Hi Kim,
I'm so happy to hear that your daughter is doing much better after T & A
surgery!
When my daughter began getting teeth (at about 6/7 months), she began waking
more than usual at night.  Since she had every teething symptom known to
humanity, for some time I wrote it off to that.  Night waking never improved,
but got gradually worse to where she was waking a minimum of five times a
night.  She didn't seem sleepy during the day and took an ordinary nap.
I did not put two and two together about night waking and breathing, until in
desperation I flipped through Ferber's book on sleep training and found a
reference to sleep apnea.  It still took some time before my husband and I
decided we should do something--and we were in disagreement that sleep apnea
was of concern.
We noticed that Erin's loud snoring was punctuated by frequent "whoops" or
hiccuping sounds.  Because she slept with me, I was able to see how she
struggled to breathe with her mouth closed, her little chest punching up and
down, and then she would open her mouth and gasp for air, whooping in the
process. Then I decided that it was not right that a person should have to
struggle to breathe during sleep this way.
We took her to two ENT specialists, who were thorough, listened carefully to
us, and let us make our own decisions about T & A surgery.  Her tonsils were
large, but not alarmingly so.  We couldn't see her adenoids.  While we tossed
our thoughts around, Erin was put on maintainance doses of antibiotics which
took her symptoms away.  These hiatuses lulled and dulled us, and lasted a
month each time until Erin began to smell yeasty, we would stop the
antibiotic and the symptoms would return, intensified.  Finally, when she was
two and a half, she had the surgery.  The surgeon said her adenoids were huge
and completely blocked her airway.  She slept through the night that night
and, barring the usual disruptions, has every night since.  She also put on
five pounds almost immediately.  This was a change I certainly wasn't
expecting, but realized that not breathing well must have affected her ease
with eating. I never noticed that it affected her breastfeeding, however, but
then I never noticed that her eating was affected anyway. She breastfed
exclusively and gained well. I continued nursing her when she began taking
solid foods without mishap around 8 months.  Until Erin walked, at nine and a
half months, she was plenty "beefy".  She became such a little minnie mouse
in her second year, but I always thought it was because she was pretty
active.
Just an aside, but I was devastated when Erin would not nurse after her
surgery.  I came to the unhappy conclusion that she was untimely weaned.  I
spend a bittersweet post-surgical week and a half singing and stroking her to
sleep (tears in my eyes) before she began taking the breast again.  She
finally weaned after nursing for the last time to sleep on the night of her
fourth birthday--an event planned by the little girl herself and recognized
by me as such days/weeks later!  She continues to sleep well, is uncommonly
healthy, active, and smart!  (I couldn't resist adding that!).

Diane Dressler, in Vermont where spring is swelling and greening.