Are you in as much disbelief as we are that a year has actually passed by already and Victoria is turning a year old today?? So much has happened this year that I’m surprised we don’t feel like she is turning two instead of one! However, it has been such a blessing to go through everything we have been through with her. She is such a joy and we feel so very blessed to have her in our lives.
Victoria had her 6-month checkup with Dr. Mayer today. He listened to her heart and said that he heard a slight murmur, but mentioned that was normal with the type of surgery that Victoria had. He said she sounds great!
Today Elyssa and Natalie had to have their adenoids removed and tubes put in their ears. Natalie had tubes put in her ears last April but they came out. Elyssa has never had tubes, but had at least 11 documented ear infections this past year.
We were told to arrive at the surgery center at 6:30am. The girls were still sleeping soundly so we grabbed them up from a dead sleep and put them into the car. They, of course, woke up but were okay with being awakened early.
We had reminded them that Dr. Bryars was going to fix their ears today. We encouraged them by letting them know that they would feel much better after Dr. Bryars put tubes in. We explained that they would get to smell funny air and it would make them feel sleepy. We wanted to prepare them as much as we could for everything.
Elyssa was so brave and volunteered to go first. Natalie was hanging onto Mark and me for dear life, so I didn’t think she would want to go unless taken from our arms by force. We bragged on Elyssa and her bravery! She did wonderfully! She never cried at all! She even told us that she had been so brave after it was all over with. She reminded us that she didn’t even cry. It was cute. Natalie, on the other hand, screamed bloody murder which is what we expected from her. In the end, she went to sleep just fine and that was all that was needed.
Elyssa’s tubes went in just fine. Natalie’s were more of a challenge. She had a LOT of puss that Dr. Bryars had to suck out. He said her ears were really bad.
They were kind enough to put Elyssa and Natalie beside each other. Elyssa rolled out in her bed and Natalie was screaming so they put her directly into her daddy’s arms. She quickly calmed down once Mark was holding her. I’ve already told Mark that I think she is going to be a “daddy’s girl.” Natalie did get sick twice while Mark was holding her and they eventually gave her some medication to calm her tummy. Thank goodness, that did the trick!
We were released to go home around 12:30pm. The nurses came to take out the girl’s IVs. Elyssa didn’t even cry and Natalie, of course, screamed. It was over quickly, though. Both girls were still very sleepy, so they slept some of the way home. We immediately put them into the bed once we arrived at the house. They had long naps and woke up hungry! They seemed to do okay on ice cream, juices and such. Already they seem to almost be their “normal” energetic selves! I’m sure tomorrow will be an interesting day since I’ll have all three girls to myself! I’m sure things will get back to full swing and that will be just fine. I might gain a few more grey hairs, but I’ll just be glad to see my little girls playing again!
PS – Keep Victoria in your prayers! Dr. Bryars, the ENT, says that her ear canals are the size of a pencil lead. He is dumbfounded each time he tries to look in her ears. He has to try to look with his microscope and can only see a small part of her eardrum. He told me that he has never had a child with such small ear canals. Victoria still has an ear infection, but her ear canal is not big enough for an ear tube to fit into it. At this point, she will be treated with more antibiotics. This may be a regular thing for her until her ears grow enough for a tube to be inserted into it.
PSS – Here is a video of Elyssa after her surgery. She said she “didn’t even cry.”
Today started out like any other Sunday. I was busy getting the girls dressed for church and making sure that we all arrived on time. We had a great day and after the service was over, Mark had to be in a meeting for about 20-30 minutes right after church. I rounded up all three girls and Natalie and Elyssa made their usual run to Mark’s office to get their favorite thing in the whole world … a pack of Smarties candy.
Someone helped me put them all of the girls in the van so we could go grab something quick for lunch while we waited on Mark to finish his meeting. Elyssa and Natalie always like to eat their Smarties right when they get into the van, which doesn’t seem to affect their appetite for lunch, thank goodness! They both did their usual unrolling of their little round candies and began to eat them. I had started pulling the van out of the church parking lot and was in the exit lane at this point. I could see Natalie sitting in the back seat of the van through my rear-view-mirror. I was talking to both girls when I noticed, all of the sudden, that Natalie was not eating a piece of her candy. No! She was stuffing it into the opening of her nose! It all seemed to happen in slow motion. If you can imagine me screaming louder and louder … “No, no, no, no, no …!” I felt like I said “no” a million times, but to no avail. She proceeded to take her pointing finger on her right hand and continue to stuff the Smartie the rest of the way up her right nostril. I was horrified! I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. I thought to myself, “What child in their right mind would stuff something up their nose???” Then, of course, I remembered that kids do this kind of thing all the time. I have no idea why, but they do.
My traffic light had turned green at this point, and I had to go since there were cars behind me. I pulled right into the Shell station that was next to the church exit. I quickly unbuckled my seat belt and made my way to the back of the van. Natalie’s right eye had begun to water profusely and she was sneezing over and over again now. I finally reached her and looked up her right nostril. I could see the Smartie sitting vertically at the back of her nose, but there was no way I could reach it. I wasn’t even sure that I could reach it if I had tweezers. I called Mark in a panic and thankfully, his meeting had not started yet. He couldn’t believe what I was telling him, but had to keep his calm for the next 20 minutes to get through his presentation. He did ask me if Natalie could breathe and if she was acting okay. I told him that she was. He told me to go ahead and get the girls something to eat and then he would be done with his meeting quickly to help.
We rode to McDonald’s to get hamburgers through the drive-through and then headed back to the church. I was still in a panic and couldn’t stand the thought of Natalie having candy stuck in her nose!! I kept telling her to not touch her nose anymore. I didn’t want her to shove it up her nose any further.
When we arrived back at the church, I tried to have her blow her nose. She did blow her nose and some orange mucus came out, but no candy. It had already begun dissolving. I could still see the candy when she began blowing, but then after she blew her nose, she took a deep breath in and sucked the candy on up into her sinus cavity. It was no longer visible and I was really grossed out then! Now, she had the crazy candy stuck IN HER FACE!!! How horrible was that??
Mark finally came out of his meeting and I told him everything that had happened. He, of course, couldn’t see the candy either. He sat in the back of the van by Natalie on the way home to try to comfort her in this terribly weird situation. I had put a call into the pediatrician’s office and they let me know to put saline drops into her nose. They said the candy would eventually dissolve and she should be okay. They told me to look out for her running a fever or anything unusual in her behavior.
We assume at this point that the candy has dissolved. Natalie never developed a fever and she has acted fine. I told Mark that at least while the candy was stuck in her face that she probably had a nice orange flavor constantly dripping into her throat. I guess you have to find the positives in situations like this, huh?
Here is a funny video that I took of Natalie the day she shoved the Smartie in her nose.
