Spring is here!

Ella took an early nap and we had an awesome afternoon outside!  The sun is shining and it's 65 degrees!  Gorgeous!

She rode her bike and chased Nicky around.  Then we met up with Cindy, Mike and Chance at the park.  What an adventure....pretty sure they think I'm crazy!  It's quite a riot watching me chase Ella and Nicky around the park.  Today I needed their help!   Thanks guys!  We had a blast!

No pictures....I was having too much fun!

It's over, it's really all over!

Slowly, I'm working on the "Ella's Craniosynostosis Adventure" Blog.  I refer back to this blog to find the stories and my feelings and emotions.  I refer back to this post and I'm posting most of this post on the blog.  It really captures what we were going through.  So many feelings and emotions and just reading it brought tears to my eyes!

We've been through a lot and I know it's not over, but most of it is.  It feels good, but I can't help feeling overwhelmed just thinking about it! 

This morning my boss called to discuss going back to work on Monday.  I'll have to hit the ground running with a full cup of coffee because it's still busy and I'll be flying solo in the mornings.  He's off to Arizona today -- hopefully he'll bring me some grapefruit!  ;)

Ella still has bad days and yesterday was one of those days when I was wishing I was back at work!  I could do NOTHING to make her happy and it lasted all day!  This morning she got up at 6 (this is the first day she ignored the good night light)!  But she's been full of hugs, kisses and just fun!  I guess I'll cut her some slack with the cold, but it's just a runny nose so far and she's definitely had worse colds that have affected her less.  She never really breathed through her nose prior to surgery.  Her dentist was hopeful the surgery would fix it.  Right away in the ICU Joe and I noticed she was breathing through her nose and we dont' think she ever had!  Maybe this cold is frustrating her because for the first time her nose breathing has been taken away and she knows it!  We also think the congestion has to feel different to her new forehead!  I'm glad her first cold is rather minor because she is being a drama queen!

One more day of leave and a weekend with few plans.  I'm trying hard to gear up for Monday and still in amazement that we made it through all of this!  It's been such a rollercoaster and I'm ready for the ride to be over!

The Sitter Drama...

It's been nice being off work!  I have taken care of Ella and I just don't have to worry about things and it feels good.  The logistics of finding sitters and filling in the gaps when Joe is gone is hard for me and causes me great stress!

Dorothy is going to watch Ella next week when I go back to work.  Then she will be at Janie's.  I called her old daycare and they will take her back!  There is room for her and she will be in the Turtles mid-June.  Ella's friend Abby is in that room and adores the teachers so I'm glad Ella will get to join her!

We also have 2 sitters we use for evenings/weekends when Joe is out of town.  Ashley is moving this month!  I'm so sad to see her go.  I just called her friend who she recommended and I'm anxious to meet and hopefully hire her!

Our other sitter Alycia just got married and she's been busy!  I'm hoping her schedule frees up in time for Joe's travel to rev up again!

I made several calls today and feel like I can cross some items off my list...but date night this weekend is a no-go!

Back to Kindermusik

We're going to be the odd ones out!  This session started in January and we've been ONCE!  First I was working days and then I chose to keep Ella home.  She's got a cold....but it's just a minor cold and they have hand sanitizer and enforce use, so we're going!

She is so excited!  It should be fun...although she already told me she's going to "run around". 

Reader Poll

What do you call these?

Milestone: First Movie

Ella napped like crap today.  She's officially starting a cold.  Joe brought up a good point - her sinuses have to feel different!  She's not handling it well and not sleeping well!  What better thing to do than go to the dollar theatre?

We went to Tangled which I know is out on DVD so I didn't think there would be anyone there.  The theatre was pretty full --- crazy! 

She did awesome!  She LOVES popcorn.  She sat in her own seat for a bit, but quickly moved to my lap.  She was chatty a few times, but all in all, very good!  I will take her again!

My favorites from Ella.  "Who are they?", I replied "Rapunzel and Eugene", two minutes later, "where'd Gene go?".  "Wow, Mommy - look at the little lights" while pointing to the floor lights.  "She did it" when all the lanterns rose!

