Who Said Tubes Were A Big Deal???

Natalie's tubes went in this morning! She did fairly well. Lots of crying and whining while we were in the pre-op room. Luckily this part only lasted about 20 minutes.

The OR nurse came to get her with a pre-heated blanket which she wrapped around her as soon as she took her from us. Natalie immediately quieted down much to our surprise. Usually she HATES strangers (or anyone other than mommy or daddy for that matter) but she went right to the nurse with no fight...or even the evil eye! I am sure most of you are picturing that signature frown and furrowed brow about now :) They said she never cried the entire time she was in the OR.

Her "surgery" was really quick. About 15 minutes after we left her we were able to go back in to be with her in recovery. She had already been awake for a few minutes before I went back in with her and still no tears!! The nurses said that is VERY RARE. Of course all good things must come to an end, right?? Well, about 3 minutes after I picked her up the tears began to flow. She didn't want anything to do with the nurses she had made "friends" with :) So, about 20 minutes after she awoke, we were allowed to take her home.

She cried about 1/2 of the way home and then suddenly stopped...she started looking around and had that "where the heck am I???" look on her face. Since that moment she has been perfectly back to normal. Of course we came straight home and had some snuggle time in the rocker and watched one of her favorite cartoons (Oswald). Pretty soon, she hopped down and played on her own while I got lunch ready. She scarfed down her lunch meat and crackers and brought her empty plate to counter and started signing "more!" So, 2 plate fulls later she was finally full and emphatically signed "all done". After lunch she gladly went to her bed for a nap. Memaw picked Nathan up from school today so Natalie could get a good nap in...guess it's a good thing we had that plan as she slept from 1:15 to 4:45! Guess she needed to sleep off that anesthesia!

After an awesome nap, she woke up refreshed and ready to play! So far this evening she has not shown any evidence of her surgery this morning so I suppose she is completely back to normal now :) She loves the bracelet from the hospital...she's been wearing it around all afternoon.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers for a smooth morning. It wasn't all roses, but it went better than we had hoped. She doesn't seem to be too traumatized by the ordeal and she should feel a lot better now that the fluid can drain properly. We are hopeful that the tubes will prevent future ear infections and allow her to hear a little better which will should help increase her vocabulary. We'll keep you posted on any new words we hear coming from our sweet baby girl!