In July, I took my daughter, Amina, to an ear, nose and throat specialist. She’s always been a mouth breather, and since she was about 20 months old her nose ran all the time. No matter what we did, it just did not stop.
I gave her Tylenol sometimes, and putting her back on breast milk to help with her immune system only helped her nose for a certain time frame. Eventually we put her on an allergy medicine and that helped tremendously but did not totally stop it.
One night while Amina was sleeping, my mom noticed that while she slept her chest went concave at her breastbone. When I took her to the specialist, I showed him a video of her sleeping. He immediately said she would need her tonsils and adenoids out and that she was on her way to having sleep apnea. They also performed a hearing test, which showed she was operating at 35 percent hearing loss.
So after all of that bad news, they call a day or two later with a surgery date — in November.
My child will definitely develop sleep apnea and is not hearing that well, but you give me a date in November?! I had another appointment with a different specialist, Dr. Otteson, and decided to go ahead and see him for a second opinion.
He did an x-ray and said her tonsils were fine, she just needed her adenoids removed because they were HUGE. Like, the biggest he’s seen in a while. This past Monday, was surgery day.
After being kind of stand off-ish with getting her height and weight, she was still ready for a selfie. She knew something was going to happen she probably wouldn't be fond of. I had to coax her to even lie down in the hospital crib so I could change her.
My mom's friend gave Amina a Webkins frog the night before, and she wanted him with her while her vitals were done. P. S. Blood pressure cuffs are NOT her best friend.
I figured out the best way to distract her from the fact that they were wheeling her away was with my iPad. Harry the Bunny is always welcomed.
With her only being 2, they put her to sleep with the mask anesthetic. Once I heard her hollering I knew the time had officially come -- and that Harry the Bunny had been turned off.
This picture was a rough moment for me -- I tried to get one of the front of her and immediately broke down. It flashed me back to her premature days in the NICU. Just looking at it is triggering. All the beeps from the monitors around us, her being hooked up, I just had to sit down and regain myself. When I held and rocked her to calm her down while she was waking up, I had to steady my breathing to try to prevent an anxiety attack.
While I gathered myself, my mom comforted her while she was waking up. I'm grateful that she was there. I did not know I would verge on a breakdown over a surgery many children have had. Dr. Otteson said that if he could rate her adenoids blockage on a scale of 1 - 100, he'd have to go over the 100. You could see them when she opened her mouth AND when you look through her nose. Apparently, you shouldn't be able to see them that clearly.
Rainbow Babies and Children's hospital in Cleveland, Ohio is AWESOME! When I requested a room where her Nana, her brother, and I could stay the night with her, they found us a private room to accommodate. They did not have to, but they did what would be the most comfortable for my daughter -- and for me, to be honest.
Fresh off anesthesia and a few sips of apple juice, my little diva was asking for a picture haha!
"I take a picture!"
Amina couldn't wait to start getting around, but it tired her out.
After we both took a nap from the long day, she was already feeling better.
Later that evening, I took her to the playroom the floor has for the kids and families to go to for a break and some fun. She really wanted to get in the cars, but a family was already in their playing.
Since the cars were occupied, we went on a hospital adventure in a wagon. I took her around a couple floors of the hospital while she watched the iPad and ate all of my soft Einstein's Bagels cookie. This kind of looks like the life, doesn't it?
Finally, the car was all hers!
Discharge day! She did wonderful overnight! The staff was excellent and accommodating. Her sleeping has improved over 100 percent, it's actually quite amazing. I don't know the last time, if ever, she has slept and not made a sound. All this week the most she has done is a light snore. Maybe I stressed too much over a simple procedure, but none of it seemed simple until it was over, done, and she was back to her normal self.
