She’s got grommets!

Well, the big day finally arrived -- Emma Rose got her grommets inserted yesterday morning. I'm writing a big article about the experience and its aftermath for our September newsletter, so if any mums would like to share their kids' experiences of getting grommets, shoot me an email at katherine@ohbaby.co.nz and I'll try to include your story too!

In the short-term, Em's hearing seems to have improved. She was alert and responsive soon after the surgery, and her interactions and play were very different once we got home. Now she looks when we say her name (before, she didn't really seem to know her name at all) and holds conversations with us, babbling at us until we talk back, and then "answering" with more babble. My husband noticed that she seemed a lot more switched-on last night, and was playing quite differently with her toys.

Today she's been clingy and grumpy, although still talkative and responsive. I'm wondering if yesterday was more stressful for her than I initially thought, and that is making her cling more to me than usual. I also wonder what effect hearing all of these new (and probably much louder) noises is having on her. But I suppose time will tell... At the moment she's having a looooooooong nap, so we'll just take it slowly for the next few days and see how she goes.

Katherine I will so be emailing you about my experience tonight.

Grommets are like little cotton reels that go in your ear to stop the fluid getting in the inner ear.

Conor had them put in when he was 2, and had them right up until he was 10 then they just fell out. He had his ice block after the procedure then we came home and he pretty much slept the day away. I can't remember if his talking, hearing improved. I do know that he stopped getting infections which was the main thing.

i hope she is doing ok with them? does this mean an end to swimming or does she have ones that will be ok with them????

Good question, Bombshell -- the doctor told us that pool swimming is fine, but to wait til next term to start it as it will take a few weeks for her ears to heal inside. He said no spa pools (like we take our baby in a spa pool, ever!) but apparently regular pools and the ocean are totally fine, as long as she is not immersing her head to a depth of more than a metre. He also said we should try to use earplugs, and that the best thing is blue tack!!! I don't think she'll manage to keep them in anyway... So we had to call SwimGym and cancel her lessons (and pay the $10 booking fee anyway, grrr) and get on the waiting list AGAIN. Sigh. But hey, it's all worth it!!!

Katherine you should get a med cert to say she can't swim for the time being and they shouldn't charge you. If they do that is rude.