THE Tubes- a recap

That's right, last Monday (the 17th), CJ and I brought Kyla in for her tubes procedure. We dropped K1 off at our friends' house to have a super fun play date with Mazzy, and took off for the SAME HOSPITAL I had Kyla in. *talk about nostalgia walking into that place, the place she lived for the first 17 days of her life*

I have to say, the staff at the hospital is always very smooth and so kind. At least, in OUR experiences, so that was a bonus. And, walking in with our smiling girl, being doted on my all the staff and strangers, she was truly a joy to be hanging out with.
We were brought to our little "stall" on the surgery floor, and met with a friendly and kind nurse, who told us the same story 2x within 20 minutes about her own twin grandchildren. Kyla really liked her.

She gave us the paperwork to sign, the jammies and socks for Kyla to wear, and brought Kyla over to pick out her very own "boon" (Balloon).
All Kyla wanted to do was look out the window, rub lotion from the shelf on her hands, and jump up and down with her 'boon. Then, the anesthesiologist came in, introduced himself, and told us exactly what they would be doing to our sweet girl during the surgery. Did I mention he looked like he was about 10, making ME at age 36 feel old?

Then, some more nurses came in and gave Kyla a pre-surgery little cocktail to help dry up her nasal and head fluids (if you will). It kicked in and made her very loopy. So loopy she couldn't walk without us helping her.

Here she is, playing with the Ipod her sister covets, giggling and DROOLING all over mama. She was a hoot.

However, the time then came for the surgery to begin. *sigh*. The nurses came back to take our angel girl to the operating room and she had a major meltdown being taken away from me. She actually started sobbing so hard, she had a very delayed reaction in taking that first "gasp" of air when she started crying. Scared me to death. And yes, when she left, I was also in tears. It seems to me, I'm shed MANY tears in that particular hospital.
CJ and I took a quick walk down to get something to drink ( and I found 2 more adorable place mats in the gift shop), and when we got back upstairs, it was a matter of 5 minutes and the doctor came in to tell us she was done with the surgery and all went really well. She went over what they did and told us that Kyla's right ear (the one that is always full of fluid) was full of sticky pus and that they had to get rid of that to get the tube in.

Within another 5-10 minutes, we heard this child wailing and I swear to you, it did not sound like my Kyla girl. It was like an animal howling (I kid you not). I had went into this surgery expecting it to "be a breeze". In and out, quick as can be, with no issues.

Well, we didn't have "issues", but we did have a girl who could NOT shake the meds she was given and was terrified and pissed off and angry and mad and sad and scared. Everything all in one.
And to make matters worse, when they first brought K2 back to us, they only returned her 'baby' to us, and not the 2 lovies we had sent with her for her comfort. The nurse quickly went back, retrieved it, and brought it back.

Poor Kyla didn't know what to do with herself. She had an oxygen monitor attached to her left big toe. The animal sounds she was making? They were made by her attempting to get that damn thing OFF HER TOE. It did NOT make her happy. She didn't want anything to do with anyone talking to her (NO NO NO). No daddy. No movie, NO juice, no milk, no water. No food. Honestly, I sat and cried and just held her and stopped her from getting away from me.

Finally, about an hour and half later (forever!), she finally stopped her animal sounds, and seemed calmer. Literally, within a few minutes of her stopping her screaming, she looked around, and said "ba' which means cup or milk, and she guzzled down a big cup of apple juice with ice.

We were able to leave soon after that, and our happy Kyla girl finally returned. We went to pick up a very happy sissy, who had a memorable play date, and went home to all take naps!

We're hoping and praying this is the end (or close to it) of our ear infections. We've started bathing Kyla with ear plugs, much to her dismay, but last nights' bath was the first time she didn't try to take them out! Other than that first Monday of drama, she's been as happy as a clam (as usual) and is repeating words left and right. It's so very sweet to hear her imitate everyone and try to communicate with us, oh so very hard!