I'm always stereotypical and rather creeped out when old men are at these types of movies alone at 4 in the afternoon!  One of "those guys" sat in front of us.  He walked in late and was extra involved in the movie --- laughing, clapping, and commenting.  The best was upon leaving he offered to take the trash from a lady with 3 little kids.  I felt badly for judging him and thought he was just a nice guy who liked Disney.  I watched him dump the trash and keep the large popcorn box.  Then we see him at the refreshments cashing in on the free refill of popcorn!  I exchanged an "are you kidding me?" glance with the mom.  My guess is he does this all the time!  Pay $1 for a mild-entertaining film and leave with enough popcorn for dinner and lunch the next day!  Still creepy to me!

Ella Update - 18 days postop

Overall, she's doing awesome!  For those that don't know her well, outside of her scar, she's a normal kid!  As her mom I can tell that she's a little off.  Her (very high) energy level isn't quite back.  She's more into quiet things and cuddling than usual.  Her fuse is getting better, but still pretty short!  She just gets mad and I have to figure out what she wants quickly (like a typical 2 year old)....but a little different and much more often! 

Her pain is still an issue.  She hasn't taken oxycodone during the day for the last week.  We are weaning her bedtime dose to off slowly to prevent withdrawal (this is the pharmacist in me).  This morning she was Ms. Grumpy and then it finally dawned on me.  Oops....I forgot her motrin and she still needs it.  You'd think I would be better at this!  She also is not afraid to ask for motrin!  She hasn't had scheduled tylenol in the last week either.  I had hoped to get her off motrin before I went back to work, but maybe she isn't quite ready.  I'm going to try morning and bedtime only and see how it goes.  It's hard to tell besides the grumpiness, but she does point to her forehead and tells me it hurts.

She's back to MILK!  I think it was the oxycodone and since we haven't given her any during the day, food and drink must taste right.  It will be one more sign to me that she's in pain or not feeling well if she asks for SODA! 

She still will feel her forehead and say, "mommy, what's this?".  It's kind of bumpy and must feel different to her.  It's all new.....so it has to be different, right?  I hold her hand and have her feel my forehead and say, "See, it now feels just like Mommy's.  This is part of where the doctor fixed your head" and then she agrees, gives me the look where I know that little brain is processing and quickly moves on. 

Her head has bumps - there are small ones covered by her hair. The ones that bother me are on her temples. It just kind of sinks down. These pictures demonstrate it well....and her "smile" accents it. Her flowing curls will be back soon enough to cover it and no one has a perfectly shaped head. It's just different and it will settle in.

Her left eye is off.  It is more squinty and looks saggy when she's crying, tired, or smiling.  I expect it to improve with time.

Her scar looks amazing and doesn't seem to bother her.  She can't see it in the mirror, but has seen pictures and asks about it.  One of her favorite things to do is look at pictures on my phone and they are all there.  She asks and we remind her it's her scar where the doctor fixed her head and she just says, "oh". 

It's a lot to take in for a little girl, but she asks questions and we are honest, but we don't make a big deal of it.  She found a scar on my knee and she loves to see it and talk about it too.  She says, "mommy, little girl, fall off bike...scar". 

I'm taking many pictures and documenting things here all in plans for my craniosynostosis public blog.  I've started it and look forward to finishing and sharing.  It was such a struggle to find other families who went through this with an older child and I hope I can be of help to someone else!  I think it's much different with a toddler vs 6 month old.

Nose, Nose!

The isolation for Miss Ella this winter really worked!  She wasn't sick at all (except for the croup).  Now that we are out and about the runny nose has set in. 

Today she came running up to me yelling, "nose, nose" meaning my nose is running and I need a kleenex right now!  It's almost like she has forgotten what it's like to constantly have the toddler snot!

Next winter is going to be such a bear after having such an easy one this year.....

Tag Jr - I love it!

oohhh, the power to get the book to talk to me

She quickly figured out to move the pal around to different places on the page

She loves it!

