Post-Op recheck

Tuesday we headed down to St. Louis for Konnor's 2 week post-op recheck.  He is doing so amazingly well.  He has been home with us for 6 weeks and has gained 2 1/2 pounds and 3/4".  He is getting chunky and it is great!!  I can actually get him in 6-9 month shorts now (he was in 3-6 mo when we got him home) and 9 month tops.  He can wear a 12 month top but it is pretty baggie still and he is almost out of his 9 month jumpers.  Yay, little man is growing!!!

The Dr. was very happy with how he is doing following surgery.  He did pop a couple of stitches towards the back of his mouth and has a pencil eraser size hole.  The Dr. said it looks like he only broke thru the first of 3 layers of tissue and it should close up on it's own.  If it does not or he breaks thru the other 2 layers then they would have to go back in and repair it.  He said the soonest they would do that would be next summer, b/c he wants to make sure the mouth has had plenty of time to heal.  Other than popping those couple stitches the Dr. said that the rest of his mouth is healing well.  He did recommend that we continue the soft diet until we see him again at the end of the month.  Poor kid has got to be getting sick of a soft diet.  Luckily, enough of his stitches have dissolved that he is able to start eating a few things with thicker consistently.  We have found in the last few days that he LOVES eggs!!  He also is a pretty big fan of chicken and stars.   We are having to get creative with his food since they extended his soft diet.  Unfortunately they also extended his wearing of the splints by another week.  BOOOO!!!!  He is still not sleeping well at night and we can't wait until those splints can go away.  I think towards the end of next week we will be able to start leaving them off for naps and see how it goes.  He is able to go most of the day without his restraints on.  We just have to stay close to him and make sure he doesn't put anything in his mouth.  He mostly just needs the restraints for when he is tired.  Truthfully he hasn't tried to suck on his fingers since surgery.  Occasionally he will put his finger in his mouth, but it is more out of him being onery than b/c he wants to suck on his finger : )  I am hoping that we have officially broken him of sucking on his finger so that when he has his next surgery he won't have as much difficulty.

Poor little buy is cutting another tooth. This is only his 3rd tooth and he is almost 15 months.  I am anticipating alot of teething in the coming months as his little mouth fills up.   He also went to the Pediatrician on Friday and got another round of immunizations.  Poor kiddo got 5 shots and his little legs are so swollen.  Tylenol, Ibuprofen and baths are our friend for the next few days.

Konnor's next surgery will be to repair his lip and is scheduled for Halloween.  He already looks so different that I can't imagine how he will look after his lip is repaired, but I also can't wait to see his complete smile after surgery.  His smile is already so infectious that it will only get better.      Speaking of smiles....this little guy is hilarious.  He is so happy and smiley.  Even the Dr. on Tuesday said "Wow, he is such a happy little guy."  Truthfully as long as he gets his naps and food then he is just a smiley playing machine.  He loves to look in mirrors and will just sit there and make silly faces at himself.  He is just such a joy that words will never be able to express how we feel about him.  He just lights up our small little corner of the world.

On an attachment front I think we are doing incredible.  Konnor will still go to either Mark or I freely.  He is also starting to reach for his Grandparents.  Other than these few people he won't actively seek anyone else out.  This is a great thing.  He will run up to someone (when we are in small group settings--not randomly in public), smile at them and give them a high five, but he won't let anyone else pick him up.  If we let someone else hold him then we have to hand him to them and we stay right by him.  He thinks this is fine for about a minute or two then he is ready to go back to Mama and Baba.  Even with the Grandparents he seeks us out regularly, which is a good thing.  If he is around alot of people he will walk around and play, but he will make sure to keep Mark and I in eyeshot.  These are really good things as far as showing his bonding/attachment to us.

Overall we are still doing great.  Hopefully the sleep issues will resolve once he is able to go without his restraints.  Keeping fingers crossed....

Happy Happy baby

Mama, if you are gonna keep taking my picture then I am sticking my tongue out at you

Baxter loves to snuggle up next to Konnor when he sleeps

The Dream.....

A Wife and Mother.  That is all I ever really wanted to be.  Don't get me wrong I love my job.  It is challenging and very rewarding, but ultimately all I ever wanted to be was a Wife and Mother.  As you age everyone has a picture in their head of what their life will look like in 5, 10 or 20 years.  Mine always was something like Saturday mornings with the sunshine coming thru the windows, music cranked up, everyone playing in their pj's while we do the everyday things such as mopping and laundry that we didn't have time for during the week.  It was always a vision of a comfy home.  That was the key, it had to be a home and not a house.  Anyone can have a house, but a home is where you look in the window and can see the love.

So this morning I am standing in my kitchen with the shades on all the windows up, the sun is shining bright, music is probably a little to loud, everyone in their pj's still, Me with a cup of coffee in hand while I watch my Son walk across the room dancing as best a 14 month old can dance. I look around and yes, I have a few dishes that need done, laundry upstairs that needs folded and a stack of paperwork that needs filed.  I look around and realize that my house will never be spotless and I will never have everything caught up, but I do have The Dream.  It may not be perfect for someone else, but for our little family this is what it is all about.  So instead of watching Konnor dance across the kitchen........ I think I am going to go join him : )

I hope everyone is having as good a weekend as we are.

