A Whirlwind Couple of Days

 Hey hey! I feel like a lot has happened since I posted on Friday, but mostly all good things. Last I left off, I had an ENT appointment on Friday morning for Will. At that appointment, they started with a hearing test, which is standard protocol for ENT assessments. They have the baby sit on your lap in the hearing test room so I could see what he could and couldn't hear. So I was not at all surprised to find he had mild to moderate hearing loss and the audiologist could tell his ears were full of fluid. We had a feeling he wasn't hearing very well but that was clearly confirmed. 

Next up, we saw the ENT. She looked in his ears and said he still had a horrible ear infections. So the 6 days of antibiotics did nothing besides mess with his tummy. :( She prescribed a new antibiotic and said he's a textbook case for needing tubes. You need 3 infections in 6 months, and he had 3 infections in 7 weeks! She said a scheduler would call me that day and that we might be able to get in really fast as there have been a lot of cancellations from patients testing positive for covid at their pre-op covid test. 

The scheduler called me at noon and had said we couldn't get in until 1/24 (which felt SO FAR OFF) but in the middle of our conversation she let me know that another scheduler told her there was a covid-related cancellation for Monday and that she'd look into it and call me back. I was ELATED! Within 15 minutes, she called back and said we could have that appointment for the first surgery of the day on Monday at our preferred hospital (I told them we would go to any of the 3 hospital they operate at). But I needed to get him tested for covid and get a pre-op physical that day. They have a slick set-up for covid tests at the Children's hospital so that was easy to schedule - it's in their parking garage and they come to your car for the test and would expedite his test since he had surgery Monday morning. But poor Will - it was his 3rd covid test that week and boy does he hate the nasal swabs! I was luckily able to get a pre-op physical set for that day at 4:40. I had tried contacting our pediatrician through mychart to see if one of his recent visits could count for a pre-op but I knew my chances of hearing back might be slim as she's super busy. She'll often get back to us within 24 hours, but I didn't want to count on her getting back to me on a Friday afternoon, which is a day that I know she's booked solid in clinic. 

Besides dealing with all the surgery stuff, we had people in our house on Friday converting our fireplace to gas. They were done early afternoon and this baby has been going A LOT since as it's been super cold here. I snapped a picture after they left but before I could get the mantle decorated again. But you get the idea. I love this fireplace so much and am so glad I convinced Phil to convert it to gas.

We laid low all weekend since we knew Will wasn't feeling well and Paul needed to quarantine due to his covid exposure. Luckily Saturday was pretty mild so we were able to get outside for a walk and some sledding! 

Paul's sledding cheering section

Sledding with daddy

I didn't get a picture of this, but we took Will sledding on a really small hill and he loved it! 

Sunday was bitterly cold so we laid low and worked on puzzles, read books, and tried to stay sane. I'm so over covid and not being able to go anywhere. In non-covid times, I would have taken Paul to an indoor play area or a Children's Museum or something. But even if he wasn't quarantining from the positive case at school, I still wouldn't take him anywhere indoors since he's not a reliable mask wearer and it's not worth the risk of him getting covid and needing to quarantine at home (our daycare hasn't updated their policy to reflect the latest guidance from the CDC so it's at least 7 days at home if he tests positive). 

On Sunday, I made lentil enchiladas for dinner which oddly is the biggest crowd pleaser in our house. As a child, a crowd pleaser was spaghetti. But would you believe that Paul turns up his nose at pasta with meat sauce (which I doctor up with blitzed vegetables) and loves lentil enchiladas? Will loves pretty much anything but he seemed to especially love these enchiladas. 

Monday started bright and early for us as I had to check-in with Will at 6am. He was a total trooper. I thought he'd be super cranky since he hadn't eaten since he nursed at 1am during the night but he was pretty happy. The pre-op nurse said he was the easiest 7:30 tubes baby she's ever had! 

He went into the OR at 7:30, was back in my arms at 8, and we were home by 9! The surgeon said he sucked out tons of thick fluid so clearly surgery was necessary. It is nice to know he's not in pain anymore and can hear properly! We'll get his hearing re-checked at his 4 week post-op appointment, but I'm sure it will be back to normal. We went through the same thing with Paul before he got tubes at 9 months - mild to moderate hearing loss pre-surgery, normal hearing afterwards. 

Will was his happy, active self that day and was cleared to go back to school the next day. 

I was home in time that morning to take Paul for his covid test and I got tested as well since I have ANOTHER cold. Our tests were all negative thank goodness! 

Sleep wasn't exactly awesome last night as Will has gotten used to eating 2-3 times/night. I'll give him a couple of nights of comfort nursing and then it's time to do some sleep training again to get him to sleep through the night as being up multiple times a night isn't good for any of us! The sleep training process is not fun, and I know it's controversial/not for everyone. But we are team "do what it takes to get everyone sleeping through the night." He took to it very well at 7 months so I am sure he'll be back to sleeping through the night pretty quickly (I hope!). 

And there you have it. Doctors appointments, covid tests, surgery. Oh my. It's been a hectic string of days, but I think/hope better days and more sleep are ahead!

How was your weekend?