I was hesitant to buy this.  It says age 2-4 years, but I didn't think she was ready for it.  I was wrong!  She quickly figured out how to turn on the pal and was instantly placing it all over the book to learn new things!  She is singing along with Big Bird.  At the end of the book it challenges her to find the first letter of her name, etc.  I am impressed!  The pal stores 5 books at a time.  I bought 5 books when I bought the system and I'm excited to get her even more books!

Ella and her best bud

She knows to grab his collar and occasionally she goes for quite a ride!

I love you, Nicky!

Best buds!

He is so good to her!

These two are like siblings!  This mornng they have been fighting.  Ella had to go down the stairs FIRST and it was a screaming fit because Nicky was first.  I had to make sure to hold him back so she could be first to go back up the stairs and take HER turn!  I put my SD Card in my computer this morning to quickly remember how she was combing his hair and loving him up just last night!  Siblings.....

Mr. Nicky is getting older!  He had his annual vet visit recently and we think he may be older than we originally thought.  He is such a big part of our family and I get teary watching him hesitate to jump in the jeep, not be able to see the ball at the park, and just seem old and tired.  This Spring we have had Nicky for 6 years!  He was estimated to be 1.5 years when we adopted him....but he must have been older.  We think he is more like 9 or 10 years old.  We started him on Rimadyl for his arthritis and it's helping.  His vet says he does have some cataracts as well.  We love you Nicky!

Making dinner...

I'm a mess tonight! Miss Ella entertained herself coloring. I should have known something was up when she was so good for so long!

Why on earth do kids do this?

Seriously? 

This is really going to drive me crazy....these are the "good" crayons too!

I was just OFF.  I had planned on making orange chicken (frozen....very easy).  I knew I didn't have rice, but I did have that huge bag of quinoa I have never used!  I put in 1 cup of water, 1 cup on quinoa......then I can't remember!  Did I add the 2nd cup of water or not?  It looked like 2 cups in the pot.  I let it cook.  It was drying out too fast.....so I kept adding more water until I likely added 1 cup.  So I probably forgot to add the 2nd cup or quinoa requires 3:1 water and the bag is wrong!

Either way....the crayons are all paperless and dinner happened! 



I really thought I had ruined this pan too!



I'm not a rice fan in general.  White rice is boring, brown rice tastes funny.  I'm now a big quinoa fan!  It is a whole grain and has protein!  Yeah!  I know I can use it in place of rice, but I don't do rice often.  What other uses do you know of?  I heard adding to salads is good.  What seasonings can be added?



Frozen Grapes

Love them!  I just bought some big green grapes.  I washed them, put them in a baggie and froze them!  I don't think they would last long in the freezer...but what a refreshing, tasty snack!  Ella ate a few....but wasn't too into them.  Maybe it just takes me back to the spa.....

Ice cream date

Milestone: Big Girl Bed (with rail)

The side is off and she's so proud!



New pillow case and I'm set (yes, that's my favorite down pillow that now belongs to Ella)



The safety rail is up....doesn't look so fun anymore, but she doesn't seem to care!

Just enough room to get in and out



This is barely a change from the crib, but it works for us right now.  I think it would scare us all too much to have her falling out of bed and she's fine with the enormous rail!  She slept awesome last night and woke up saying, "Mommy, sun's up".  I went in and took her out of bed and she was super proud!

She's growing up....





Milestone : Bike (well actually trike)

I think I can do this!

I can just "flinstone it" so much faster!

Thanks for the push, Daddy

Look at me go!

Bikes were on sale and she tried out many at Toys R Us yesterday.  We took this Little Miss Flyer home.  She loves it!  Her bike helmet FITS and she knows she wears her helmet or she doesn't ride!  It's going to take some time to learn to pedal....she doesn't have the patience because she can go faster if she just walks her feet!  She also wanted to chase Nicky and got off the bike to RUN!  I have shared my fears that she will be behind on the motor skills because of her pre-surgery restrictions!  I'm guessing most kids her age already know how to pedal, but with time she'll catch up, right?

This was a big step for this Mom and I'm very proud of her!  I can tell that the helmet was a bit irritating to her scar, so this afternoon I may try to convince her to wear her beanie hat under the helmet. 

