adios tonsils and adenoids!!

from the first day little riggies was born we were a little alarmed by how hard it was for him to breathe.  i remember panicking every time i nursed him because he honestly could't breathe through his nose.  and there was the snoring.  his snoring has been insane.  so when he was 8 months old the doctor had him sleep with a monitor on to see how his oxygen levels were at night.  he had multiple episodes during the night suggesting sleep apnea.  the doctor suggested we have his adenoids and tonsils removed in a year or so.  well, riggs is now 2 almost 3 years old.  lately the boy has been keeping me up at night like a newborn.  okay, not quite as bad as a newborn, but close!  the poor boy is just restless all night long.  he wakes up all night long and then ends up wandering around the house confused.  i wake up quite often having to put him back in his bed or finding him in some random spot on the floor.  i decided it was finally time to take him in and get this taken care of.  things move quick once you go in to the ENT to schedule surgery because of insurance purposes.  i have to say the days leading up to the surgery i was an anxious, hot mess!!! whenever rhett and i fasted and prayed we knew riggins needed the surgery and that he would be okay, but still....my mind completely wandered way too much!  

the hospital called the day before to tell us to be there by 5:45am.  i had no idea what we were going to do with our girls.  i couldn't decide if i should ask one of my friends if i could drop the girls off at their houses at 5 in the morning or if one of us should stay home(which neither of us could imagine doing). luckily rhett's grandma called me for something completely random and the conversation ended with her saying she was going to take the girls the night before and they would just sleep over. hallelujah!  that for sure ended up being the best option, she lives right by the hospital!

i got a total of 3 hours of sleep the night before riggies surgery.  we woke riggs up at 5am and he was calm and happy as can be.  he did really want a bowl of oatmeal and some milk, but sadly we had to keep his tummy empty.  

i had made the mistake of googling toddlers and tonsillectomies.  not a good idea.  haha.  apparently most of the time it is an awful experience!!

i truly believe fasting and prayers work!  because the day simply could not have gone smoother.  riggins made best friends with all the doctors and nurses and he handled it all like a champ!

one of the nurses let him pick out a teddy bear and a toy(:

 i was nervous how riggs would act when the time came for them to take him back without us.  when the doctor asked him if he was ready he said, 'yep, but can i take my blanky?!'  they were so sweet and let him take his blanket back in the OR.

if you ever want your mommy heart to break though, just watch them wheel your baby away.  ahhh, worst feeling ever!!

 so i had heard the hardest part is when your little one wakes up from surgery.  they are normally panicked, hurting, and confused.  so i had been mentally preparing myself to see riggs that way.  

after the surgery i braced myself as we went into the recovery room.  i walked in and laid by him and he smiled at me and said 'hi mom, look at the fish!'  haha.  they had fish painted on the walls and he was pointing out all the different colored fish.  i kept asking the nurse why he was so happy, i was the confused one!  haha.  the post op nurses were loving him.  they said they have never had such a happy kid(patient) after surgery.  oh man, the relief i felt was amazing.  the doctor also came in for a quick second to tell me he thought the surgery went really well and that riggs' tonsils and adenoids were quite big.

they took him up to the peds floor and he immediately started eating and drinking.  i know a lot of the time tonsillectomies are same day surgeries but since riggs is under three they kept him for observation.  

riggy did really well the rest of the day.  he took his meds like a champ and the only thing he really complained of was the IV.

my hopes were up that since the day had gone way better than i had expected that the doctor would let us go home for the night.  he came in right before 9pm and said he wanted riggs to stay until morning.  i questioned him on why because riggins (and i) REALLY wanted to go home.  his doctor said although the risk is super small, there is still a tiny, tiny chance his throat could close up and block off his breathing while he was sleeping.  that freaked me out enough i didn't ask anymore questions about him keeping us.

rhett and the girlies went home and i had a sleepover with my little boyfriend.  i had ran home and grabbed my laptop and a couple of his favorite movies and we made a night of it. it ended up being kind of fun.  i slept right next to riggs and we just cuddled up and watched the movie planes.  not to mention i slept peacefully, probably because i knew he was being monitored all night by someone other than me.  

we left pretty early the next morning and headed home.  i was pleasantly surprised rhett had gotten the girls off to school with their hair done and lunches made.  seriously, he's the cutest/best dad ever!

 so for the most part things have been going pretty smoothly here at home.  i can definitely tell when his medicine has kicked in and when it is wearing off.

i felt bad because we had to drag him to church on sunday so i could help with the primary program and also, we wanted to watch the girls do their parts.  we made sure to drug riggs up so he wouldn't be hurting during sacrament.  after the program riggs and i left and he was definitely starting to get tired and was hurting by then.

he spiked a fever the other night which totally freaked rhett and i out!  luckily some friends and surprisingly google helped talk me down from my anxiety attack and all was fine.  apparently it is normal within the first three days after surgery.

we just finished up day 7 and today was definitely one of his harder days.  i thought he was feeling well enough we could sit in the car while tacey was in tavaci.  big mistake.  i ended up pulling tacey out early because riggs was crying so hard because he hurt.  :(

but honestly, i'm still grateful with how well he has been doing!  he is still eating, drinking, and taking his medicine so we are on the right track!  by 2 weeks he should be feeling himself again, so the countdown is on.

and this is completely random but RIGGINS decided it was time to be potty trained.  i never, ever would have decided to potty train him while he was recovering from surgery.  but he all of a sudden just started going on the potty.  he has had a couple of accidents but for the most part he always makes it!  not sure where that came from but since we are trapped at home anyway i guess why not!  

sorry, that was super long and probably boring.  but i figure one day it will be something good to look back and read about(:

i sure love my riggie roo and am so proud of what a trooper he has been.