The day started out a bit rocky. We were mostly worried about him getting enough sleep since he likes to nurse a lot during the night. He kept waking up after we put him down last night too which seemed to make it worse. He wasn't allowed to have anything after midnight, so when he fell asleep nursing right around that time, he was cut off.
He awakened around 3:15 wanting to nurse, but unfortunately he wasn't allowed. He flopped around a bit, kinda tired and groggy, but finally decided he was awake and wanted to nurse and he was not happy that he was being denied. Taran took him to the living room and let him play a little bit since he was up, and finally got him to go back to sleep laying on Taran's chest in a chair at about 4:45.
I got up at about 5:15 and joined them in the living room. I was happy to see that Noah had been able to go back to sleep. Taran however, had not. I showered and got ready, fed the cat and dog, then took the baby to get him changed and ready while Taran also got ready. We headed out to the surgical center at about 5:45 am.
We arrived at the surgical center around 6 am (right on time!) and signed in. We finished up some last minute paperwork then took a seat in the waiting room. Noah was in a surprisingly good mood. He was fascinated with everything around and wanted to explore. He caught the attention of everyone else in the waiting room too. He got so many comments about how cute he was. I have to say I agree! 
They called us back shortly thereafter and took us to the surgical prep area. One of the nurses weighed him, then took his blood pressure and checked his oxygen. I was surprised at how well he did. He sat still while she attached the cuff and pulse/ox probe. I expected he'd want to pull them off and play with them, but he left them alone for the most part and she was able to get her readings without much difficulty (although, she did have to move the blood pressure cuff off of his arm and onto his leg). The nurse then attached his hospital bands to his leg/ankle (which had to be replaced because two of them slipped right off over his foot) and gave me a matching one as well. We then sat and waited for the anesthesiologist to come talk to us. Waiting is not ideal for a 12 mo old, so Taran held him just outside the curtain to our "staging area" so he could watch the activity going on with other patients and at the nurses' station. Soon the anesthesiologist came to speak with us and described how the anesthesia would go. Another nurse came and gave him a sedative. The nurse for his procedure came in and introduced herself and let us know the doctor would be there shortly. We waited a bit more. Still no fun for a baby, especially one that felt he should have been given his breakfast by now. He was starting to get a bit more irritable, but Taran was able to keep him calm with watching the activity going on around us and playing peek-a-boo with the privacy curtain.
The doctor came in to speak with us briefly and go over the procedure with us and the nurse soon came with the anesthesiologist to gather him up. He was a bit groggy from the sedative so he didn't seem to mind leaving us, but then, he hasn't hit the separation anxiety phase yet. We were directed to the waiting room to sit it out.
We both grabbed some coffee and settled in at a nearby table to chat, watch the news, and wait for the procedure to finish. About 15 minutes later, we were called back into a small little meeting room and told the doctor would be in to see us. Before the doctor even came in, the aid returned because Noah was awake, but the doctor hadn't even been in yet! He arrived right about then and discussed the procedure with us. The left ear had quite a bit of exudate as well as extra skin on the ear drum, which is not unusual considering that was the ear that had been draining when infected, so aside from a bit extra to clean up, everything went normally. The doctor then went over discharge instructions and care instructions for Noah's ears. He then escorted us to the recovery area where he said Noah was screaming, but apparently he had settled down as soon as the nurse picked him up.
I was able to nurse him right away which kept him calm. I was surprised that he didn't gulp down from being so hungry, but he seemed more interested in the comfort of his mama, so that was okay by me. The nurse gave us some final discharge instructions and had Taran sign the discharge papers. And we were able to leave.
They had told us that Noah would be groggy and sleepy most of the day, but he didn't get that memo. He played with his toy phone all the way home (which isn't really that long of a trip) and was wide awake when we returned. He was still calmed by the sedative, but he was wide awake and after another nursing session, Noah decided he was ready to play. Walking proved to be a bit difficult as his balance was a bit compromised by drugs, but crawling worked just fine! He played with toys and finally figured out walking again, though it was a bit unsteady.Two hours after the procedure, he seemed to be back to his old tricks of getting into things and wanting to climb around. He has been a bit more sedate, but otherwise, it appears he's pulled through with flying colors. I am one happy mama. I was so worried because I know the risks of anesthesia and he'd never been exposed to it before, but I'm able to relax a bit now. We'll go back to see the doctor for a recheck in about a week. Until then, hopefully we are in for fewer ear infections and that can never be a bad thing!
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