Prayers for Alex

Please say a prayer for Alex and his family as he leaves for basic training with the Marines.  It has to be so hard for my dear Aunt Crystal to have 2 of her sons in the Marines.  My thoughts and prayers are with you today as you depart to make the ultimate sacrifice to serve our country so that we all may be free.

We love you!  Be safe!

Birthday Party Success

We all had so much fun at Patrick's 1st Birthday Party (Andrea's little guy).  I have gotten Ella to wear the beanie type hats at the park, but she takes them off when we get inside.  It's not that I am embarrassed about her scar - it's life, it's there and I'm so thankful everything underneath looks so great.  There were a lot of kids at the party and a lot of people I didn't know!  I selfishly didn't want to talk about surgery all night! 

She left this cute hat on the entire time we were there!  She was a perfect little lady.  She shared toys, loved up the kitty, ate her veggies before her cupcake, helped open presents, gave hugs goodbye and said thank you!  Unfortunately...she did take off on a full sprint down the street before Joe got her in the car and she did repeat at least twice the words Joe chose to say while chasing her (oops)!  Even in a dress and her black dress shoes --- the girl has some speed!

I must have been having too much fun because I didn't take a single picture.....just snapped this one in the car on the way. 

Then this proud mama headed out to meet Stephanie for drinks!  Stephanie and I were the best of friends when we worked together in Colorado.  We were both newly married and new to the hospital.  We don't have as much in common right now and have kind of grown apart.  Last night was so fun to see her and just chat about life stuff.   It was awesome to catch up! I didn't realize how much I miss her!

I have also spent a lot of time with Nicole while she was in town.  We have so much in common with our struggles with our 2 year old independent, too-smart little girls and trying to balance it all.  I miss her so much and our families work so well together.  She is really working hard to get us back to Colorado!  We could both benefit from some help for eachother and just plain fun together!

Everything with Ella's surgery went better than expected and it's been wonderful to focus on HER for the last 2 weeks.  Selfishly it was so wonderful and relaxing to spend time with these incredible ladies and actually focus on ME a bit!  Except working those 2 weekends, it's been Ella-time for the last 5 weeks!

I was out too late and I'm tired this morning, but I feel good!  I really just feel good.  It's a bummer that it takes a pharmacy meeting that happens to be in Salt Lake to get us together....but it's just what I needed and I'm thankful!  I think it should be in Salt Lake every year! 

Taking care of the animals

She now also feeds kitty when we feed Nicky.  She likes to find a utensil from her kitchen and "help" Nicky eat

Last night she put Kitty's food/water outside the pantry by Nicky's food

Playing tug-a-war with Nicky -- she laughs her head off!

Nothing makes her smile like her Nicky

She came to me with her new monkey and said, "Monkey has to go to the hopital to fix his head".  She walked away and held him close and said, "it's ok, it's ok".  Broke my heart!  Now she is giving him a check up! 

Priceless and adorable

Love her!

The Good Nite Lite

We love it!  Ella has always been rather infatuated with the moon and we talk about the moon alot.  On the way to the hospital the other day she asked me 300 times where the moon was. 

We bought the good nite lite and we love it!  You can easily set the time for the moon to come on and then the time for the sun to come on.  She is excited at bedtime to see her moon and knows that the moon means bedtime.  We do our best to not go into her room until the sun is up!  This is hard!  I have poked my head in and just said, "it's not morning until your sun is up" and she was really mad, but one bad morning here and there and most mornings she sleeps!

We started setting the sun at 5:30 and gradually moved it back.  It's currently set for 7 and she makes it to 7 most days.  This morning I heard her cry at 6:30 and in the old days we would all be up....but I think she saw her moon and went back to sleep!  It's not 7:25 and she's still sleeping!  YEAH!

Her schedule changes with mine, so it may require us to remember to change the time when we have to wake her early. 

She's so proud exclaiming, "I did it" when she sleeps until the sun is up!  We also bought the book that goes with the light and it's not fabulous....but it's a nice way to learn about the light. 

This is a huge hit at our house and has brought more sanity to all of us!

