Hooray for elbows!

So we had Levi's two week follow up with his plastic surgeon today, and it went really well.  She said she was happy with how everything is looking, and gave us the go ahead to stop using the arm restraints!  Yay!  Levi can bend his elbows again!  He is very excited about this, and is enjoying playing with his hands and chewing on his fingers.  He missed the freedom of having full use of his arms, and seems thrilled that he doesn't have to wear them anymore.  Ryan and I are pretty excited too, as it was getting tiring to always watch out for his arm bands; adjusting them when they slid down, taking them off one at a time to dress him and always making sure that he wasn't putting his hands near his mouth.  Everything took a lot longer!

The surgeon noticed that there is still a little notch in his lip, but mentioned that can easily be fixed when they do his palate surgery.  We had noticed that his lip isn't quite perfectly lined up, but I think it looks ok, and it's definitely a lot less noticeable than before the surgery.  She did mention that things may change as he grows and develops as well, so they'll see what it looks like when it comes time to repair his palate.

The other thing she mentioned is that they will most likely plan to repair his palate when he is around 9 months old.  This was a bit of a surprise to me, as I was always told it would be around a year old.  It would be nice to have it done this early, for the closer he gets to a year old, the more chance that the cleft palate will affect his speech development.  I guess we'll see when it actually gets booked!

Levi has a follow up with his ear specialist next week, to see how his ear tubes are doing.  He had them placed at the same time as his lip repair was done and so far he seems to be doing very well with them.  It's been neat to see him respond differently to sounds now that he has those in.  Before the surgery, he had quite a bit of fluid in his ears (which is common with cleft palate children) and it was obvious that he wasn't hearing as clearly as he could.  You know how things sound when you're under water?  That's how Levi was hearing prior to his surgery.  Now he responds much quicker to voices and sounds.

It's been amazing watching Levi develop and change over the past 4.5 months.  His smiles and laughs are wonderful and it's been fun to see him start to roll over.  It's also been great to see his personality develop.  He is such a content, happy little man and has continued to display these characteristics despite the challenges that he is facing.  It's been a joy to watch him grow, and Ryan and I are looking forward to walking through the next years with him; through his next surgeries and each new milestone.  It's definitely exciting and I hope Ryan and I are up for the challenge!  We, again, thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we continue on this journey called parenthood.  

Thanks for reading!

One down!

Levi’s first surgery is over!  These last few days have been an emotional rollercoaster, but I’m happy to say that Levi is doing well.  Here’s a bit about Levi’s surgery and our time in the hospital.

We arrived at RUH at 6:30 am on February 13 and Levi was admitted into day surgery.  Despite being required to fast prior to his procedure, Levi was handling everything so well, and didn’t complain at all!  We met with the day surgery nurse, who got us ready, then we headed down to the OR where we met with the plastic surgeon, and the anesthesiologist.  After they explained the procedure, and we asked some questions, we gave Levi some good bye kisses and they whisked him away.  We were told the surgery would take approximately 2 hours (for both the lip repair and having his ear tubes placed, as well), he would be in recovery for about an hour, and then they would send him up to day surgery for another hour or so while the anesthesia wore off.     

We settled in the OR waiting room while Levi was in surgery, praying and hoping for the best during his two hour surgery.  Two and a half hours after being in the waiting room, we finally asked someone if Levi was doing ok.  Turns out he had been in the recovery room for 45 minutes already, without anyone coming to let us know that he was out of surgery.  That was a little annoying, but I chalked it up to a simple miscommunication and was just excited to see my son. 

The surgery went well, and the surgeon was very happy with the result.  He was still sleeping comfortably when he was sent out of recovery back to day surgery.  He was wearing off the anesthesia while Ryan and I sat beside his bed, waiting for him to wake up so we could feed our little man.  Before he was allowed to be discharged, we had to prove that he was able to eat.  So we waited.  And Levi kept sleeping. When the anesthesia finally started to wear off he was obviously in quite a bit of pain and had no interest in eating.  I felt so bad for him and I desperately wished I could do something to help him.       

Since we weren’t able to feed him for several hours, we were admitted to pediatrics, where we were hoping someone could tell us what could be done to help Levi.  After the nurses made some calls, it became apparent that there were no doctors that were willing to assess Levi.  Our plastic surgeon was gone for the day, and the plastic surgeon on call was no help.  The doctors on PEDs didn't want to see him either, because he was a plastic surgery patient.  It was very frustrating to see our son in pain, and not have a doctor to help us.  The nurses were wonderful though.  They believed that not only was he having trouble coming out of the anesthesia and was still very sleepy, that his throat was very sore from the breathing tube they used during the surgery and he was having trouble swallowing.  They administered an IV so he would be able to maintain his fluids, and gave him some morphine to help with the pain of his lip and his sore throat.  This helped quite a bit, and by the morning, his raspy breathing sounded much better and he was able to eat a little bit.  We were so glad to see that he was doing better. 

