A Christmas Miracle!

(I can't figure out why Whit is cut off in the photo...I've uploaded 3 times and it looks fine)

We got our Christmas gift a little early this year. And, it was the BEST Christmas present anyone could ever hope for!!!

Whit had an appointment on Monday with her Neurologist. We were supposed to be told what was found on her MRI that was done the day she had her eye and ear surgery. I took her by myself because Jason had to work a double shift in Abilene. I was not looking forward to it because I sort of expected to be told that the cerebellum problem was no better and was just praying that nothing "new" was found on the scan.

The doctor came in and sat down on his chair looking at me. He asked how Whit was doing and I told him she was doing great, surpassing all our expectations, etc. He took a deep breath and began telling me that the MRI that was done on December 9th showed absolutely no evidence that ANYTHING was wrong with her cerebellum!!!!! He also said that a cyst she had at birth was no longer there and that there was NOTHING structurally wrong with her brain whatsoever!!!! I was in shock.

We had been told after the first MRI that the two parts of her cerebellum were not connected/communicating and that they never would. So, you can imagine how shocked her doctor obviously was....as were we! He just kept repeating to me, "Do you understand, there is nothing wrong with her brain?" I just started crying and smiling and kissing Whitney. I couldn't even believe it. It was very obvious that he couldn't believe it either. I don't think he ever gets to tell many people that their child's brain is perfectly NORMAL!!!

I am just so shocked still. I still can't believe it. I keep wanting to call the office and just ask the nurse to tell me one more time so I can hear it again! We are so thankful and feel so blessed. This was defnitely a case of Divine Intervention! There's no doubt.

Whitney had a great Christmas, as did her brothers and parents. We celebrated with my sister and her family in Flower Mound. Whitney got lots of toys and new bows and a beautiful bracelet! As you can see from her photos, her eyes are looking great and seem to be straight at this point. She's such a doll.

Surgery is finished!

Whitney is back home and is doing well.

She went in Monday for her pre-op appointments and we were pretty nervous at that point. They explained what would happen and how the procedures were performed which was scary. My main concern was the anesthesia. I was so worried about her getting too much or not enough and made myself sick worrying. However, I am so glad that we were at Cook's. They really know what they're doing with babies. All of the doctors were really nice and her Opthalmologist even brought her some gifts! He says that she looks like his granddaughter, so he is always talking about her.

The morning of surgery, we left my mom's house near Plano at about 5am and arrived at Cook's at 6am for surgery. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much the night before and was exhausted. Whitney did great. She didn't fuss or complain about not being able to eat. She was happy and pleasant. However, she did not like the drops they put in her eyes before surgery, but they gave her a special vanilla-flavored paci that made it all better! Jason, Gigi and I were able to stay with her until they took her back to the operating room. They did not stick any needles in her until she was asleep from breathing the gas in the OR. It was so hard to say goodbye and watch them take her away. I tried my best not to cry, but that didn't last long!

We were escorted to a waiting room with all the other parents of children having surgery that day. In a short amount of time, the room was full and it was a large room. We couldn't believe how many kids have surgery there every day. The waiting room was nice and had a glass ceiling where we could see the birds flying by. Jason could tell I was a nervous wreck and kept trying to comfort me. We waited for news. Whit's ENT doc visited us shortly after we arrived and told us that the tubes were in place in her ears and that he removed a great amount of fluid from both ears.

We got a phone call in the waiting room from a nurse saying that she was asleep and comfortable and they were starting the eye procedure. We waited for quite some time before her Opthalmologist came to tell us that he had finished and her eyes looked great. We were relieved that the surgery part was over, but knew she would still be a while because they were going to do her MRI while she was still asleep. This took a while. It was 10:30am when they finally called us back to the recovery room.

When we walked into the recovery room, they were wrapping her in a blanket and arranging her IV line. She was dressed in a cute little hospital gown ( we asked if we could keep it, but they said no!) She was just waking up and having a hard time opening her eyes. I could tell that her throat was sore from the tube because she was swallowing really weird. They told us to give her some Pedialyte in her bottle and she took the whole 2 ounces! So, we asked for another and she took about an ounce more. She was doing great. We tried to give her some Tylenol, but she was gagging on it and we decided to wait.

The Anesthesiologist came in after about an hour and asked a few questions, then told us we could take her home when we were ready. The nurse came in and took her IV out and we dressed her in her own clothes, then headed back to Gigi's house. The whole thing was uneventful and we are so happy that she did so well. She is doing great now with just some redness in her eyes and a bit of swelling. Her ears seem to be doing great too. We are using drops in both ears and eyes for the next week. We are so glad this is over. I can finally stop worrying.....for now!

