Tubes and Pacis

Brennan recently had another ear infection and even though our pediatrician said I had to wait until he had 5 ear infections this year (he was only on #3).  I had had enough.  He had probably had 10 or more since he was 2 months old.  He was already resistant to multiple antibiotics and we had just had enough of all the doctor visits, late nights crying, pain medication, etc.   We were ready for action so I took it upon myself to make an appt with the ENT. 

Immediately he scheduled us for surgery.  He looked in Brennan's ears and listened to his story and recognized a chronic problem.  He said Brennan was a prime candidate for the surgery.  The surgery would only take 15 minutes but he would have to be put under general anesthesia.  Luckily this doctor had done hundreds of these surgeries and we felt like we were in great hands. 

We took Brennan early in the morning  week later for his surgery.  Here is a pic of Daddy holding him in his Silvester hospital gown as he getting prepped.

I wasn't very nervous for the surgery.  I really felt like it was the right thing.  The doctor said that almost all kids with tubes never get infections again.  It was worth the risk considering the alternative, possibly years of ear infections. 

Brennan flipped out when we handed him to the nurse and was crying really badly when he came out of surgery.  The rest of the day he seemed fine though.  We gave him ibuprofen for two days and he still picked at his ears like they felt funny but we thought maybe it was just because he could actually hear again.  He had heavy thick fluid in his ears before and now it should be draining from the tubes.

We went back for his post surgery check up, 10 days later, and they said everything looks great.  The tubes are in place and there is no built up fluid.  We have to be careful to not get his ears full of water, but other than that, he's good to go.  He's a new Moosey.  We can all breath a sigh of relief.

Another big change is that we are trying to ween him off his paci now that he's not having ear trouble.  It's been a huge challenge.  He cries and cries for it but we feel like it's the right time.  We had just weened him before his burn accident and gave the paci back, but now that he's not in a lot of pain, we feel like he can do without it.

Hopefully by Sara's birthday he'll be totally paci free.  We have noticed however that he seems to be replacing it with a fleece blanket fetish.  I guess then that we'll deal with that.  Also, he's really attached to his Daddy to the point where if Dan walks out of the room or out of his sight, he'll hold his breath and pass out.  So clearly, we still have lots of issues to work on, one at a time...

Here are some really cute pics of him recently!

2013 is going to be a great year for Brennan, he'll turn 2 years old!  We love him, he's cute, and we are looking forward to seeing him grow, play, and learn.