The Tournament

I have loved the NCAA Basketball tournament since I was in 2nd grade!  Early on my Mom let me a do a bracket and even put in the couple of dollars and sometimes I even WON!  I also have great memories watching the games as a family.

This week I was proudly walking around reminding Joe that I was in first place in his work pool.  Unfortunately my bracket is in his name so it looks like HIS bracket (no outsiders in the work pool this year).  The one he did has not been doing so well.

Last night my team lost!  I was of the 2 people in the pool who had Duke winning it all.  Bummer....they just couldn't hit a basket for anything last night!

Joe helped Ella do a bracket as well and early on we made fun of her picks and didn't even submit it, but we have it and have been checking on it.  She's going to beat us both!

With the upsets last night my bracket is still in first place, but I've lost Duke.  I still have my other Final Four teams and if the championship is Arizona over Kansas, I will be in the money...but I think the likelihood is small! 

I was getting pretty excited to be the winner and the camaraderie is so much fun!  Either way, we have another weekend of fun basketball games and I will enjoy it!  It KILLS me to cheer for Arizona....but I say, Go WILDCATS!

Thank you Ladies!

My Mom shared the story of the package I received put together by other cranio families.  Holly felt that Stitches... would be happy help out.  Another friend has a granddaughter who went through a similar surgery.  The other ladies have huge, kind hearts and they all got together, enjoyed wine, food and socialization and made blankets and put together amazing care packages to send to Cranio Care Bears who will then send the packages to families prior to surgery.

I sent a picture to Summer this morning and asked which website to provide to the local paper and this is the email I got back:
"OH MY GOSH! I am in tears! I'm speechless. WOW! You have one amazing mother and friends! That is incredible! My heart is beaming. Please tell them how incredibly sweet they are and how much this means to us and cranio families!! WOW just unreal. Can I share this picture on my facebook??

We actually have an official website now! www.craniocarebears.org but it's in the beginning stages and lots of work is still to be done. We would LOVE to be in a paper!!!! WOW!!! Please let me know what happens and would LOVE to get a copy of it when it comes out!!

WOW what a wonderful thing to start my day. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Summer"

This brought tears to my eyes! Such appreciation and thankfulness!

Oh, ladies! Do you even know how you have already and will continue to touch the hearts of many families? I'm honored to know you all and I thank you for your generosity and kindness! You are the best!

What would you be doing 13 days after major surgery?

I'd still be laying in bed hoping people would still have pity and want to wait on me!

Not this girl!  She's at the children's museum driving her very own strange-shaped car.  She mostly went backwards and ran into many people/objects....but she's new to driving!  I wish you could see the striped socks with polk-a-dot shoes she just HAD to wear.

We picked up 2 of my pharmacist buddies from Colorado who are in town for a conference and had the most awesome lunch!  I am really missing Colorado and my peeps today! So bummed I didn't take any pictures to share!

It works!

Thanks for the great tips!  Dawn has worked wonders to get the ointment out of our clothes.  I used to use Dawn for things and now I use Oxyclean, but for grease it has to be dawn!

I pour it directly on and let it soak overnight and it does the trick!

Cheers to Foster Parents

While working I see so many sad things!  Some people need to be locked up and then there are others who deserve to be praised for their kindness!

This morning when we walked in we noticed 2 guys changing a baby's diaper in the hall.  They were both very invested in the little boy, but they just didn't go together.  They came in and sat by us.  I couldn't figure it out, but it really wasn't my business!  At the same time everyone is staring at Miss Ella wondering what the heck happened to her! 

One of the guys said, "oh he's a foster dad, the little guys mom gave him shaken baby syndrome.  Since we're in construction and have no work, I drove down from Montana with him so his wife could stay home. He has to have surgery to take some of the blood out of his head".

DEVASTATING!  People suck!  This poor, innocent, beautiful baby boy!  My heart just hurts.  My heart also feels so warm and comforted to see such kind people!  Foster parents amaze me. This friend dropped everything to help - including helping change poopy diapers!  I slept comfortably in my own bed while they drove all night with a crying, hungry baby!

