There aren’t too many times when an extra hole in the head is a good idea, but in our case – 2 new holes in Riley’s head are a very good thing. On Friday March 16th Riley had tubes put in her ears to help get rid of the ear infections that she seems so fond of, well – she’s not fond of them but they sure seem to like hanging around with her. Tubes came at the recommendation of our ENT specialist since Baby Boo has had so many ear infections in the first 7 months of her life; the tubes will help with drainage and will reduce the pressure in Riley’s ears as well.
We got to the day surgery center around 6:30 on Friday morning (after Riley decided that she needed to get up around 4 – seems like she sensed that something was going on, but we couldn’t give her anything to eat or drink before the surgery…it’s hard to convey this message to a tiny person who doesn’t quite have full comprehension of the English language yet. To top things off it was cold and rainy – compared to the rest of the week when it was in the 70s and 80s and sunny. Riley got to wear the tiniest hospital gown I have ever seen, they gave her a pair of socks (Toddler is the smallest size that they carry so she got to wear her own socks since their socks were way to big for her), and of course she decided to express her displeasure with the situation by giving the surgery center a little something to remember her by (in the form of a dirty diaper).
The anesthesiologist and nurses came in and talked us through the procedure, then the doctor came in to check in and re-explain the operation to us and see if we had any questions. It only takes 10-20 minutes for the whole thing to take place, not even time for Mom and Dad to have 2 cups of coffee while we waited (and watched flights being canceled on CNN due to the nasty weather up north). They called us back and Riley a little bit grumpy and crying a little bit and had already downed 4 oz. of Pedialyte. Beth sat down with her and gave her another 4 ounces and cuddled with her, and she calmed down pretty quickly. The doctor came in and said everything went very well, gave us some of the drops to use on her ears; we got numerous offers from the nurses to take Riley off our hands since she was so cute too! We happily declined those offers though. Once Riley got changed into her clothes, got carried to the door to the parking lot, and saw the Outback – she started smiling and flirting with the nurse, right back to her usual cheerful self.
Things were going so well that we decided to stop for some breakfast on the way home – so we hit Mimi’s Cafe as we had been wanting to try breakfast there for a while. Mom had a very cheesy ham and cheese omelet, Dad had corned beef hash and eggs, and Riley had her first taste of fresh-squeeze OJ and Cheerios – both of which she seemed to like! The restaurant gave Riley a kid’s plate with the Cheerios and an orange wedge (which Beth ‘juiced’ onto a spoon and fed to Riley – it was funny to watch the look on her face and then she would lick her lips and look for more). When we got Riley home she slept for a while, had some more Pedialyte (she likes the cherry flavor too apparently – and shared a portion of one bottle with her outfit and Dad’s shirt as well), and chilled out for the rest of the day.
Riley will be making her first public appearance after the surgery this evening at our friend Suz’s (and her parent’s) St. Patrick’s Day party. So far today she’s back to eating formula, playing in her saucer and being the Baby Boo that we all know and love. Best wishes for a Happy St. Paddy’s day to all of our friends and family – we’ll type to you soon.