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Brayden Preteen Summary: 9.5 Years Old


This is a summary for Brayden from 9.25 years old to 9.5 years old. Wow! It is incredible to think that I have been a mom for 9.5 years!

EATING
Eating goes on. He still eats a lot of food. He has moved into being concerned about ordering off the kids menu at restaurants because he thinks the meal won't be big enough for him. Sometimes they are not, but we just share with him and let him have the leftovers--we aren't quite ready to pay that much more to eat out!

SLEEPING
We did not have a time during this period where he got out of bed at night. Hurray! All good here.

EXTRA ACTIVITIES
Brayden continued on with piano lessons during this time. Brayden has a strong love for playing the piano. He joined the orchestra at school. He goes to school an hour early two days a week to practice with the orchestra. He is playing the viola. He enjoys it. I don't know how it will look long-term. I think he really likes to play instruments. I will just let him choose what to do long-term. 

Brayden is still doing swim team. He has had two swim meets. He was so incredibly nervous before the first one. After it was all over, he said he loved it. He thought he would be dead last in every race, and he wasn't, so it really boosted his confidence. Swim team is very physically draining--it can make him very tired. He doesn't always love it, but I think overall he likes it. He tells me I should make anything he doesn't like for dinner on swim team practice days because he is so hungry he will eat a lot of anything. I thought that was funny.

COOK
Brayden loves to cook. As I mentioned yesterday in my breakfast foods post, he makes pancakes one day a week and then makes eggs for himself each morning. He loves to help make dinner. 

TUMOR
Early in this period, Brayden told me he had a bump behind his ear at dinner. I get bumps behind my ear quite frequently when a pour gets clogged. I told him it was no big deal and would go away soon. About 5-6 weeks later, he told me he still had a bump, so I looked at it. This was no clogged pore. It was large. I made an appointment with his pediatrician right away.

His doctor looked at it and said it should be removed. Brayden was not happy with that idea at all. The doctor said it was close enough to a major nerve that he thought it best for a specialist to do it. So we called up our ENT who did McKenna's ear tubes. 

We had an appointment with the ENT for a consultation. He asked Brayden about the history of the bump. Brayden gave him a lot of information. When Brayden was done, the doctor said, "Are you sure you aren't 25?!?" The nurse laughed and agreed. They were so impressed with his ability to communicate. The doctor said he gets 65 year old men in there who can't give him any sort of history and just say, "My wife made me come." 

The ENT agreed that the bump should be removed and tested. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but thought it was likely not a big deal.

We scheduled the surgery. Brayden opted for in-office rather than operating room. The ENT has a room he can do simple surgical procedures in (that is where McKenna's tubes were taken out). Brayden chose to have the "happy juice" to help his nerves be calm since he would be awake for the procedure. He was quite nervous about the whole thing. He held perfectly still for the surgery. When the doctor removed the tumor, it was larger than a marble. It was much larger than we realized. Brayden had a couple of layers of stiches and could feel it in the end, but was tough. He couldn't swim for about two weeks and he had to take it easy on the playground and couldn't do PE. 

We were told we would find out in two days, but after four days we hadn't heard. My husband did some calling. Our doctor was out of the office, but it was a Friday and we didn't want to wait the weekend to find out. The results had just come in that morning. We got some answers that made us nervous (I can't tell you over the phone, the nurse needs to talk to the doctor first...these are all the types of things people say when they have bad news and the doctor needs to tell you). In the end, it was just that it was a very rare condition. I can't remember the official name, but it is a hair follicle that has gone crazy. He is completely fine! 

NOTABLE EVENTS
Other things of interest:
  • Brayden is still involved in scouts. He has earned his Bear award. He also won the space derby at our pack meeting! He was excited about that. 
  • Brayden participated in our school's fundraiser and ran a mile. He practiced at home and he did better than he did last year. It was really good for him to see his improvement made over a year. 

BOOKS
Here are some books he loves (you can see more and keep up on books he reads and loves on my Chapter Books for Boys  board. I also have one for girls):

SCHEDULE
Brayden's Schedule. Something to notice with older kids, as they get older, you allow them to have more of a say over how their time is spent:

7:00 AM--wake up. Eat breakfast. Get ready. Practice piano and viola. Do morning chores. Read scriptures. 
Then go to school.
4:00 PM--Home from school. Homework. Free play.
5:30 PM--Dinner. Then time with family.
7:00 PM Start getting ready for bed.
8:30 PM--in bed 
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How to Prepare Your Child for Surgery

Two of my children have had surgery thus far in life. It is always a scary thing--surgery. While most of the time things go right, sometimes things go wrong and that can be nerve wracking. I think it is helpful to prepare yourself and your family ahead of time and to know what to do to help make the whole process easier.
How to Prepare Your Child for Surgery | surgery tips | surgery | #surgery

With Brayden, I had months to research and prepare for his sugery. He had what is called "trigger finger" in his thumb, which meant his ligament was preventing him from extending his thumb fully. His proceedure was rather simple. I was able to talk to moms whose children had been through surgery and get their wealth of knowledge and experience before facing it.

