” space; not sure if that means they want to eat her or hide from her. And what does our other kitty think of her? Well he’s not ready to forgive us yet for a new foreigner, hisses when his personal space is in question and will only cuddle with her if asleep and she creeps up and settles.
Age four of the triplet life we lead produces quite the crazy opinions some days, especially when it comes to Miss Harper Anne. Of the three, she often displays the most dramatics over completely irrelevant things and it can be quite hilarious, much to her dismay. For example, the other day she was furious with me at bedtime because the following day wasn’t Christmas, and that winter wasn’t here yet (since she knows Christmas is during the snow season). She huffed and puffed and laid in her bed, with a you’re not my mom anymore response…as if I can control time! One night at bedtime she claimed with a huff that she couldn’t go to bed because I – her loving mother – didn’t make HER bed up that day. And at dinner one night we had pasta and I noted the leftovers would be in their lunch the following day. Harper scolded me for not putting said pasta in her lunch from earlier that day, and insisted that issue should be fixed by yours truly. Time be damned, Mom, go back five hours and make my lunch with pasta like I want. Kids I tell you…
It’s not all chaos and dramatics…well I mean it mostly is, but other moments the girls dole out sound advice. After a preschool fire drill one afternoon, they all reminded me on the way home, don’t be scared, be prepared, and excitedly shared their experience for the day about fire. They also strongly noted their teacher keeps them safe and wouldn’t let fire hurt them, even if she needed a firefighter to help her. True words!
HarperEmerieReagan
Reagan is on a cooking kick this month and I often find her playing by herself and cooking a pretend masterpiece meal or tea party for her sisters. One afternoon she asked, Mom, what is your favorite cake I can make you? My response, of course, was a homemade German chocolate cake, what Craig makes for me every year! She went into her kitchen and then was quietly repeating her recipe out loud to herself. Add a little German, add a little chocolate, and a little more German. Hahaha…it’s the thought that counts.
Emerie continues to live her best life and chase chickens, taunt the kitten, pick flowers whenever possible and avoid major rain puddles that her sisters splash her direction. We learned a couple weeks back that she needs another more significant eye surgery that will couple with adding new ear tubes back in, something planned for the end of this month. She continues to amaze me when you consider she tackles everything her sisters do, but with one eye significantly weaker and often when the strong eye is patched. She’s a rock star.
Next up? A two day preschool closure starting tomorrow and next week, aging up to the four year old classroom at school! I’m not sure who is having the hardest time with that thought, Miss Tawni, the girls, or me!
The Douglets 