8 Months Old

Happy Eight Month Birthday to you Lily! What a lovely birthday present we had for you....surgery.

We got up at 4AM to take Lily to Blue Ridge Surgery Center to get a double Myringotomy with pressure equalizing tubes. We had to report at 6AM without letting her eat or drink after midnight the night before. So Michael and I worked really hard to keep her up past her 9PM bedtime. We made it to 9:30PM. It was so precious to see her head nodding off while I tried to read her a story to keep her interested. But alas we had to give up and but her to bed. So we dressed her in her surgery outfit. They requested a top pant combo so she wouldn't be cold during the surgery. They made her take off the top for the procedure. Our grand plan was to keep her asleep as long as possible to fight off hunger issues. My little baby is just like her Mommy...once her eyes open her mouth opens for food.

We were successful she stayed asleep until about 6:30 right before pre-op. Everyone was really nice. I will say the place could have been a little cleaner to my standards but nothing gross. Just an older building. The nurses asked us a bunch of questions, we talked to the anesthesiologist about what to expect when she woke up, and got to pick a "flavor" of gas for her to smell. We picked strawberry. Hopefully she like it! Then the doctor came for any last minute questions. We didn't have any. Then the nurse came to take her away.

Oh it was hard! I tried not to let her see me cry and gave her a quick peck and an "I love you" before I turned around fighting back tears. Then we were ushered out into the lobby, all teary eyed to wait. I think they should give the parents gas as well because it was awful waiting. But Michael did his best to distract me. Apparently I was not nearly as bad as he expected me to be. It helped that there were like five kids there getting tubes! But Lily was first since she was the youngest. One lady had twins getting them at the same time! EEK! Here is a picture of what they did. He said she would have a lot relief from the pressure release. The tube would allow the fluid to escape and hearing to return to normal. So we waited....
Fifteen minutes is like eternity when you child is away from you. I really had to go to the bathroom and didn't want to because I knew the doctor would come out as soon as I went into restroom. The procedure only takes 10-15 minutes. But I decided to go and low and behold when I came out Dr. Clark was sitting with Michael. He said when he made the incision in her eardrum a ton of fluid gushed out. We should see an immediate difference in her hearing and a lot of drainage over the next few days. But he did say the eardrum did not look infected just full of fluid. But the procedure went fine and we were going to see her in the next few minutes. He said we may see an improvement in speech and balance too. She is actually right on schedule with this stuff so we are doing good and I don't think we will notice. If she starts talking in full sentences we will know something is up!

The nurse came and got us and took us to recovery. I could hear her before I got to the door. Screaming. It was terrible. It was her pain scream. Like when she would wake in the middle of night, eyes still closed and inconsolable. Those were usually the nights we knew her ear was hurting. Like crying her in sleep. The nurse told us this was normal and she may be like this for a little while longer. They recommended I nurse her and then go on and head home. As soon as we were alone and I was trying to nurse her I just broke down. Michael did not understand but it was like a huge wave of relief went over me. I have to admit I had a neurotic fear of her not waking up from the anesthesia. It could happen. So the emotion was just too much and I just started sobbing. She just kept screaming so it made it worse. Well nursing was impossible she wanted nothing to do with it so we were out the door five minutes after we went back to recovery. Still screaming! Out the door two hours later. They bring you in to pay (30 mins), pre op (1hr), surgery (15 min) and recovery (15min). Not too long of a day. I remember getting on the beltline and noticing all the traffic and thinking oh yeah everyone is stuck in morning commute traffic. I felt like my day had started many many hours ago. Was is lunch time yet?

She finally calmed down about twenty to thirty minutes later during the car ride home. I think she cried herself out and she was out like a light. We got home and I took her out of her car seat. We recently switched out of the infant carrier so I assumed she would wake up when I picked her up but nope still out. We walked upstairs with intentions of nursing her. She still has not ate and its like 8:30AM now. But even after I laid her in my bed she was still out. So I laid with her and we slept. She finally woke up at 10:30AM. Wow!

She woke up like nothing had happened. She was smiling and cuddling with me. Cooing. So I let her eat and then we played and she climbed all over me like a jungle gym. Just like it was a weekend day with all of us home.

We decided since she was in a good mood we would go out to lunch and do some errands. So we went to Chili's. She was still in a great mood. A little bit of crusties, blood tinged, in her ear but that was it. Then we went to Target. New rule. If you get surgery you get a new toy. So we picked out this Ball popper thingy. It is hysterical. She was still great in Target and in BJs. Just stayed in her stroller observing!

So we went home and played with her new toy which she loves! I will have to get a video of her with it. She loves balls so this was a special treat. She even picked up the balls and placed them in the contraption a few times. After that it was a normal day, eat, sleep, play.

A few eight months milestones:
-Started saying "mama" this past weekend. This is in addition to "dada" and something that sounds like "dog." Also tries to converse! Just babbles at you alot more.
-Started crawling to everything and pulling up very easily
-Can crawl with stomach off ground but usually chooses not to
-Started table food this week: Cheerios, veggies, will start fruit next week. She actually seems to prefer table food to baby food. So we are finally letting daycare feed her some puffs during the day.
-Weighs 20 pounds
-Upgraded to convertible car seat in SUV, and getting one over the next week for my car.
-Pushing out of majority of 6-9 month clothes and is pretty much in 12 months. I never thought I would say this but I actually had to go buy a stack of clothes for her. She was running out of fitting clothes! I never thought is was possible! She is still so short that the 12 month are long on her but hopefully that wont be an issue as it gets warmer she can wear dresses and shorts. We have no shorts so I may have to work on that! We are really short on PJs too.
-Is trying to stand up alone without holding on. For the past two days we have noticed her in the middle of the floor with her butt in the air on all fours, and crying with frustration. She really wants to stand. I cannot imagine the frustration! She has let go of what she is holding on to for a second and not realized it. This usually results in a fall though.
-Increased frustrations. She seems to feel stuck sometimes when she is standing, or if we don't help her.
-Crawls or cruises short distances to us with up reached arms, whining, and tugging. AKA "Pick me up woman!"

Needless to say she is getting to be a big girl quick. Who knows the ear help means she could be walking way sooner than I expected. I ain't gonna lie she is a big baby with a big head. I fully expected her to be a late walker but man she is trying! With the standing attempts and the frustrations it might be sooner than I expected. Til then....