Ear Tubes, Again

Last Monday, September 21st, we went in for Allie's 3rd pair of ear tubes. In the end, they only needed to put a new tube in the left ear since the last one had been impacted in wax. The right one was just fine, though.

Many children have to get tubes put in several times - sometimes they just fall out or get impacted. Allie will most likely go through this a few more times as well. With Down syndrome it is very common for this to happen. Additionally, as you all know, Allie is small and that causes some additional issues when trying to see into her ears and place very small tubes in them. Until her head grows even more, we will probably continue to have ear and nose issues. Yes, my stuffy girl goes through stuffiness probably more often than some others, but I'm sure it is a lot less than other children, too.

I've included a picture of Allie on August 18, 2008 with Tim for her first set of tubes. Wow! What a difference a year makes. The next picture was the last time we got the tubes done, which was in May of this year. I remember the first ear tube surgery, when they brought her to us, she was still waking up and didn't seem to know either of us. It was so strange and heartbreaking to see her like that - luckily, it only lasted a few minutes. The second time - back in May - she came back and cried just a little. My hugs seemed to calm her rather quickly. This time, when she saw me from the hallway, she let out a big wail. Then, I'd hold her and just get her calmed down and she'd lean back and look at me and the boo-hoo'ing and heavy catching of her breath would begin. We did this many times. One of the rules before we can leave is that Allie drink some clear fluids. Well, the first two times, they gave up and sent us home. Allie isn't big into juice or water and pedialyte must be horrible because she wouldn't touch it. This time, she seems to have acquired a taste for Apple Juice - at least that day. Plus, it didn't hurt that Mom brought her favorite show - Baby Signing Times and her portable DVD player. I didn't think we were going to get her to drink until I hooked up the machine and hit play, she settled down in my arms and drank juice and watched her show. Later it was a good distraction in her fancy crib as I gathered everything together. I guess I'm actually gaining knowledge during this Mommy training period.

Another thing we did was convince them to draw blood while she was asleep. Bonnie - our cousin - can attest to the fact we had to convince them to do it. Bonnie stopped by again to say hi (I'd post the picture - which is great of Bonnie, but horrible of Allie and therefore I just can't post it) and helped encourage me to keep asking until the right person approved it. We did blood tests to see if there is a known reason for Allie's small size. We haven't gotten the results back yet, but Allie has a horrible bruise on her foot from it. And, turns out they had to stick her about 3 times in different places before they got the blood. I'm glad she was sleeping! Poor thing!
Allie watching her favorite show!

Notice from the pictures the difference in Allie... she is much more of a toddler now... not as easy to contain and doesn't pose for pictures as much as before. Makes for a fun challenge I must say.