With McKenna, however, I had less than 24 hours notice before her surgery, and a proceedure was added during surgery, giving me no time to prepare. Her initial surgery was  for ear tubes, which is very simple, but she also had an adenoidectomy and a tonsillectomy added at the last moment. The tonsillectomy is not quite so easy and low impact. 

Because of the short time frame I had with McKenna, I thought a post on this blog with genearl tips on prepping for surgery would be helpful for anyone of you whose child needs to have surgery.

Preparation
    How to Prepare Your Child for Surgery | surgery tips | surgery | #surgery
  • Ask Questions: As your doctor, ask your friends, neighbors--anyone you can get in contact with for their experience and what things you should be asking. A hard thing with surgery is we often don't know what we should know. People who have been there can help us out with that.
  • Research: Do your own research on the procedure. Don't just rely on what the surgeon is telling you pre-op. Again, ask people about their experience. What should you expect pre-op and post-op? Ask on social networking sites, read reputable websites, read journal articles....find  out  what you can.
  • Stock Up at Home:: Buy what you will need before the surgery. Buy foods, medicines, humidifiers, etc. all beforehand so you have it at home. Going shopping with a child who just had surgery is even less fun than with a healthy child. Waiting at home while your spouse runs to the store for needed supplies is also not fun if the child is in need of it. Many surgeons will even call in prescriptions the day before surgery so you can have that at home, also.
  • Talk to Your Child: Explain in a way that you think is best for your child. Why is she having surgery? We told McKenna she was having surgery so her ears wouldn't always be in such pain. She had been living with pain in her ears for long enough that this was very exciting for her. Tell the child what you will do (though I don't think I would tell what the surgeon would do). "we will get up early and then go to the hospital. We will put you in a special outfit. You will go with the anesthesiologist...etc." This is training in times of non-conflict. Tell your child enough to give her the tools and power of knowing what is going on without so much it scares her.
Take Along
Your doctor and hospital will give you ideas of things to bring with you to the surgery. Here is my list:
  • Easy to change clothes: your chilld will most likely be changed into a gown for the operation and then back into her clothes before going home. You will want these to be easy to change.
  • Sippy cup/bottle: I would bring your child's own cup to the surgery. After surgery, your child will need to drink so much liquid before leaving, and it will be easiest to do this with a child coming off of anesthesia if she has her own cup she likes to drink from.
  • Camera: Capture the day on film.
  • Blanket: Bring along your child's favorite blanket (or just a familiar blanket if she doesn't have a favorite). 
  • Lovey: We brought a favorite stuffed animal. We did our surgeries at two different hospitals, and both allowed the child to take a stuffed animal (or several) into the operating room. McKenna chose not to take one into the OR, but Brayden brought his. They even bandaged his giraffe up just like him. 
  • Other entertaining items: We brought some toy trains for Brayden. For McKenna, we had Elmo on my husband's iPhone that we turned on after the surgery when she was waking up. It helped her to be a little more calm. 
At Home
  • Be comfortable: Make your child as comfortable as needed. For Brayden's surgery, he was able to go about his day as usual, just with a large bandage on one hand. McKenna, however, was down for the day. She was on the couch all day and her menu was significantly different. I made her very comfortable on the couch, and myself very comfortable on the other couch.
  • Be present: After anesthesia, you need to watch for blood clots. Because of this, I didn't even take McKenna to her room for a nap. I stayed right by her side the whole day so I could watch her. 
Extra Tips
  • I really worried about the no food and water after X time thing--especially in the morning. Both of these children are big eaters who want to eat as soon as they wake up. There really isn't need for worrying. Niether of my children asked for food nor water. Both hospitals we went to were great and had us scheduled first thing in the morning, so we had to wake the child up to go to the hospital. That definitely made it easier to go without food and water. Once at the hospital, things are so new and they are just nervous enough they don't think about it.
  • Some hospitals will allow you to take your child to the operating room and stay until the child is asleep. Others take the child at a certain spot. Both hospitals we went to take the child. With Brayden, they carried him and he cried for about 10 seconds, and then was okay. With McKenna, she walked out hand and hand with the anesthesiologist chattering away. We knew what was going to happen and had better prepared her for what was to come, so she was okay with it.
  • Some children are "angry" when coming off of anesthesia. Pretty much all children cry (if not completely all). Some are just angry. That is Brayden. He was angry while waking up. It is definitely easier to have just a sad waker (like McKenna) than an angry one. The child doesn't stay angry for long and doesn't remember it later.
  • Don't be worried about things getting off the normal routine. The child will bounce right back into routine happily once she has recuperated. 
  • Some children have a hard time with doctors or dentists after a surgery. Brayden was fine with his doctor, but the dentist freaked him out for the next year. He had previously not be scared at the dentist, but having to lay down and open his mouth and have a person with a surgical mask lean over him really scared him. He did get over it, but it was sad to see. It remains to be seen if McKenna will have the same reaction with the dentist. The doctor is fine. 
If you have any tips for preparing for, going to, or after the surgery, please share!
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McKenna Summary: 2.75 Years


McKenna is now 2.5 plus four months old--that is 2.75 years old! Crazy!

