Craniosynostosis

The day before her surgery

Monday Nov 7th we took Kenna to her pediatrician for her two month check up, shots, etc.... As the Dr. was examining her, he realized that he couldn't really find her soft spot, so he started feeling around her head and then taking note of her head shape. He told us that he thought she might have some indicators of a certain birth defect, but not to worry, he would just check her again at her four month appt. After a couple of min he decided that he didn't feel comfortable waiting and had another Dr come in to double check what he had found. The other Dr. confirmed that she had signs of this birth defect and they sent us straight over to the hospital for X-rays. He called us back within an hour of the X-rays to tell us the bad news...all of the bones in her skull had fused prematurely, not giving her brain enough room to grow normally.
The next morning we were at Primary Childrens Hospital in Salt Lake meeting with a plastic surgeon and a neurosurgeon and discussing options for surgery. It all happened so fast that Jimmy and I were kind of reeling from it all. But, when they talked about the second option for a newer surgery we both felt peaceful about choosing that one.
Our first choice was to completely take apart her skull and reconstruct it with plates and screws, which results in a much harder surgery on the baby's body and a harder recovery. The benifit is that its only one surgery and once they heal there is no more treatments to be done, and the birth defect is corrected.
The second option is the one we chose. It is less invasive then the first surgery, but it means more treatment after the surgery. It is a newer surgery where they actually remove the top portion of her skull, giving her brain room to expand and alleviating the chance of more deformities developing in her head or face. It was scary to choose this one on two levels...first of all, agreeing to doctors removing a third of your babies skull is not an easy choice to make. And secondly, being a brand new surgery..there are no long-term effects to study. The idea is that if this surgery is done early, ( before three months of age) the portion of removed bone will have time to grow back by the time she is six and her bones stop regenerating as fast. She will wear a helmet for the first year after the surgery for two reasons: to protect her head and also to shape the new bone as it grows in.

The day of the surgery was scheduled for five days after the diagnosis and I think I cried more during those five days then in my entire life combined. The day of the surgery was hard. Handing her over and walking away from her was the hardest part. Thank heavens she is so young and didn't have a clue what was going on.
Her surgery was scheduled to take 2.5 hours and it ended up taking 4.5. So you can imagine how stressful it was sitting in the waiting room during that time. Nothing I ever want to do again! She came through surgery fine. When we first saw her she was pale and swollen. Over the next few days she was in so much pain. I think that was the hardest part of the entire thing. We could hardly bear to see our little angel in pain and not be able to fix it.
As I write this, it has been six days since her surgery and she is getting better every day. She isn't all the way back to her smilely self just yet, but i'm sure in a few more days she will be!This is in the infant ICU while she recovered.


Her Daddy didn't leave her side


This is about two hours after the operation


Going home! Poor baby was so bruised and swollen :-(

Masking Tape Fun

Today I became a very cool mom. I made a "masking tape city" in the boys room and my kids thought that it was the best idea since sliced bread. They even played for 10 min without a fight! I think that is a new record!

Best Dad Ever :)

My kids have the best dad ever. I have the best dad ever also. I guess luck just falls on some families and The Lord just sends all the best Daddys to one big family :)

Finding Balance = Struggle

Lately I have been struggling to find balance. Adding a fourth child to my already hectic life has just about done me in. For those of you that didn't know, I am a control freak (I wish there was a nicer term for that). Anyhow, I don't like feeling out of control. It gives me anxiety to feel like I can't control a piece of my environment. I like structure, knowing what is coming next, what I will be doing tomorrow...next week...next month..etc. This doesn't work when you have four children under six years old. For some it may work, but definitely not for me...yet.

I am determined to gain back the control in my life! The first thing on my list is my house. I realize that I can't control my children, nor would I want little robots...but my house will soon be in complete order! Ha Ha....ok, I am going to "try" and gain back the control over my house. I am on a mission and nothing is going to stop me (except for maybe four little people).

I recently came across an article entitled "The one thing you need to do to keep your house clean". So, of course I HAD to read it! If anyone ever needed enlightenment on housekeeping...it's me. The article was quite funny...the one thing needed to keep your house clean? CLEAN AS YOU GO ABOUT YOUR DAY! You mean to tell me that if I don't leave a mess, I won't have to clean a mess?!? Brilliant!

I love organizing....and it's actually something I'm good at (believe it or not). My house has a place for everything, it just doesn't have everything in it's place :)

Sooo....this week I am going to try my darndest to work on cleaning as I go about my day. Well see how much of a difference it makes. I'm also going to try to make a better schedule to help our days "flow" a bit better, but I will save that for another post. Wish me luck!

Popsicle Thief

This is what happens while mommy nurses the baby....a naughty thief invades our home......

First Grade

My baby is a first grader. I am sad and happy. I am sad because my heart keeps asking me "where did all the time go"? But, I am happy because I love watching him grow and change. We hadn't really made a big deal about Seth starting school this year...With Kenna being born only four days before, we were a little preoccupied. So, the weekend before school started we were rushing around buying backpacks and school clothes for our little man. I don't think it hit him that he was actually going back to school until we were walking there monday morning. He was happy and excited at home, and then he became quiet and subdued on the way there. By the time we got to his school Jimmy and I could tell he was super nervous (as you can see by the last two pictures). He had a great time and his teacher has nothing but good things to say about him. I think it is going to be a fun year for him :)

Kenna Marie

I have been waiting and waiting to blog about this beautiful little creation....Since I got pregnant with her just before Luke turned one, I felt like I was pregnant forever! But, alas...she is here! And she is perfect! We welcomed little Kenna into our lives on Tues, August 16th at 6:00 p.m. I choose to get induced with her (yes, I CHOSE to). Its funny to me that I WANTED to be induced, considering how scared I was when I thought I was going to be induced with Luke. We chose this because of how fast Luke and Sarah came, and daddy didn't want to deliver a baby in the car on the way to the hospital :)
She came fast and furious, just like her brother and sister. They started my induction at 345 by breaking my water and giving me just a little bit of pitocin. I was just fine for about the first hour and a half, but then my body decided it was time and kicked into overdrive. By the time I was ready to get an epidural it was too late....she had already decided she was making an entrance. She came out all bruised up, which was sad...they said it was just because came out so fast and so there was a lot of trauma to her little face. She weighed 7.6 and was exactly 19 inches long.
Seth, Sarah, and Luke are in love with her....as are daddy and I. She is perfect. (I know, i know, I already said that). Right now she is only waking up once a night for food....I am probably jinxing myself for adding that...but I still can't believe it. She is laying beside me as type this with her little hand on her cheek looking like a perfect little angel.