I have a cousin who has adopted 2 foster kids (in addition to 2 boys) and they are the most beautiful family.  Cheers to all the wonderful people out there!

Stitches out and she did awesome!

Love the hospital PJ's....the waiting begins!

Yeah for a fun toys and even a TV for distractions. I think it's funny that they have a kitchen with food, but all the kids are starving!

Big blue stitches are gone....looks a little sore, but I bet it feels better.  She assured us "no owies"!

Our happy, excited patient is back! I'm so relieved!

We all got up at 3AM to give Ella meds and some sprite. We had to wake her at 7:30 (record sleep, of course). She instantly wanted food and drink, but we were able to distract her.

We got to the hospital and she did just fine. She told everyone she was getting her stitches out. She was her old self - super interested and cooperative! What a relief! I can't believe the last few weeks didn't scar her for life, but they didn't!

We had the same nurse practitioner and pre-op nurse and they just loved her up and were so complimenting (which makes me proud).

Sitting with the other parents everyone kind of wonders what everyone is there for. I know many of the docs and I can figure it out, but Ella was sure a mystery to many! I didn't think about it until one Mom said, "can I please ask what they are possibly doing to your poor little girl? She looks like she's been thru enough!". We explained and we were happy to be the most relaxed parents in all 4 waiting rooms!

Ella had fun playing with all the toys and watching the other kids. Her OR time was even later than we thought so the final waiting room was over an hour! We decided she could make it without the versed (anxiety med). Her surgeon came and she was happy to see him and he told her how great she looked. The anesthesiologist came and she was happy to go back with him to count butterflies - even without a wagon! He only used gas and a narcotic in her nose.

Her surgeon used local anesthetic injected into her sutures and pulled them all out. Some of the skin opened so he restitched with dissolvable stitches. I'm not surprised --- I had lots of fear they weren't ready to come out, but hadn't thought about that as an option! He didn't want to leave the big stitches in long --- they leave track marks. Kind of funny considering the giant scar across her whole head!

We met with her surgeon. He had nothing but good things to say! He feels she should not need narcotics during the day. I have a hard time when she specifically tells me her head hurts while pointing to her forehead! But, I know the oxycodone is why she won't drink milk! We will wean off in the next few days and continue at bedtime for another week. He also said she should have Sierra Mist, not Sprite because high fructose corn syrup is bad for kids and really bad for all of us! HILARIOUS coming from a surgeon....but I have to say I agree and I purposely buy most of our foods/drinks high fructose corn syrup free!

We have been so please with him and everything at the hospital. It's where I work and I know the politics and crappy policies and no job is perfect! BUT as a parent, I feel Primary Children's in AMAZING and I would highly recommend to anyone! I am so impressed and feel so blessed to be a part of such a great institution. They really do make miracles happen and I cherish our little miracle every day!

We had an appointment to see her doctors on Tuesday, but we can reschedule for 2-3 weeks from now since he saw her today.

We asked many questions. We are going to be cautious for the next 3 months - following 2 feet on the ground! Everytime we ask the daycare question we get a different answer. Face to face when I explain how badly I want her back into a daycare setting which includes a playground with no restrictions he agreed to 3 months. We plan on moving Ella back to daycare mid-June and it feels so good! It will be very hard to leave Janie, but in the long run, it's the best choice.

We are all grounded for a while! No airplane travel per doctor's orders. We had hopes of some trips in May, but we will have to cancel. Better safe than sorry and it's just meant to be right now. We are seeing many signs of Spring and we can enjoy our own neighborhood for a while! But I'm certainly feeling pretty claustrophobic....it's not like me to remain HOME for so long!

I think all the worst is behind us. We are so blessed and I thank all of you - family, friends, and complete strangers for following this journey. Blogging is my sanity and I appreciate the great outlet.

We are excited to get Ella's personality back and we are seeing more and more of it.  I'm cutting her some slack for a few more days, but rules are slowly coming back and I'm planning some fun things for our last week together!

Frustration....

I'm almost in tears!  I just called Joe and asked him to come home.  He's been working super late with all the work piled up while he was off!  Ella has only drank a little Sprite today.  She isn't interested in eating dinner.  She won't drink ANYTHING!