This month was a crazy one that revolved around her medically. Let's start there.

EAR INFECTIONS
I took her in for her routine every three week check to see if her ears were clear or not after the super strong antibiotics we used and nope--they were still not clear. Her doctor referred me to an ENT, and the next day there I was. She looked at McKenna's ears and strongly suggested tubes. She said she honestly thought McKenna would end up there anyway. We could try steriods, but the side effects of steroids were not desirable especially considering that my husband and I were going out of town to Hawaii (yay!) for a week. I didn't want her turning into a terror while we were gone. I felt good about the tubes, so that is where we went.

The next morning, bright and early, my husband and I were at the hospital with McKenna. She must have been in pain because the night before, my husband told her the next morning we were going to take her to get her ears fixed. When we woke her up at 6:45 the next morning, she jumped out of bed excited to fix her ears. 

At the hospital, we changed her into her gown. The procedure was simple, but you are always nervous. Brayden had surgery as a 3.5 year old (trigger finger), and I was glad I knew what to expect since things were moving so quickly. She was good. When the anesthesiologist came to get her, she walked right out with him and into the OR with no fear or tears. 

While she was in the operating room, the ENT called from the OR, which about scared me to death. He said her tonsils were very swollen, full of bacteria, and full of food. He suggested he remove them while he was in there. My husband and I thought that was the best option because we figured she wouldn't be so willing to march into the OR in a few weeks. 

So our simple procedure moved to basically one of the most painful recovery-wise procedures you can get. She had to be stabbed several times in an attempt to do an IV (ear tubes only requires a mask anesthesia)--luckily she was under for that. We had to stop at the store on the way home to get a whole new menu of foods for her.

Then came the recovery. Happily, she is good about taking medicine. She took even the very nasty stuff. She had several meds a day for several days, and a couple for over a week. It was very tiring. She and I sat and watched PBS basically all day every day for a week. She ate only soft foods, then meals, then back to soft foods, then settled on meals again. When she was on soft foods, she was hungry all day long. The soft foods don't have much sustenance. Her first night after surgery, we sat down to dinner and she had her soft foods before her and we all had our food. She cried and wanted "lots and lots of food"--McKenna loves to eat so having food limitations was hard for her. 

The ENT said she likely was having so many ear infections because of her tonsils. He also said when he put her tubes in, a volcano of puss came out. Poor little thing!

Since the surgery, she has done really well. Once she recovered, she has been so happy. She is back to her sweet, happy self. She also has improved her speech clarity a whole lot. She spoke fine before, but she is even clearer now. She is probably so happy to not be dizzy, in pain, sick, and have all sounds muffled anymore! She also hasn't fallen once since recovery, where she used to fall multiple times a day.

A funny thing about meds is that one she had to be on for the tonsils was steroids. Ironic! It was only five days, and by the end, she was an angry toddler.

EATING
Outside of her surgery, her eating has been normal this month. Once surgery recovery was over, she went back to eating regular meals at regular times with no problem. 

PLAYING
Playing is also normal and good. 

SLEEPING
She had some rough nights while recovering. A really good humidifier was key. Other than those couple of bad nights, sleep is normal and good.

POTTY TRAINING
Potty training is fabulous! I am so glad I had the random urge to do it the day I did. We had everything done in time for me to be sick and tired with pregnancy. No diapers to worry about while pregnant. I thought she might not do well with the potty while recovering from surgery, but she did as great as ever! While my husband and I were in Hawaii, she had no accidents while at her different grandparents houses, so that is fabulous! She is very self-sufficient in that area now.

AWAY FROM PARENTS
Another big event for McKenna this month was that my husband and I went to Hawaii for a week and left her and the kids with our parents. She did great! She was good, slept well, ate well, and had fun. She did miss us, but also had lots of fun while we were gone. She was super happy to see us when we got home. Modern technology is great--we were able to face time with the kids and that helped them to not miss us so much. 

OUR SCHEDULE

8:00--Wake up and eat breakfast
9:15--Get ready
9:30--Chores
10:00--Learning Poster and read stories with Mommy
10:30--Independent Play
11:30--TV time possibly
12:00--Lunch
12:30--Learning activity and free play with sibling
1:30--Nap
4:00 or 4:30--Get up--or free play. 
5:30--Dinner
6:00--Family Activities
7:30--Get ready for bed
8:00--Bedtime 

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