I’m honestly not sure which hospital stay was harder…  our stay in PEDs when he was an infant was much longer, but he was never in pain.  This time, we were only there for one night, but it was a very long night.  As a mother, it is very hard to see your child in pain and not be able to do anything.  My heart ached, and I cried right alongside him.  I definitely wasn’t prepared for this scenario, as we were told again and again that he would come out of the anesthesia relatively quickly, and we most likely wouldn’t need to stay for night.  This definitely wasn’t the case, and it was an eye opener for what might happen in his future surgeries.  I’m thankful for the nurses who were able to help Levi and that everything ended up turning out ok.

We have been at home for a few days now, and he is doing really good.  His lip is looking better and better as well, and we’re really happy with the result of the surgery.  He’s eating really well, and acting more and more like himself, too.  He still hates taking his medication, but I don’t blame him...  what kid likes taking medication?  He has to wear Velcro arm restraints that prevent his elbows from bending, so he doesn't pull out his stitches.  He gets frustrated sometimes when he can’t move his hands to his mouth, but they allow him full shoulder range of motion, so he is still able to play with his toys.  We feel bad laughing at him, but it's pretty funny watching him play with his toys when his arms are sticking straight out!  Despite us laughing, he is actually handling them pretty well!  We try to take them off as often as we can when we can closely supervise him, so he gets a bit of a break.  He gets pretty excited when he can bend his elbows!        

Levi with his Velcro arm restraints, playing with his toys

We are also very thankful for the prayer support that we’ve received.  It was a stressful few days, but it was a comfort knowing that we had many people supporting us, and ultimately that God was in charge. 

Our little man looked a little bit different for his four month picture this Saturday… but he is as adorable as ever and we love his new look!  Thanks for reading!

Happy 4 months, Levi!

The way life is

When I was researching cleft lip and palate before Levi was born, I read a few comments by mothers who have children with cleft.  A couple of them mentioned that they actually missed seeing their little one’s cleft lip after it was repaired.  When I read this, I thought to myself, “How could you miss something like that?  I’m excited for the day when our baby can have lip repair surgery!”  Now, it’s the day before Levi’s surgery, and I understand where these mothers were coming from.  When I look at Levi, I don’t see his cleft lip anymore.  All I see is a handsome little boy, with a wide, beautiful smile and my heart breaks a little bit knowing that after tomorrow morning, that smile will never look the same again.

It’s a hard thought to know that the little face I fell in love with 4 months ago will be completely different in less than 24 hours.  It’s not something I thought I would have to experience as a mother.  I also didn’t expect to be bringing my baby to the hospital for surgery at 4 months old.  Sometimes, that’s the way life is, though.  Sometimes, you’ve just got to sit back and trust that God’s got it all under control.  Because He does.  He’s good at that. 

Levi will go in for surgery at 8:00 am tomorrow morning, and the procedure will take approximately 2 hours.  We hope everything goes smoothly, and that his recovery is as quick as can be expected.

It’s comforting to know that there are lots of people praying for us as we prepare for Levi’s procedure tomorrow, and we thank you for your support.  Next time you see our little man, he’ll look a little different!!  (although still as adorable as ever J )

We have a date!

Levi's lip repair surgery has been booked for Thursday February 13. We are both excited and nervous for this date. We've been waiting to hear when this surgery would be booked for and we are excited that a date has been set, but also nervous for our little guy. He's so small and innocent and it breaks my heart that he has to go through a surgery already.  I hope that everything goes smoothly, and pray that the end result will turn out well.  We have lots of family and friends that are supporting us in prayer, and we know that God will be with us as we go through this procedure.

Last year, on February 13, 2013 Ryan and I were enjoying a Caribbean cruise with two close friends, and on that particular day, we enjoyed some time on the beaches in Haiti.  We spent the day snorkeling and swimming and we had a great time in that beautiful country!  On one hand, I would much rather be back there next Thursday instead of heading to the hospital for a 6:30 am check in!  However, on the other hand, last year at this time, I was only just a few weeks along into my pregnancy.  Levi was just starting to develop in my tummy...  Now our son is here to enjoy, and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world!

I'm not sure if I'm more nervous for the procedure itself, or the recovery and healing period afterward.  Because he will have stitches in his lip, he will have to wear stiff velcro 'sleeves' to prevent him from touching them.  I'm not exactly sure of the details on this, but I'm sure we will have more information in the coming days.  Levi has started becoming more and more active with his hands, and I'm hoping that this gentle restraint won't discourage him too much.  Feeding him will also be a bit different, and I hope that we will soon be able to learn what works best.

We know that God is in control and that He will be with us during these next few weeks... it's just hard to remember that sometimes!  Prayers are definitely appreciated as we get closer to this date and during the days after the surgery as we help Levi through the healing process.   

Thanks for reading!