Adorable Alex has Surgery

After 7 ear infections in the past 6 months, we knew it was time to get tubes put in Alex's ears.  It wash't a tough choice to make if we wanted our son to get better.  And so after waiting to see if he would outgrow the ear infections, it became apparent that the only way to stop them (and the constant dosage of antibiotics and side effects from those) was to go through with it.

Sad he has to have surgery

So off we went to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning.  We dropped Jillian off at the Malnars (thanks Meredith and Justin) who took her to school.  

But glad he would hopefully feel better soon

Alex was such a good baby about the whole thing.  He didn't cry even though we woke him up early. He didn't cry because I was not able to feed him since you have to fast before surgery.  He didn't cry at the 1.5 wait till it was our turn.  All in all, I think he was just happy about the extra cuddle time and two-on-one attention that Julian and I were able to give him (and that he rarely gets).

He was so cute with his Elfie (the stuffed elephant).  He has Elfie with him every night as he goes to sleep and he loves cuddling with him.  I think having Elfie with him through it all brought him great comfort.

Getting ready to get taken into the OR

All in all, he was back in the OR for about 20 minutes.  They were 20 nerve-wracking minutes filled with lots of prayers and hopes for a complication-free surgery.  He did cry a little as he was coming out of the anesthesia and he seemed out of it for about 20 minutes.

Looking a little dazed and confused

 We were back home by 9:30 AM and after a quick nap at home, Alex was back to his normal, adventurous self.  We spent the rest of the day with our little guy, crawling around the house playing hide and seek.  It was really great to get to spend the day with him since we are rarely at home at the same time, much less able to focus on just him.  As much as I'm sad that we were home with him because he had surgery, I am so grateful that he can be well now and for the special day with Bubsy.

Of course, we also could not wait to pick up Jillian from school.  She asked how her baby brother was and sang him silly, sweet get better songs on the way home.  She saw her helmet in the garage and decided that her baby brother needed to wear it to keep his ears safe after surgery.  Silly sister!  

Bubsy baby, I hope your daddy and I made the right choice to have this surgery on you.  Please know that we will always try to do right by you and take care of you the best we can.  And every once in awhile, we'll take the day off to spend quality time with just you, too!  Love you, son!