The hospital called and delayed her case!  Now we report at 8AM....with an OR time of 930, which I know means more like 10.  It was pure hell starving her last time until 830 when we gave her the versed.  I don't know how we will distract her for so long!

She's already a tough stick and I don't know how they will get an IV in her poorly hydrated body.

It feels good to vent.  Now I will go do a soda song and dance!

Ideas?

We will be in the waiting room and OR tomorrow, so I wanted to bring a note and thank you photo card to her OR nurse who gave us frequent updates and the kind ladies in the waiting room where we sat all day!  I was thinking of picking up something sweet to go along with it.  Symphony bar?  100 grand (because they were worth that to me that day)?  Any other clever ideas or favorites? 

It's the thought more than the item itself, but I really want to show how appreciative we really are!

I'll do something for our favorite nurses later....I can find them more easily when I go back to work and I want to include pics of how good she will look in a few weeks so they can see our real Ella!  I still remember the look of amazement when she perked up and turned back into our little chatterbox!  They all saw Ella in the not-so-good days!

The stitches are coming out!

Best case scenario for us again!  We are to report to the hospital at 6:45AM for an expected 8:15 AM Operating Room time.  It's such a bummer to go through the entire process again just for the darn stitches, but I'm thankful we don't have to hold her down and she doesn't have to feel any pain! 

I've told her we are going back to all the same waiting rooms and she'll have a check up and another wagon ride!  She knows she's only getting her stitches out and then we are coming back home!  I still think she'll freak when we really get there.  She wanted to watch the Scraps videos again so hopefully that will help!  The hospital does an amazing job with the pre-surgery class on online videos.  It really helps!

I'm anxious to see her doctor and ask some more questions!  He viewed the pictures I emailed in and feels her stitches are really ready to come out!  I've talked to 4 different people this morning getting her registered, verifying her health history, talking to her doctor's secretary, and then the final call with our time to arrive!  It's so funny to go through all the same steps for major vs very minor surgery....but surgery is still surgery, right?

I didn't call to request a specific anesthesiologist this time.  Mostly it just doesn't seem like surgery and I forgot.  She'll be out for such a short time I'm not going to worry!  I just hope we get someone nice who is willing to entertain our chatterbox and this procedure is so short we likely won't give her versed (anti-anxiety medication) prior to going back....but we'll just have to see how it goes.  I really hope it's the same guy - he was so nice to her and reassuring for us! 

One more step will be behind us by this time tomorrow!

10 days postop

I'm doing my best to document her progress for the blog I want to do of Ella's story.  I snapped these yesterday.  Her personality isn't back.  Her taste must still be off.  She asks for food and drink and I take her to the fridge and she doesn't want anything!  I've still had the best luck with sprite and I'm just going with it for now.  She does eat meals quite well and I just keep coming up with variety (she's never been a left-overs kid).  With gifts from many and her large wardrobe I'm finding shirts with large necks or buttons to get over her head carefully.  It's still sensitive and we're being careful.  Her head is significantly larger, but I have not measured it yet!  We can finally pack away all the baby hats!  Her head was always small and never really grew after 12 months!  She's still on scheduled motrin, tylenol and oxycodone.  I've tried going without and she's miserable.  Hopefully with the stitches out and a few more days, her pain will improve.  We were told there would be bumps as it all settles in and there are bumps.  It will take 6 months for all swelling to resolve and a year for her skull to settle in.  The plan is to go back to the OR tomorrow to get the stitches out.  The waiting game begins of waiting for the time, starving her in the morning, and going back to the dreaded surgery waiting room for Joe and I!  Her hair is growing back and it won't be long and the scar will be hidden!



There's still some bruising.




Her forehead shape is different and you can see some of the bumps, but we've been promised it will all settle in.  They cut her hair shorter in the front.  I'm thankful for what's left, but I'm excited for it to grow out!



You can see how they pulled out her forehead and the bumps.  They really used some big stitches!  It should feel good to get those out tomorrow.  We are putting bacitracin ointment on her scar and she likes to rub it in her hair....she's a greaseball!