Mckenna and her Tonsils

Mckenna has had trouble sleeping for a long time. She has always had trouble sleeping the whole night through. She usually wakes up at least once or twice. We've always noticed she kind of snored, but never thought there was a real explanation. Since she is our first, I kind of always thought maybe it was normal for kids to snore?? Well, Mckenna is fortunate enough to have some pretty fabulous grandparents, her grandma Debbie in particular. She worked at an ear, nose, and throat doctor for a long time. She watched the girls while Chris was going to school and I worked. She noticed one day that Mckenna's tonsils were abnormally huge. After looking for ourselves, Chris and I were shocked at how big they actually were. They were practically touching. Hmmm...could that possibly be why she can't sleep well and she snores? The poor girl could hardly breathe right. Well, we took her into a specialist and he said that was probably the reason. We decided to schedule her for surgery to get them taken out.

On Tuesday, June 21, Mckenna went in for her appointment. Chris, his dad, and brother Stephen gave Mckenna a blessing the night before. She was really, really, REALLY nervous. I didn't want to scare her for a long time, so I didn't talk about it until it was close to her surgery. I'm glad I did, because she was so anxious and worried about getting them out. Which she had all right to be. I'm pretty sure I would have been freaking out too! After she got the blessing, she felt so much better. It was such a sweet blessing. I was so grateful for Chris and his family members and that they were worthy to give her a priesthood blessing. I know it helped her (and her mommy) so much. On Tuesday morning, she was honestly so brave. Grandma Debbie, Chris, Mckenna and I all headed into the hospital. After playing the waiting game for a good while, she finally went back to get started. We said our goodbyes (tried to hold back the tears...it was kind of hard to say goodbye) and waited anxiously in the waiting room. The surgery lasted about 30-45 minutes. The doctor, Dr. Gardner, came out and talked to us about how she did. He said she did really well and that her tonsils were actually quite bigger than he expected so it was a good thing we decided to get them taken out.

About 45 minutes later we were able to go back in and see Mckenna. She was all wrapped up in her favorite blankey and was squeezing her baby doll (for which she named Taylee the morning of the surgery ;) so tight. She was a little out of it still. I went up to her and stroked her forehead and said, "Mckenna, It's mommy." She opened her eyes and looked at me and just started to cry. I was so proud of her and that moment I don't think I will ever forget. She was so innocent and you could just tell she wanted her mommy. I felt so bad for her too. I hate going to the doctor, let alone getting surgery all by yourself being only 3. It was a sweet moment for me. Chris and I brought her a stuffed giraffe (She said that was her favorite animal we saw at the zoo the previous weekend.) with 5 huge princess balloons attached and we gave her a present for being so brave. It was a Tangled barbie doll that she had been really wanting. Those little gifts cheered her up quite a bit. That and having her grandma right there too!

She has been recovering really well. Other than not wanting to sleep in her own bed and being a little ornery, she has been doing great. (as long as she has her Tylenol too!) We haven't noticed a big change in her sleeping yet and since she has still been swollen, the snoring hasn't exactly stopped yet either. But Chris and I are hopeful that as the weeks go on, she will get better and we will see an improvement in her sleeping. We hope so anyways! We are really grateful that everything went smoothly and that it is over (for the most part). It was quite the ordeal to go through with a 3 year old. :) A very cute 3 year old! We love you Mckenna!!