Where to begin!

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!

Christmas

Oh what fun it is to have a one year old to buy for! We didn't go totally over board even though it would have been easy to do! Brody did well though his big present from Santa was a new Cozy Coupe and it was probably the only thing he needed! As soon as he was done with breakfast he ran to the cozy coupe and then ran over to tell Emmitt and daddy about his cool new toy. It didn't take him long to make himself comfortable inside his new car and would have been perfectly happy sitting in there all day but he had some work to do there were tons of presents to open! After we convinced him to get out and unwrap some presents he was just as excited about the other new stuff he got especially if it had wheels! It took us over 4 hours to open all the presents and remove them from the packaging so Brod man could play with them for 2 minutes and then he would get back into his car for a little while! I am so excited to buy for him next year!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we were invited down to Auntie Josie's for a Hawaiian Thanksgiving! It was so much fun and Josie's adopted family were all very welcoming and of course Booger was there and someone made sweet potatoes so Brody was happy. And there was pinapple on the ham at least!

A kid on the move

I thought having a newborn was challanging but nothing prepares you for a kid on the move. Brody started crawling around 7 months and has not stopped moving since that day. He started walking around 13 months and he is now unstoppable! There is nothing that child can't get into. He is such a little personality and thinks it is so funny when he gets into trouble!

For today is your day of all days!

The hardest part of Brody's first birthday was deciding on a theme for his party! We finally decided on a safari theme after Auntie Josie put so much work into painting a sign for B with some awesome animals on it. It was a wonderful day and everything turned out wonderful! The cake was beautiful and the company was great. All Brody's little friends and their moms came, Great Granny and Gramps, Gramma, Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Josie and Keoka and Ev. On Brody's actual birthday he and I went to music class then out to On the Border with his friends to celebrate then Todd and I took him to McDonald's for some nuggets and time on the toddler play toys. He had a wonderful day!

Second Surgery

At 11 months it was time to go through our second surgery for some reason I was even more anxious about this one then the first one maybe it was because they would be working on Brody's mouth and I was extremely concerned about him eating since he was basically eating nothing but big people food. He proved to be a real trooper and handled the surgery better then Todd and I. We were forced to sleep on an uncomfortable couch and chair while Brody slept quietly on our chests. I also did not pack enough old shirts no one tells you how much they bleed and drool, he soaked three shirts before midnight. So not only was I sitting in a waiting room chair I was freezing and was soaking wet it was a great night but my baby was did well and was resting comfortably so that is all that mattered. Brody was a star patient and actually ate a banana the next morning and we were released as soon as Dr. Fearon finished his rounds. Since Brody had such a restful night he was ready to play once we got home but Todd and I were ready for a nap but that was not in B's schedule! Luckily we did not have to worry about dinner our wonderful friends made us dinners! It was so nice not having to worry about fixing anything! The worst thing about the surgery is what it did to Brod's sleep schedule he slept in Todd and I's bed for a month or so afterwards but if that is the worst thing that came from it I can deal with that.

New friends

After returning from Kentucky and getting over our fear of being out in public it was time to make some friends. Brody and I joined the local library and it turned out to be one of the best things we have ever done. We have met some great friends! We all have kids about the same age and we are all going through similar things. It is nice to have colleagues! We try to get together once a week for a play date and lunch. We have joined other libraries together and music classes our next adventure is gymnastics.