LET THERE BE HEALTH...

Being healthy is something that my family has usually been blessed with. Dave and I rarely ever get sick, and compared to other people, our kids are also very healthy. On occasion we would see a runny nose, or a random 24hour bug, but overall.....healthy. Unfortunately, that seemed to change in the past few months. I didn't really notice the change until right before Christmas break. The day before we left for Idaho Brynlee started to complain that she wasn't feeling well and was very congested. The night before I could hear her snoring LOUDLY and the thought occurred to me that I should probably take a look at her tonsils. I'm not sure why I had never looked before, but the thought had never crossed my mind. Anyway, I took a peak the next day and they were HUGE! (Dang I wish you could see them in this picture)

Kinda freaked me out so I decided to take her to the walk-in clinic that night to make sure everything was ok. Come to find out....she had an ear infection, but no strep. The practitioner looked at her tonsils and just told me to keep an eye on them. She said they could just be inflamed cuz she was sick. The following morning Halle woke up throwing up...grrrreeeaaattt!! We took off to Idaho that day and did have one throw-up incidence in the car, but thanks to a plastic bag we had no mess. Both of them had fevers and we were just hoping to keep them away from other kids....and their baby sister. I just really didn't want Sophie to get sick. A couple days later Dave felt like he might be getting sick...and it hit him HARD!! He was constantly wrapped in a blanket at my parents house, and if you've ever been to their house you would know they keep it WARM! Dave is usually dying every time were are there, so b/c he was wrapped in a blanket we all knew he was sick! Shortly after, I started to feel it. Mine didn't turn into much besides a stuffy nose, cough, and raspy voice. Luckily it passed and we enjoyed the rest of our trip!

( This is a video of Brynlee snoring. She didn't always snore like this...only when she was congested)

Fast forward to the middle of January and Brynlee started crying that her ear was hurting again. Not even a month later and I knew she had another ear infection. I decided it was time to visit the ENT. Thankfully I got her in the next day and we were informed that the tonsils and adnoids would definitely need to come out. He also said her left ear didn't look good at all and he wanted us to come back in 10 days (after a round of antibiotics) and have her hearing checked. We did, and found out she had fluid behind both of her ears with 15% and 20% hearing loss. Tubes had never even crossed my mind, but they needed to be done too. So the surgery was scheduled for Feb. 10th.

The same day Brynlee had her 1st appt with the ENT, Halle came down with a fever. She had no ear complaints but she was congested and fevered for the next 5-6 days. I never had her looked at and just let it run it's course. Then....I started to feel a scratch in my throat. I knew it was coming. And then....Sophie started to show signs. Oh my heck I was sooo sad! I did not want her to get sick so young. Unfortunately, it didn't matter...she got sick. I don't think there is anything worse than having to suck the brains out of your baby to try and help them breath. I felt so bad for her. She had a little cough and runny eyes and would really struggle with coughing and gagging after she would eat. After a couple days I took her in and they told me it sounded like RSV. Those are not the words a mother wants to hear! She also had an ear infection. I was told b/c she was getting air in and out of her lungs and was was still eating(although a lot less) and making wet diapers, she would be ok. They gave me a Rx to take her in and get a high speed snot suction if we needed it, and luckily we didn't. Needless to say I was feeling a little overwhelmed with sick me, sick Sophie, and surgery.

(This is a video of when they were prepping her. This Anesthesiologist was being so nice and trying to make her laugh and feel comfortable, but you can see that she is very nervous! :( )

On Feb. 10th Brynlee had her first surgery. We had to report to the Surgery Center at 7 a.m. She didn't seem nervous at all until they started to take up back to the prep area. I was there with her, but it still scared her. Everyone was super nice, but they had to take her away from me and it was AWFUL!! She was crying and reaching for me and I'm pretty sure it was as hard for me as it was her. It made me cry! Luckily they came out and told me she calmed down quickly and went right to sleep. Kindof a crazy feeling sitting there knowing your child is asleep on an operating table. Overall she did very well. The day of the surgery all she wanted to do was sleep, but after that she seemed to recover quickly. At about day 6 it seemed like the pain really picked up. There were lots of tears and lots of pain meds, but we got through it! We just had her follow up appt yesterday and they said her hearing is back to normal and everything looks good. She was definitely excited to hear she had the go ahead to eat whatever she wants! Certain things still bother her throat, but we are almost back to our regular Brynlee.

(This is right after they brought her out to the recovery room. Poor kid!)