I have only been meaning to start one of these for the past 15 months I guess late is better then never! This is a blog about our life with Brody and all the craziness that includes!
Last October Todd and I welcomed our first child into the world a little boy named Brody and he has been the greatest blessing we have ever experienced! When I was 18 weeks into my pregnancy we found out that Brody would be born with a cleft lip and most likely a cleft palate as well. We were a bit heart broken in the beginning but knew that we would all be fine and would deal with whatever God wanted to hand to us. The ironic part was that two weeks prior to finding out about Brody's cleft I was giving a friend who is cleft affected herself and also pregnant a little pep talk before she went in for her level two ultrasound to check for clefts on her baby. I told her that it would be okay and that no matter what she would love that baby and the surgeons are amazing and can do amazing things! Little did I know I was truly giving myself that speech!
Over the next 20 weeks I went through more ultra sounds then anyone should ever have to go through. It was a little ridiculous and looking back now I wish I would have stood up the doctors and told them no more! I saw the first perinatologist at 19 weeks for a level 2 ultrasound and to be honest this is all we needed. He was a wonderful doctor that reassured us that the only thing we were dealing with was a cleft and he gave us a referral to the best pediatric craniofacial plastic surgeon in Phoenix. After that doctor visit my OB referred us to a second perinatologist this is where the trouble begins. The first ultra sound at the second perionatologist's office lasted 6 hours! Later that day I was called and told I would have to come back because they couldn't see everything they wanted to see. The second ultrasound lasted 4 hours this was after the technician told me that the reason they wanted us to come back was because they feared that Brody was missing an eye and he could possibly have trisomy 18. Nothing like telling a pregnant women that is in her 26th week that her son could have a fatal disease!! The doctor was a pessimist and was upset that he was our second opinion and looking back I wish I would have never gotten his opinion at all! It was one of the worst experiences of my life. They wanted to do an amniocentesis and other tests but I refused them all we were 12 weeks from delivery and no matter what the tests revealed it wasn't going to change anything. I went on to have several more ultra sounds just to evaluate Brody's growth because of the chance of trisomy 18.
On October 5th, 2009 my doctor induced labor because of excessive fetal growth, no sign of trisomy 18. Brody was born at 6:38pm weighing in at a whooping 9 ibs. 5 oz. and 22.5 inches. And was healthy from head to toe minus a little orofacial cleft on his left side that included both his lip and palate. He was precious! Now the work was to begin! If you are expecting a baby with a cleft be prepared for feeding disappointment and do not plan on relying on the nurses or lactation consultants ask for a speech therapist immediately. The first nurse that we had tried and she did know what she was doing but of course she went off shift and we were stuck with a nurse and a lactation consultant that didn't have a clue even though they claimed too! I do not blame them for being ignorant about feeding a baby with a cleft I was upset that they wouldn't listen and pretended to know what they were doing. We got out of the hospital as fast as we could our checkup with the pediatrician the next day proved to me what I already feared Brody was not thriving because he was not receiving enough milk. After a very difficult night of fearing that he was dehydrating in front of our eyes I received a call from our surgeon's nurse on her cell phone on her way into work now that is going above and beyond! After she talked me through what she could she got me in touch with the speech pathologist and I know speaking to those two ladies is what kept us from having to take B to the emergency room for fluids. After a couple meetings with the speech pathologist I was or at least thought I was a feeding pro! Later on I would find out that I in fact was not a pro and was actually drowning Brody! Not really what you want to here but somehow he has survived to 15 months so I must be doing something right!
A day after I had Brody Todd received a job offer for a job in Dallas TX he of course took it and it was our second greatest blessing that we received that week. God was very good to us that week. We moved not long after our second stay in the hospital. If you want to make your drive across the country slightly more stressful add a two month old to the mix!
On day 13 we encountered a new problem. Brody came down with a fever of 100.6 we were told to take him to the emergency room. Being the naive, young parents that we are we took him to the hospital nearest to us which of course did not have a pediatric unit. They ended up doing a ton of tests and then transferred him to the hospital he was born at which had a PICU. After a spinal tap, urine catheter, CBC and chest x-ray it was determined that he had a kidney infection. After 10 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics we were released to go home with an all clear. Looking back this was probably one of the best things that could have ever happened to us I got to sit in a hospital room for 10 days with nothing to do but take care of my new son and it gave me the time I needed to perfect feeding and taking care of him.
That is the first month or so in a nut shell. It is weird how much simpler things look when you look back after a year or so but when you are in the middle of the action it is just crazy!
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