Tube Day!

It would've been like walking into a living room on an early, dark evening, except it was early morning and there was a reception area and the faint aura of sterilization everywhere.  Yet there was also a sense of comraderie and belonging as we sat down, smiled and nodded to others in the u-shaped seating arrangement.  Everyone was there for a reason, and no one really wanted to be there.  Some were there for support, some offered prayers, others were the ones the other people were there for.  There was a lot of waiting, but above all, there were just so many smiles.  Perhaps that is why it was so easy for Clara to look around, and in all her cherubic cuteness, just smile at everyone and wave.  She waved to the ladies to her left: great big healthy looking ladies, whose chuckles came from deep within and whose smiles pushed large cheeks to touch each ear.  They oohed and ahhhed and cooed over every bit of Clara.  Not to stop there, Clara scanned the small gathering and raised a hand the other way, offering her grunt to say hi and a smile that only she does using every muscle in her face.  You could feel her own the room, and the room appreciated the her taking it over.  It took everyone's mind off the wait, and whatever future task was at hand.

Once we were called back in to the pre-op area, Clara continued to smile and wave, smile and wave.  Not like a princess, she wasn't in a parade and not quite like a politician trying to buy votes.  It was a sincere greeting, eager to interact with each face and get a response, and hopefully a wave in return.  We snuggled and hugged and kissed and cuddled until it was time to say 'see you soon'.  

And before I could even warm up the chair in the waiting room, there I was snuggling my baby again.  And a half day later, the smiles and the grunts and the coos and the waves are even stronger than before.

In other notes:

Clara did great.  Even though she woke up immediately from the anesthesia, she didn't want to open her eyes for a while.  The nurses thought it was funny though, because she was fussy and kicking and moving around just fine.  She took a while, but gulped down a healthy 6 oz bottle of milk and then we were discharged.  We were in the office a total of 110 minutes.  The nurse that Clara had was a mom of a student I had last year, we saw Greta's teacher last year from her school, and then someone else we knew whose child was also getting tubes that day.  Such a small town....