Tough questions

Ben: how did they build the earth?
Me: I don't know
Ben: what kind of world did we live on while they were building the earth?

Now tell me how you answer that to a 4 year old!!
And it's like that most days. He asks SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Fun in the warmer weather

We have been enjoying some nice warm spring days lately... (And some awfully cold ones too, it's an odd spring)

We have been spending more time at some local parks and beaches....and the boys love it!

Gorgeous boys

Presents from Grandma

Today Ben got a "get well soon" package from his Grandma. It came via a delivery man. Ben (and Ethan) LOVED getting this special surprise.

Luck Ben got lovely bunch of flowers with some fruit (grapes, strawberries, pears, oranges, pineapple and bananas) a balloon, a teddy and some chocolates.

He's very happy about it, thanks Grandma

Day after surgery

Ben is doing great today!
He slept all night and woke up happy :)

This morning he is playing with playdoh. He is giving Cookie Monster an operation and taking out his very big adenoids!

Ben’s Surgery

Ben had his adenoidectomy and insertion of bilateral grommets today. In simple terms, he had his adenoids removed (lymph tissue at the back of the nose, similar to the tonsils at the back of the mouth, but higher up) and grommets, (small drainage tubes) placed in the ear drum of both ears. His adenoids were enlarged, and blocking the eustation tube (tube connecting the nose and ears), this caused fluid to build up in his ears, and lead to hearing loss. He also had speech problems from his hearing loss, snoring and dribbling. Removing the adenoids and putting grommets in his ears should help his hearing and other problems.

 

We arrived at the hospital at 9:30. Ben was not allowed to eat after midnight, but was allowed to drink clear fluids until 8am. He had apple juice and water for breakfast. We got admitted and the nurses did all their paperwork and then we waited, and waited and watched TV while we waited some more. As both Tracie and I work at the hospital, we know most of the staff between. We saw a lot of people we knew and had a few visitors.

Watching TV in bed.

Waiting…. He did so well waiting. He didn't even ask for food, which is unusual for Ben!

Ben was finally taken down at 11:50am. He enjoyed the bed ride.

Down in the operating theatre… Tracie went down with Ben. She held him while they placed the mask on his face and he fell asleep. He did a great job, he took deep breaths in the mask and fell asleep quickly, without any distress. We worked hard to prepare him for the events that would take place for going to sleep, we are pleased our efforts worked, and he happily cooperated and didn't panic.

Ben was in the operating theatre and asleep in recovery (PACU) for about an hour. Once he woke up, I (Sal) was allowed to go in to see him. He was crying and in pain when I arrived. It’s hard to see him like that, lots of cuddles and some nice strong pain killers helped a lot. We stayed in the recovery ward for about an hour, while they controlled his pain and monitored him. I bought the old iphone (loaded with boys videos and games) with me, and he watched some of his favourite shows as a distraction. Initially he wanted me to hold the phone while he just lay in my arms and sobbed and watched, then after the pain killers worked, he was holding the phone him self, By the time we left, he was talking to be about the games he was playing. It was nice to see him feeling better.

We arrived back on the ward and Ben was allowed to eat! It was after 2pm and he had only had a glass of juice all day. Ben ate, and ate and ate! He had an iceblock, juice, water, sandwiches, strawberry yoghurt, mango yoghurt, fresh fruit, cupcake and even some nuts!!

We were pleased to see him eating and drinking normally. He seems to have a little cut on the side of his mouth, and a slightly swollen face. We assume this was from the intubation, but we don’t know.

After the operation the surgeon came to talk to us. He said Ben’s adenoids were massive. He also said there was fluid behind his ears (as we expected). We are not surprised that his adenoids were huge, we have long suspected they were enlarged. We are very hopeful that after he has healed, he will benefit from this operation. With grommets in his ears, he will not be able to get his ears wet until they fall out. (3-6 months, but up to 3 years) he will have to wear ear plugs in the bath/shower and while swimming.

We were allowed home at 5:30pm. Ben got some of his favourite food for dinner… Macaroni and Cheese then icecream and yoghurt - nice and soft for a sore throat, and a HUGE treat!

He’s sound asleep after the big day, and dosed up on Panadol  (Tylenol in USA), fingers crossed he sleeps through the night.

I should also mention that Ethan was wonderful today. He was very patient, waiting around all day. He didn't complain at all. He enjoyed watching TV and playing the iPhone. He got to have a treat at the cafe, and lunch. He was such a good boy. He was nice to Ben and cared for him after his operation. He’s a good big brother.

Getting ready for surgery

Today is the big day. Ben is having his adenoids removed and grommets inserted in his ears. We are hoping this will help his hearing, speech, snoring, dribbling and all round behaviour (as he will sleep better).

We told him about the operation a few days ago. He knows he is going to get his ears fixed so he can hear better. He is very excited, and a tad nervous, which is coming out as hyperactive excitable behaviour....(especially yesterday).

We have prepared him for the operation. We shows him a fantastic DVD made by the staff of the hospital, especially for kids, explaining the process of an admission and operation. We have explained the process of falling asleep, by having a mask put on his face. He knows when he falls asleep mumma will be with him, an when he wakes up, mummy will be there.
Tracie is an anaesthetic nurse, so she has been able to tell him all about the machines and operating room equipment. She even made the boys their own toy anaesthetic machine to play with. They have been giving their toys operations all weekend.

We are hoping it all goes smoothly today. I'll update later and tell you how it went.

Below is a pic of the boys giving toy goofy an operation.
He has a mask connected to a bag, and a clip on his finger connected to the machine. He even has an arm band.

Ethan and dairy

As I have blogged about before, Ethan became dairy intolerant - presumably after his nasty stomach bug earlier this year. He was on a dairy free diet for 2 months. Towards the end of this time we started to introduce some goats milk cheese. He tolerated this well.
Last Saturday we decided to give him a some dairy. We gave him milk, cheese and yoghurt. He did very well. He didn't have any stomach pain, no diarrhoea and not "accidents"!!
Ethan is THRILLED to be allowed to eat dairy again. He has been having it for 6 days now, and no problems so far.

We are still keeping them on a diet free of artificial colours, flavours and preservatives as much as possible. They still get some of these nasties, but its very rare.


On a side note, I (Sal) am trialling a gluten free diet to see if it helps some of the digestive issues I have been experiencing. It is somewhat limiting, but I do feel better. It's been 1.5 weeks, so I will have to wait a few more weeks to really see the benefit I think. In a couple of months I will give my self a gluten challenge (eat gluten for a day) and see what happens.

Dessert!!

We are doing well on our healthy diet.
We still slip up every now and then, but overall we are eating a diet free from artificial: preservatives, additives, colour and flavours.
We are also mostly dairy free in the food we cook for the family. Tracie and I (Sal) still have milk in our coffee and Ben still drinks a glass with breakfast, and we still have homemade natural yoghurt too.
Ethan has (homemade) almond milk on his oats and we use that in cooking too.

We have found a great dessert I want to share. We call it blueberry banana Icecream.

Basically we put frozen banana, frozen blue berries and almond milk in the food processor and blend until it's like a sorbet.
Yummmm!!!!

Angry Birds wall art

Ethan and Ben are big angry birds fans. We found this online in a clearance, and it was so cheap, so we had to buy it!

It arrived today and the boys love it!