Stats

We finally got Jax in for his two-year checkup today... a month late. Eh, not much happened in that month with the exception of volcano ear (which I'll explain). First, though, here's the stats (feel free to scroll past this if you're not a grandparent).

Height: 36" (90th percentile)

Weight: 32 lbs (80th percentile)

So there you have it. He's still big. Both he and Ava seem to be going through major growth spurts right now. Maybe it's the humidity. Or maybe it's the massive amounts of watermelon these kids consume. Or maybe, they're just going to take after their Daddy and be tall. Who knows.

The pediatrician says everything looks great! She was impressed that he's already potty training so (we even bought him big boy underwear today) and says his vocabulary and speech are well beyond normal for his age. She was especially surprised at how well he puts entire sentences together. He has his big sister to thank for that. She's a big talker. He had to learn to talk, and fast, if he wanted to ever get a word in edgewise. So he did. Which has been so helpful in Ava's pretend adventures. Now she has someone other than Mama to share in all the excitement with, and who can add to the storylines and make-believe fun.

And finally... the pediatrician  said the mancub's ears are looking great, which was a HUGE relief after the volcano ear incident about two weeks ago. Jax woke up one morning with blood just oozing out of his left ear. Andy calmly suggested we get him into the doctor, I, of course, panicked and started looking up "brain aneurysms" online. In hindsight that was obviously a little dramatic. But, I'm a worrier. You know that. I'm pretty sure I'll end up in the loony bin one day. Anywho, we got him into the pediatrician that day (different one) who told me "volcano ear" (as a woman in our ward calls it) sometimes happens in kids with tubes. Either, the ear was inflamed due to infection or sickness, or the tube is beginning to push it's way out. He asked if Jax may have stuck anything in his ear. I kinda laughed at this question and said, "No, I've never seen him stick anything in his ear." AS I said this, I look over at Jax and he's sticking a tongue depressor in his ear. Seriously. The EXACT moment. The little dude just smiled impishly, like he knew he was making me look like an idiot. I'm pretty sure my face caught on fire from embarrassment. The doc looked at me suspiciously, but just gave me some drops and sent us on our way. The drops seemed to help and Jax is always so good to remind me to put them in, but still today two weeks later he had some stuff coming out. Today's ped says it looks like the left tube is beginning to dislodge, which is kinda early. Usually, tubes should stay in for 1.5-2 years, Jax got his in one year from yesterday. She must have sensed that I'm a worrier, maybe I make a worrier face, or maybe there's just a worrier-ness about me, whatever it was she was very adament in stressing that this is nothing to worry about. His ear could very well be ready to go tubeless. Or, it could be abandoning ship prematurely. If that's the case, he'd just get another set of tubes. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

So there you have it. Jax is huge. My kids like watermelon. Jax and Ava talk... alot. Jax's ears are fine. That would have been much simpler. But what would a blog post from me be if not long? :)

Tubes

For about ten minutes today, my stomach was in complete knots. Jax had tubes inserted into his ears today. It's a minor procedure, but despite reassurance from Andy, doctors, friends whose children had undergone the same surgery and the dozens of web articles I read, I was still terribly nervous. My little boy was having surgery. Again, it was minor. The procedure was just five minutes, but it was surgery nonetheless.


Jax, Andy and I arrived at the surgical center around 8 am (Ava was at her buddy Ethan's house). As I filled out paperwork, Andy and Jax scoped out the giant aquarium. Jax, a lover of all animals, bugs and squirmy things, shrieked with excitement yelling "Vish" (fish). I just kept thinking that he had no idea what was coming. I'm sure he recognized that our normal morning routine had been disturbed. I mean, his mother hadn't fed him or given him water despite his pleas "Wawa, peas" (water, please.) FYI, I wasn't starving him by choice, he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything for several hours before surgery.

Twenty minutes later we were back in pre-op changing Jax into the cutest little get-up I've ever seen. Let's face it, there's nothing cute about a hospital gown... on an adult. But on my chubby little 13-month-old, it's freakin' adorable.


He even had his little booty hanging out (diaper-covered, of course), like a real hospital patient.

Jax played in the toy room for a few minutes (he quickly extracted each car, truck or wheeled-object from the toy box) before a nurse came in and took him. To be honest, I hesitated a little handing my sweet little boy over to her. He, being the friendly little guy he is, went right to her and waved bye-bye to me. It was a really hard goodbye for me. I knew I'd see him soon, yet I couldn't help but worry. Like I said, it's surgery. I worried something would go wrong, he'd have an allergic reaction to anesthesia, the doctor would make a mistake -- all those things that happen once out of every million. But what if Jax was that one? I held tightly to Jax's Elmo and Bear, as if my cuddling them would provide Jax with vicarious Mama-protection. We sat in the waiting room, I attempting to read, but really only making it through one paragraph, of which I could tell you nothing. Fortunately, a nice old man came over and began talking to us about his annoyance with all the Michael Jackson coverage (it was on the news in the waiting room), and before I knew it, they were calling us back to the recovery room.

The doctor warned us that it could take up to an hour for Jax to come to after surgery and that, once awake, crying would likely ensue for just as long. However, when we arrived in the recovery room, our little guy, bundled up in a blanket in the arms of a sweet nurse, was already waking up. I immediately took him in my arms, he was so limp. As he began to stir, the shock of the situation set in and he began crying. It lasted about two minutes -- ending as soon as I gave him a goldfish cracker and something to drink. His body remained limp for just a few more minutes, as soon as he had food in his system his strength came back. We were out of there just 20 minutes after his surgery ended.


As for the rest of the day... after a three hour nap, the mancub was back to normal: walking, walking, walking all over the house, chasing Ava, eating his body weight in apples and cheese (his favorite), driving his truck, walking some more and laughing with Ava.

So, the surgery was a success. The tubes should fall out in about 18 months. The hope is, they'll correcct his ear issues and he'll be ear infection-free. Actually, he'll still likely get the occasional ear infection, just like any kid, but nothing like he suffered his first year of life. If he does happen to get an ear infection, he won't be given antibiotics, just drops. Thank goodness! I know it's only been a few hours since Jax became a tuber, but I gotta say, in my eyes it's already worth it. I don't know what I was worrying about :)