I could also call this post, “How I Night Weaned My Toddler with One Easy Surgery,” or even “Why I Haven’t Written in Over a Month.”

Two days before Christmas, I ended up in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy! We had just started night weaning, and this literally happened on night two! Things were going fairly well, with Mr. Jellyfish taking care of all night wakings after I got him into bed that first night, but there was still a lot of screaming and asking for me and for “mama milk.” On this particular night, I was up late wrapping holiday gifts, enjoying some hot cocoa, when I started to feel uncomfortable. Not sick really, just weak and really tired. I forced myself into bed to try to sleep off this bad feeling, but I could not stay still. No position was comfortable. Nothing felt right. After an hour or two of tossing and turning, the pain started coming in waves, all to the right side of my body. Eventually, it was in one very localized spot. At that point, I realized this might be more serious than a stomach flu, so I woke Mr. Jellyfish and told him I was going to the ER. I thought they would likely check me over and send me home with a pulled muscle or weird stomach flu diagnosis, but there was a little voice telling me that this felt more serious.

After the routine check in process, the ER doctor came in and pressed on my belly, which didn’t hurt too much, until she let go. Then the pain was immense. Apparently, this is a quick and easy way to diagnose appendicitis, so they ordered a CT scan to confirm what was suspected. A very short time later I was told the bad news — I had an inflamed appendix, which was luckily caught in the early stages and not ruptured. They scheduled me for surgery around 11PM on the eve of Christmas Eve.

To say that I was devastated would be an understatement. All I could think about was missing my child’s Christmas. Bug had been so excited about the holiday and we talked about it constantly — the party we were throwing for Christmas eve, meeting Santa that night, walking our neighborhood to see the lights. Waking up on my favorite holiday in a hospital bed sounded miserable. And I was scared. So scared. I have never had surgery before, or any kind of anesthesia, and I was worried about complications. Fortunately, I did not have too much time to think about things, since surgery would be happening that night.

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We quickly arranged for Bug to spend the day with his cousins and Mr. Jellyfish joined me for the procedure. Anxiety got the best of me, and I was given something to calm down before they brought me back. I watched a few videos of Bug and then next thing I knew I was awake in a different room. My breathing was a bit shallow so the nurse gave me some oxygen and I started to remember where I was. I was so happy to be awake and feeling good (that would be the morphine they gave me!). I asked if I could go home right then! I was eventually discharged around noon on Christmas Eve. We did have to cancel our party, but I am just so grateful that I was able to spend the time at home instead of in a hospital room. I was able to wake up on Christmas morning with my family and even went over to my in-laws for our annual Christmas dinner.

The hospital stay was my first ever night away from Bug, which then became two nights. I was on some pretty heavy antibiotics and pain medication, so when I did return home he still couldn’t nurse. I was so proud of how well he handled the situation. I was expecting tantrums and screaming, but he was so gentle with me once we explained to him that my belly hurt and I showed him the small incisions. Maybe it was the excitement of Christmas, or spending so much time with his cousins, or maybe he really was ready to night wean, but we haven’t looked back since.

Bug went from wanting to nurse all night long, waking 10+ times a night, to sleeping on his own through the night, often in 11-12 hours stretches, with no wake ups. The change has been so good for all of us. I actually get a few hours to myself each night and morning, and Bug is much more refreshed and happy when he wakes up. Mr. Jellyfish gets to spend more time with him too by doing his bedtime routine.

My recovery was a bit slow, but I am finally back into the swing of things and feeling really good. While I don’t recommend surgery as a way to wean, I am certainly glad that there was one benefit to my painful situation!