Ashley

Happy, Healthy Little Boy

We were discharged late Wednesday afternoon. He had the same day Nurse for 2 days straight and before we left she said that he was the best cleft palate repair baby that she had ever taken care of.  Okay??  I thought those first few days were pretty rough so I am now feeling very blessed and saying some extra prayers for all the little ones out there that I know have surgery coming up soon.   They talked like they might keep him another night, because he wasn't eating or drinking very well.  Nurse Mama said that it was time to go home and promised that I would monitor his intake and output very closely. I am SOOOO glad we decided to go home.  Within an hour of getting home he was eating and drinking better and was a playing machine.  This poor little guy has been thru so much in the last 2 months that he just needed to be in the comfort and security of his home.

He is just doing so well at home.  We are now down to only using plain tylenol every 6-8 hrs for pain and he is an eating machine.  He got a little spoiled in the hospital b/c frankly he got to eat whatever it was that he would eat, so ice cream, jello, apple juice, pudding, etc...  Needless to say this is not his regular diet so I am glad that now that we are home he is getting back into a regular eating routine.

I have to give a big shout out to everyone at St. Louis Children's Hospital.  Everyone from the Surgeons, Residents (whom usually annoy me to no end---all you other Nurses out there know what I mean : ), the OR Nurse, floor Nurses and techs, volunteers and even the people that brought the food trays were absolutely wonderful.  They did an amazing job on his repair and you could tell that they all really cared about how he was doing.  We never felt that we were being a bother or that they didn't have time for us.  The Surgeon said he will do Konnor's lip repair in 3-6 months.  I am a little sad that he doesn't have the same smile as when we first met him.  He just had a smile that could light up a room.  I can honestly tell you that now that he is feeling better and the smiles are starting again that his smile is just as magnetic now as it was then.  Different, but just as beautiful.  Here are a few things I would recommend any parent take to the hospital if their child is having a palate repair:

-lots and lots of bibs--if you think you have to many take a few more, we thought Konnor drooled alot before his surgery, but now it is nothing for him to soak straight thru 6-8 bibs a day.  

-take some towels/washclothes from home, yes the hospital will have them, but they are stiff and scratchy, you will appreciate having your soft ones from home

-a few toys for the bed/crib, St. Louis Children's has a playroom for the kids and you can take toys from there to your room, but we thought having something familiar from home helped alot

-comfy clothes for you--take an extra pair in case you have to stay an extra day

-if you have some of your child's favorite soft non-perishable foods that you can take then do, the hospital is limited to basics (ice cream, pudding, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc....)  We took some baby food from home.

-money for food from the cafeteria or vending machines

-pants to go under the patient gowns and either a button up or a shirt that you don't mind stretching the shirt all out to get it over the head for the trip home.  I frankly wouldn't take any clothes that you can't live without.

He absolutely hates his splints.  He has to be in them for 3 weeks to keep him from putting his hands (or anything else) in his mouth.  Unfortunately Konnor sucks on his finger for security.  He really only does it for nap/bedtime, but without it nap/bedtime have been a huge struggle.  We anticipated this, but WOW. I had kinda already forgotten what those first few weeks home from China were like.  He will only sleep for 20-90 minutes before waking up and this is after a fairly lengthy battle to get to sleep in the first place.  He knows he is still tired, but can't sleep so then the screaming starts, and then we replay the above.  Let's just say that Mama is tired.  Mark has been wonderful about letting me get naps, but he is back to work and has been traveling for work alot so I try not to wake him up if I can help it.  It is 1 am right now and we just finished up a 1 hour scream session where I used up all my Mommy tricks to try to soothe him.  Finally I pulled up youtube and started playing Third Day.  We listened to God of Wonders, Children of God and Merry Christmas.  By halfway thru Merry Christmas not only was he calm, but he was already sound asleep again.  I get it now.  The problem was the I was trying to handle the situation instead of just letting God handle the situation.   I might be a little slow, but this sleep deprived brain can still take a hint.

Konnor is now a walking machine.  He started walking really well a few days before surgery. It took him a few days to figure out how to do it with the splints, but he did and now walks all over the place.  He is also consistently giving us the "all done" sign when he is eating.

Truthfully he is doing amazingly well.  The sleep issues are just a small drop in the bucket.  I would never be bouncing back from a surgery like this in the amount of time he has.  Konnor absolutely amazes me in every way.  He has been thru so much in the last 2 months, but he still comes to us with open arms and smiles.  Our love for this little boy grows by leaps and bounds everyday.  When we first got Konnor I kept waiting for this "Wow, you are a Mom" moment.  We had waited so long for this little person to enter our lives that I thought there would surely be a moment where it all hit me.  I finally realized that there isn't one Wow moment.  The Wow moment happens a hundred times a day.  When he reaches for me, gives me smiles, snuggles into me in his sleep, pets the dog--nicely, walks, babbles, cries....the list goes on and on.  The Wow moment is all of it.  Just getting to be apart of Konnor's life is a Wow moment in itself.  I know Mark feels the same.  You can see the stars in his eyes whenever Konnor reaches for him or starts smilings/laughing and walking to him when he gets home from work.  We are so blessed that we were chosen to be Mama and Baba for this perfect little person.  Thank you for following us on this journey.

Being silly at the hotel the night before surgery

1 day post-op in the patient garden with Baba

I'm not letting no stinkin surgery and splints keep me down--5 days postop

Baxter snuggling with Konnor to make him feel all better.