The more you drink, the better you feel.

Yesterday was a day both greatly anticipated and incredibly dreaded. For the anticipation part, Matt and I have been so looking forward to getting some relief for our sweet Ella's sleep problems. Her seizures, which have, thus far, occurred only nocturnally, can be aggravated by sleep disturbances. Because my little girl snores like a very old, very fat trucker, and because she is prone to sleep apnea, we met with an ear, nose, and throat doctor to schedule a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. (The humor that the procedure is referred to as a T & A is not lost on me, by the way.) It is our hope that the T & A (again, hahahahahah!) will relieve some of her breathing issues while she sleeps.

As far as the dread goes, Ella has been shaking in her rain boots these past few weeks (seriously, despite the 100 degree + temperatures, she's been rocking galoshes). She did not want to be subjected to such a scary experience, even telling us that she'd rather have seizures. Really? Only kids. For our part, or at least my part, I haven't been looking forward to the recovery. I love my girl. L.O.V.E. her. She is my shining star, one half of my reasons for smiling and living each day. However, my sweet Ella is NOT the easiest patient. Not by a long shot. She doesn't get sick much, but when she does, all logic and reason and order fly out the window. Actually, they are propelled out of the roof of the house, and our world is an exploded mess of discomfort.

Before and after her surgery yesterday, one of the nurses repeated, "The more you drink, the better you feel." (Ummm. Ha! Oh, if we had heard that in college, my friends and I would have made that our dictum. For real.) The last thing that needs to happen is for the throat to dry out after a T & A (hahaha). However, swallowing sucks after having things cauterized out of your nose and throat, so Ella didn't want to drink at all. Also not helping anything was her low tolerance to the anesthesia. I'm glad my mom drove us in her car to the hospital, because girlfriend lost her cookies on the way home. Though, she did make her mark and most of it got into the barf bag the nurse gave us. Regardless, with the puking and the lack of drinking comes the possibility for dehydration. Great. And there was no gentle persuasion in the world that would work to get the girl to drink. No logic, reason, order. Nothing. Ahhhhhh! Enter exhaustion, frustration, worry. Next, enter threats to go back to the hospital. Those seemed to work amazingly well.

Since the end of summer semester is upon us, I really couldn't miss work last night, so I left Matt and my mom with the kids. I'm not gonna lie; it was a little nice to get a break. Normally, my mom is really good about keeping up with the house in my absence, but last night she was more focused on E and S so Matt could do something. I thought it was to clean up and stuff, but he must have been cleaning someone else's house???? because when I got home, the place looked like my old pre-married life living environments. Clothes and Summit's underwear were all over the house. Cups litterd the place. Mercy Lou had stolen my bras out of the hamper and strewn them about the living room. The kitchen table, countertops, and floors were sticky and covered in food debris. Cabinet doors open everywhere. There was more, but I'm pretty sure you get the picture. And, seriously, I was like, "What the hell is this? You have GOT to be kidding me!"

So, I spent the late part of the evening into the early morning checking on Ella...positioning her so she could breathe easier...and cleaning the house of a 20-year-old version of me. I finally was able to fall asleep at around 2.30 in the am. Expectedly, I was awakened by a moaning, weeping Ella 30 minutes later. Thanks to more threats of needles and doctors, I got her to take some more medicine and go back to sleep. Today has been better. Thank goodness. And I keep telling Ella the nurse's advice, "The more you drink, the better you feel," all the while hoping and praying she doesn't remember those words when she's a freshman in college.