This Stay At Home Momma

I promised I'd give more details on Julia's next surgery, so here they are. At the end of November she will undergo what is called a frontal orbital advancement (FOA). They cut the front section of the skull, move it forward, and also move the bone of the upper orbit (top section of your eye sockets, for those non-sciencey folk) forward. They take the section of bone from the front of the skull and actually split it into two pieces. They split it by thickness, so they essentially double the surface area of the part of the skull that is being moved. The two pieces will be half the thickness of the original piece, but there is then more bone to work with and to fill in the gap created by moving the skull and upper orbit forward.  The neurosurgeon has assured me that there will be no loss in the integrity of her skull with this splitting of the bone. Apparently, her body will build it up in thickness again and also form new bone in between the pieces they place to fil

Here they are! The reveal to all of you. These beautiful, tiny thumbs and pinkies. We still have to keep bandages on her hands even though the grafts have taken and healed. We have to use gauze to keep pressure on the new web spaces between her fingers so that scar tissue doesn't grow and pull them back together. We joke that she has boxing gloves on, but the bandaging is nice and minimal compared to what she had before. We go back to the plastic surgeon next week and my fingers are crossed for no more bandaging at all. We don't have to cover her hands with sock anymore so at least she's getting to feel objects with part of her hand, but removing the bandages will be so nice. I feel like she hasn't had the opportunity to see what can be done with her new fingers since they're tightly bound all the time. I wonder whether we'll have to do any physical/occupational therapy with her or if she will figure it out on her own. We've noticed some tin

I can't believe it's only been a couple weeks since Julia's surgery. It feels like it was so long ago - though it could just be that my brain is pushing those memories far, far away so I can pretend like it never happened....a highly likely situation. Surgery went extremely well and the surgeon has been really happy with her healing thus far but it was still a traumatic experience. It's the type of experience you don't wish on others, and yet this is only the first of many for  us and our baby girl. So this story begins the day prior to surgery. On September 9th, I took Julia to Children's Hospital for a routine head ultrasound and a pre-op appointment with the anesthesiologist. Her pre-op appointment was at 12:30pm and her ultrasound scheduled for 2:30pm. They are right next to each other in the hospital so we were bound to have a gap of time in between. I planned on feeding Julia and going for a walk....but you know what happens when you make plans, right? E

I can't believe that I am finally writing this! Yesterday I received a pretty darn good birthday gift; we were given a date for Julia's first surgery! Now, don't think that I don't appreciate all the gifts and well wishes I received for my birthday.....but this news kinda takes the cake (hehe). I have been patiently waiting to hear from Julia's plastic surgeon and yesterday was our lucky day. Another family had to refuse a date given to them for their child's surgery and Julia was next on the list. September 10th, 2015 is the big day. I am nervous and slightly anxious, but oh so excited! Our baby girl is on the road to a bit more independence. I've enjoyed the lack of hair pulling and coffee mug grabbing a bit more than I should, but I am greatly looking forward to this next step in her development. Being able to watch her learn to feed herself with a spoon and pick something up with one hand will make my heart burst! If I'm honest though, I m

Well the end of June has come. We had originally discussed Julia having her first surgery at the end of June but it wasn't meant to be. I called the surgeon's office in the middle of May inquiring about dates and I was told that she likely wouldn't be on the schedule until July. Okay. No problem. I called four weeks later to follow up and got some rather disappointing news; Julia won't be having her surgery until the Fall. According to the receptionist, Julia is on "the list" but more time sensitive operations have come up so she's been pushed back. Also, the surgeon is taking the entire month of August off so that means Julia won't be booked until September/October (hopefully). At this point, we have discussed with the neurosurgeon that she will have her first cranial surgery when she is between nine months and one year old - that's sometime between September and December. So, I'm mentally preparing myself for one big surgery day wh

I know that mother's day is bittersweet for some - the ones who have lost a mom, have lost a child, have not been blessed with a child no matter how hard they try, etc. I try to be sensitive to that.  Reflecting on my own journey as a mom is definitely bittersweet as well - even with  children of my own. Before having our oldest daughter we had a miscarriage. It was heartbreaking and discouraging. When Abby was conceived and born healthy it was such a joyous event in light of what had happened! Since then I have loved watching her grow and learn (in between her exasperating two year old tantrums) into an amazing little girl.   Rewind to last April and life changed when we found out we were pregnant again. Fast forward those nine pregnant months and our beautiful Julia was born. It was the best and hardest day of my life as we entered into the unknown of a child needing special medical attention. I don't fully understand it yet, but there is a grief associated with

Did everyone have a great Easter? Does it feel like it was FOREVER ago already? It sure does for me! It's funny how quickly we go back to the grind of every day life and those days spent with family and friends seem like a distant memory. We had a great time visiting with family. Here's a picture of the cousins together. We had a full house with Chad's sister visiting along with her husband and four boys. Never a dull moment with six kids in the house! We shared many meals together and logged a lot of time outside in the beautiful sunshine in our backyard. There was coloring and games and easter egg hunting; Abby is still asking where her cousins are. I'm sure I must be pretty boring in comparison! After Easter my oldest sister came to visit. She had the privilege of leaving her two boys at home with her husband and coming to stay with us for a few days. It was wonderful being able to catch up; we spent many hours sitting on the couches talking. She got to m