Bad Mommy!

Today was Savannah's six month well check. At least it was in the neighborhood of 6 months since it was originally scheduled for May 17th. The week before her surgery is scheduled. I didn't want her vaccinated just one week before her surgery (too much stress) but I also wanted her to be current since she could be exposed to a lot while in the hospital. The telephone clerks were adamant that there were no appointments any earlier. I asked to have a message sent to her doctor about the vaccinations. Not much later I got a call back. The doctor said it was far too long to wait for a baby with her "issues" and that we could be seen within the week!

   It's the diapered daredevil!

The appointment was going well. Savannah is currently at progressing at a nine month level. She can crawl and pull herself up to stand. We were concerned though that she had recently started waking up in the middle of the night (very unusual), started to refuse feedings, and was generally fussy the last few days. I thought she was either teething or having some reflux flare-ups. We discussed the options for upping her current reflux meds and also agreed that it could be teething. Until we got to her ears... The doctor took one very quick look and replied she has an ear infection! Then looked into the other ear and confirmed that Savannah not only has her first ear infection but that she has a double infection. I feel so bad. I had no clue that my baby had an ear infection! For some reason I though if she had an infection she would also have a fever and be tugging at her ears. Boy, was I wrong!

 It was a tough day for Savannah, being both vaccinated and having an ear infection. But we took a trip to the Wild Animal Park and she actually stayed awake long enough to see some ducks, pelicans, and a whole lot of butterflies! She watched in silent awe as hundreds of butterflies flew around her!

Surgery Scheduled

Savannah's surgery has officially been scheduled. As long as she is healthy and does not get another cold, her surgery is scheduled for May 24th. I wasn't really stressed about it before. Maybe because it seemed so far away and I tried to live in the moment and not give much thought to it. Now that I spoke to the scheduler and booked the date, it became a little overwhelming to be honest. It is going to happen very soon and there is nothing stopping it. My baby has to have surgery. Thankfully I have a good support system both with family, friends and an online chat group for cleft babies. One lady said tonight "remember you are doing it for your babies, not to them". It is so true and it helped a lot.

Most likely she will be undergoing two procedures. She will have her palate repaired and will probably have ear tubes placed at the same time. The reason I say most likely? Our ENT appointment is not until May 17th. They will be seeing her for the first time and deciding on surgery just one week before it is scheduled! Thankfully they are keeping the date reserved in case they approve the ear tube surgery. In the meantime Brian and I will be taking a lot of Airborne/Zicam and making sure Savannah does not go around anyone sick if we can help it!

Another appointment, Another day...

We met with Savannah's geneticist again today. She was pleased with the eye exam results and with Savannah's overall development. We surprised her when she asked if Savannah was rolling over yet and we exclaimed "she crawls now!"

She asked about possibly doing some more genetic testing for 2 possible Stickler genes. We declined. It is just not worth putting Savannah through a blood draw to possibly get an answer. Truthfully, it would change nothing. She is ours and we are going to take care of her no matter what. I really don't think it would affect our decision to conceive again either. To have a baby with isolated case of PRS or Sticklers syndrome again is small and not worth testing for simply to get a chance at an answer.

Meanwhile Savannah is cruising through her milestones! She can sit up on her own, she can pull herself up onto her knees, and she can crawl. It is still a slow crawl but she is steadily moving forward! Thankfully she is still sleeping through the night (knock on wood!) and she is still steadily gaining weight. Although she was measured incorrectly last doctor visit. She is either in the 12th percentile for length as she has always been or she has shrank over the last two weeks.

Our next appointment? April 18th for our 6 month well check. Seriously, where did that time go??? After that we see an ENT mid-May. We will be back to see the Geneticist after Savannah's 1year old eye exam. I have a feeling Savannah is going to be a busy girl when she turns one and will be seeing a flurry of doctors yet again.

Finishing this post with a common view at our house. Savannah's tiny but cute butt crawling away!