One Year Post-Op

(I don't even think anyone reads this blog anymore, but I thought the one year anniversary of Amelia's surgery deserved a post.)

When Amelia was born and I found out about the need for her skull surgery, I scoured the internet for stories and blogs of other families who had been through similar surgeries.  I was always so amazed (and relieved!) to see the pictures of the children a year or two later, after all the trauma had passed and their lives were normal again!  

So here she is!

One year later, Amelia is a chatty, sweet and spunky little girl who continues to bring so much joy to our lives.  We are so grateful to God for His goodness to all of us throughout everything. 

A good report

Here is the "official" one year picture of Miss Amelia--a few days late, but I was having a hard time uploading the pics for some reason.  Better late than never!

Also wanted to share that yesterday Amelia had her six month follow up appointments with her surgeons.  Although extremely long wait times made it a stressful and tiring day, the appointments were full of good news.  Everyone agreed that she looks great and we got some pretty pictures of her newly shaped skull from the CT scan she had a few weeks ago.  Everything is healing beautifully. Praise God for His incredible goodness and faithfulness to Amelia over her first year of life! 

Birthday Fun

Thanks for the birthday present, Grammy and PopPop. I love it! Wheeeee!

One Year Ago Today

She did great

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who lifted up Amelia this morning during her CT scan. They did give her a sedative, but it was just an oral medication and she did not require an IV (yay!).  She was conked out for about an hour and a half, and the nurse told us she will be a little loopy for the remainder of the day.  She's taking another nap now.  

We won't see the results from this scan until our appointment with her surgeon later in March, but we are not worried as much as we are curious to see what her skull plates look like now! 

Please Pray for Amelia on Monday

We found out on Friday that Amelia's CT scan will take place this coming Monday, Feb 11th.  The craniofacial surgeon explained that it is standard procedure to do a scan like this at about six months post-op.  It will be used to get a more detailed picture of how the plates have shifted/re-grown after the surgery and it will be compared with a scan taken when Amelia was only a few months old.

  

The scan itself it painless, however the tricky part is in getting an almost one year-old to hold still in a very unfamiliar situation.  They are prepared to use "sedation" if necessary (given through an IV), although last time around she was still enough that it could be avoided.  In case they do need to sedate her, she will have to fast for six to eight hours before our arrival time of 10 am (although they said she can have clear fluids up to two hours prior).  

So our number one prayer request for this event is that the scan can be done without sedation. If sedation is necessary, we pray that they would be able to find a vein quickly and with minimal trauma for Amelia (they had a lot of difficulty with this during her pre-op blood draw and during the surgery).  We are also praying for peace and freedom from fear for Amelia during this procedure.

You would think after all we have been through with Amelia this year, something like this would be a piece of cake, but I've managed to find lots of ways to worry about it in the days leading up to it.  

God has been so wonderfully faithful to Amelia and to us.  The other day I accidentally snapped this picture of her head from above and I wanted to share this view with everyone.  As Amelia has been doing the finger-holding walk a lot these days, this is a view I get a lot of the time and I am always struck by the beautiful gentle curve of her forehead and the fact that her scar is almost completely covered by her soft brown hair.  What a miracle!

February 2008, 5 months post-op

July 2007, pre-surgery view

September 2007, about a week post-op.

Please do pray for Amelia on Monday morning.  Thanks so much for lifting her up!

Here Comes Trouble!

At eleven months, Amelia has definitely turned the corner from baby to on-the-go toddler!

Here are some pics of her antics during the 11 month photo shoot.

If you put me in my crib when I am not sleepy, I will just do this!

Thanks, Dee-Dad.  Let's get moving.  

She pulls herself up to standing most of the time and she is finding so many new things to explore!

Checking out the train table 

(How long do you think that track will stay set up?)

Hmmm, This looks interesting...

So if we seem a little worn out these days, it's only because we are constantly trying to stay one step ahead of our sweet girl. :)

Eleven Months

Amelia turned 11 months on Friday and celebrated by taking a little stroll!  Needless to say this walker is her new favorite toy.  I will post the rest of the pictures soon, but for now (thanks to a little help from my dad) here is a LIVE ACTION VIDEO!  (Yes, I am almost as proud of myself for posting a video as I am of Amelia. )

On the move at ten months

Happy New Year! Amelia turned 10 months today and I attempted to get a nice photo of her, but as you can see, she would not sit still for even a minute. She is definitely on the move! The pictures speak for themselves...










I finally got her to settle down by giving her "pink bunny" which is pretty much like a pacifier for her. As soon as she sees or holds the bunny, the thumb goes in the mouth and she gets very sweet and cuddly. After the photo shoot, she promptly took a nap. :)