Erin Akin Carroll

In the spirit of baby items, pregnancy, having babies, and preparing for babies, I’m giving away something really fun this week to a lucky Blue-Eyed Bride reader.

This adorable gift basket full of Dr. Smith’s diaper ointment, educational toys and books, a fun plush toy, a swaddling blanket, and a onesie can be yours. It’s perfect to give to a new mom or maybe you’re the new mom who needs all of these items.

A little bit of information about Dr. Smith’s:

I woke up this morning feeling a little nervous and anxious. I know that kids get tubes in their ears every single day and ENT doctors do thousands of sets of tubes every year. I had tubes twice as a kid. I know how routine it is. But when it’s your baby having a procedure done and being away from you, I think it’s normal to worry. At least I hope it’s normal to worry.

TC and I got up early and got ourselves ready this morning. Then we woke Hudson up just before it was time to get in the car. He couldn’t eat or drink anything this morning, so we wanted to let him sleep up until the minute we needed to leave the house.

He went to the surgery center in his pajamas and Elmo slippers. I packed his favorite blankets and all of his lovies (aka E-Os) so they would be there when he woke up. (All of his E-Os are identical– even though one of them is preferred to the others– because in the event that he gets sick or spills something on one of them, we need back up!)

We got to the surgery center and were directed to go talk to the person in charge of accounting and insurance. I had spoken to her on the phone previously, but when I walked in she  told me that she reads my blog, so I thought I’d give her a little shout out here! I am going to leave her name out, though.

They let us go back to get Hudson situated and changed. The nurse put a little “sticker” on his toe and took his temperature. He wasn’t so sure about all that. (He also brought two copies of Green Eggs and Ham along for the morning and wouldn’t let go of either of them.)

The nurses gave us a tiny little hospital gown and socks (that were too big) for Hudson to wear. As soon as I saw this gown, I got a huge lump in my throat. My sweet big boy was going to be in this tiny gown and they were going to “operate” on him when he wore it. It’s just too much for this mommy heart.

There were fun pictures of Elmo, Big Bird, the characters from Cars, and other cartoons on the wall, so Hudson had a great time looking at those and talking about them. Then he decided that he wanted me to read “I Am Sam” (what he calls Green Eggs and Ham) to him. So we went through the book a couple of times.

And in this picture, he kept saying, “Cheese, Daddy!” (Ignore my morning hair and lack of make up.)

Then a nurse came and carried my baby away and TC and I walked to the waiting room. I started fighting back the tears immediately and even let a couple fall when we got to our seats. But as soon as I sat down and text my parents that Hudson was in surgery, someone came to get us to put us in the room where the doctor would come talk to us. Less than five minutes.

And then about two minutes later, the doctor was there telling us that he did fine and it was over. So fast and so easy. And hopefully the answer to many many months of terrible ear infections.

I want to say that my heart goes out to the parents whose babies and kids have operations and reoccurring procedures. It is a huge act of trust to put your child in the hands of a doctor or nurse and to be completely helpless except for our prayers and our ability to speak for our child’s best interest. I am thankful that Hudson was able to come out of such a minor surgery so well and I hope this is the end to all of his ear infections.

He didn’t nap today — or yesterday– and I’m hoping that’s just a reaction to his antibiotic and not a new habit. He did, however, just hang out in his room for his entire “nap time” and never cried or asked to come out. So I guess as long as he was content, I should be content, right?

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for him today. We appreciate all of you very much!

And he knows it!

I was cooking supper yesterday and trying to entertain Hudson while doing so. He is such a trooper. As long as he doesn’t have a fever when he’s sick, he acts like the happiest kid on the planet. He was just dancing around the kitchen and I grabbed my trusty iPhone to grab some video.

If you watch the video, turn down the volume on your computer because my loud, shouty, singing voice is in the foreground and it is pretty loud. Sorry!

I just had to share the video of my sweet boy.