the verdict is in...

We saw the ENT (ear nose and throat) specialist last Friday (Dr. Chandran) and she is wonderful. She told us what they normally do for children with fluid in their ears is wait for 3 months of documented fluid or chronic ear infections before they insert tubes. Since we know for sure she has had the fluid build up for 8 weeks, but could be longer, she gave us two options. We can wait 4 more weeks and see if the fluid clears on its own. If it doesn't, then we would most likely go in for tubes then. Or, because we have confirmed, substantial hearing loss which can lead to delayed speech development, we can go in and drain the fluid and put the tubes in now. As her parents, it was up to us. She must have seen the uncertainty in both of our eyes and followed that up with "if it were my daughter", which was all I needed to hear.
So, Thursday (like 2 days from now) we will check into the hospital at 6am for surgery scheduled for 7:30am to have Olivia's tubes put in. Dr Chandran will perform it. She also must have sensed the tension and concern from both of us and let us know that it is a very common procedure and of all pediatric surgeries, it has to be the easiest. In fact, if it were an adult, it would be done in the office with local anesthetic, but because she is so young, to make her and the doctor more comfortable, they reserve and OR and sedate her for the 15 minutes it will take. The hardest part is prepping her and the longest part is waiting in recovery for her to wake, hold down fluid, etc. before being released. I believe the longest part will be the 15 minutes she is away from me and on that table. I don't know how long it will feel, but I can imaging like an eternity.
As a mother, I don't believe you ever want to have your child on an operating table, but for her to be so young on top of it scares the begeebees out of me. I know she will feel so much better when this is over and it is absolutely the right thing to do, but I still worry. I am her mother, isn't that a normal reaction?
I look forward to her (and my) relief when this is all over...