Here are some BEFORE pics and a few AFTER:

Finally downloaded some photos!

Whitney is now 6 months old. I finally downloaded some recent pics we've taken. She had her first food this weekend. It was an okay experience. The poor baby can't swallow solids very well and the cereal just came right back through her nose. I hate cleft palates! I'll be so glad when she gets it fixed. Enjoy the pics!

Surgery set for December 9th

Whitney's surgery for her eyes and ears as well as her MRI will be on Tuesday, December 9th at Cook Children's in Fort Worth. They estimated that she would be "under" for about 3 hours. This obviously will be a hard time for me as it's the first time I've ever had a child put under anesthesia and I'm scared to death. Please keep praying for our little girl! I'll post with pictures after the surgery is complete. Thanks for keeping up with us.

Surgery in the near future :(

Whitney has seen her ENT doctor and her Opthalmologist since the last post. The ENT wants to put tubes in her ears to prevent recurrent ear infections. She has a lot of fluid behind both ears.

She also saw her eye doctor this weekend. He agrees that her right eye turns in. He wants to correct the strabismus. They will be operating on both eyes to allow them to straighten out and improve her vision. He believes that operating early will give her the best chance of full 20/20 vision in the future.

So, we are waiting for the scheduling dept. to call us and tell us when they will be doing the two surgeries. They are hoping to be able to do both together along with her MRI that she was supposed to be sedated for. I asked her plastic surgeon if he wanted to try and do her cleft surgery as well, but he still wants to wait until she's closer to a year old.

Whitney is doing well right now. She will have an eye drop that we will use once a day in her left eye. It will dilate that eye and cause blurry vision forcing her to use the "bad" eye and strengthening the muscle in that eye.

Whitney will be 6 months old on Saturday! I can't believe how fast time flies.

Update

Whitney had some testing done recently. Her Physical Therapist thought she noticed Whit staring a lot. She was concerned that she may be having absent seizures. We agreed that she was staring, so off to her Neurologist we went. They did an EEG and determined that her brain activity seems to be normal and no seizure activity was noted during the testing. This doesn't necessarily mean that she is not having seizures, it simply means that no seizures were noted during this test. We were relieved that they seemed to think her brain was functioning properly according to the waves shown on the test. They commented that there were no low points, which I assume means she is responsive to stimuli, etc. We will keep you updated as we know more. Her next Neurology appt. is set for December when she will have her MRI under sedation. For now, we are nervous about her appointment tomorrow with the ENT doctor in Fort Worth. They seem to think she needs tubes ASAP instead of waiting for her cleft repair. Poor baby. Here are some pictures from the testing, smiling at Daddy while waiting for the testing and from working with her Physical Therapist whom she adores.

Whitney has had a rough couple of weeks. She has had multiple ear infections and coughing, wheezing, drainage, etc. She has been on 4 different antibiotics, breathing treatments, and had 4 shots of Rocephin in the last month. She lost a few ounces while she was sick, but has gained it back now.

Her Pediatrician is concerned with the number of ear infections she's had and the fact that she continues to have fluid behind her right ear. He recommended that she see the ENT doctor at Cook's to discuss tube placement. So, we have an appointment in a few weeks to see what he has to say. Although I don't look forward to her being put under and having tubes placed, I feel like it would really help her to feel better. She also has developed this thing where she favors her left side. If you place her on her right side, she cries and immediately pulls herself to the left. I'm not sure if this is related to the ear or not. However, I'm anxious to see what the ENT doc thinks.

Her physical therapy is going well still. She still is not holding her head erect and has trouble on her tummy. She won't push up or lift her head while on her tummy yet. We are working hard to help facilitate her so that she can gain the strength she needs to do these things. Looking at Whit, you would think she is about 2 months old. She is tiny and her mannerisms and motor skills are characteristic of a much younger infant. People are shocked when I tell them she is 4 months old! However, we are proud of how far she's come. She loves to be held and for us to talk to her.

On a good note, she had her month checkup and is tipping the scales at 12 lbs, 4 oz! She is officially in the 25th percentile for her height and weight, so we are encouraged that she is growing at an almost-normal rate! She had her immunizations at her checkup and didn't even cry or make a sound. I think it's because the Rocephin shots were so painful that these were nothing in comparison :(

The boys are doing well. We've all had our round of the sickness that Whit had, but everybody is starting to feel better now. We've all had our flu shots, so we're just praying that keeps at least some of us well this season. Happy Fall!