Blake goes to the hospital

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Blake went to Mass Eye and Ear to get ear tubes in as well as his tonsils and adenoids out. Mommy and Daddy were nervous about the surgery, but luckily, Blake had no idea what to expect. In preparation, we purchased some books: Bye Bye Tonsils, Curious George Goes to the Hospital, and Franklin Goes to the Hospital. The books are fairly detailed and long. Jack was enthralled; Blake less so. Jack was very into the idea that Blake could not eat or drink the morning of surgery. 

Blake would say, "tonsils out."

http://youtu.be/C0WAH5NDEOU

And open his mouth to say, "ahhhh," and point to his tonsils. 

Blake was in a great mood when we woke him up for our 5:30am departure from home. 

Pre-surgery there were lots of toys for distraction. Blake did ask for "snack" and "water bottle" a few times, but for the most part, he was playing and happy. 

Surgery lasted from 7:50am to 9:15am. Blake was not a happy camper upon wake up post-surgery. He was confused, upset, and in pain.  Mommy and Daddy held him, rocked him, and sang to him for awhile before heading to his hospital room. 

We had heard that Blake might have to share a hospital room. Thankfully, Mass Eye and Ear pediatrics is mostly private rooms, so we were on our own. It would have been very difficult to share a room post-op!

That first day was a lot of cuddling in bed with Blake. 

After a long afternoon nap, we hit the playroom and found some fun toys and books. You can tell the poor guy is not feeling well. 

This was poor Blake's attempt at a smile. 

There was no milk or water consumption during the day, but we tried again with food at dinner. Still no liquid consumption, but Blake did try some solids at that point...a bite of Mac and cheese, a bite of applesauce, a bite of chocolate ice cream. 

Daddy went home to Max and Jack while Mommy stayed overnight with Blake. The night was pretty disruptive with 2-3 hour chunks of sleep due to Blake's falling oxygen levels (the solution was pretty constant re-positioning of Blake in bed). We survived the night and Blake woke the next morning much more comfortable. 

At breakfast, Blake surprised us by eating an entire pancake!  He also had 2 bites of egg. 

We went for a wagon ride through the halls. 

And made some music. 

Jack and Max sent plenty of picture to wish Blake well (including pictures of Blake's new giraffe from Grammy and Papi). Blake has been calling the giraffe a zebra...we are working on it!

After lunch (and Tylenol and Oxycoden), Blake managed a few sips of milk and water. 

In the afternoon, Blake started getting tired of his hospital bed and started asking for "home."  

Luckily, we were cleared to go home for the night at around 4:45pm since Blake's oxygen levels were good during nap time and he had started drinking liquids. 

Jack and Blake were very happy to see one another. Blake ran to the back door as did Jack. They tapped the glass at one another, laughing while waiting for Mommy and Daddy to open the door. 

Our first night back at home actually went quite well. Daddy thought of putting Blake in his own bed (Mommy was going to have him sleep downstairs), and it was a great call!  Blake slept soundly through the whole night (other than every 4 hours when we woke him up for Tylenol, and even then, he went right back to sleep). He even drank some sips of water willingly from the water bottle we put in his bed.   

Blake has had a first great morning at home. He has enjoyed playing with his toys again. 

We are sure to have more rocky times over the next 2 weeks, but we are thankful that things have gone as well as they could have these last 2.5 days.