Look at that crazy hair!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
10 week 'till Christmas
How crazy is that?!
I have been so busy with Harper I haven't even thought about it, right now it feels like I live my life in 3 hour increments (what do I have time for before her next feed?) 10 weeks is the farthest thing from my mind. But I was at Big W on Friday and they are already set up for Christmas!
Christmas takes along time to organise as I'm sure you all agree. So I figured I should start now. After 10mins I had already come up with about 101 ideas of what to get Paxton, But what do you buy a 4month old baby??? Other than clothes I only have 1 idea so far. Paxton was 11months at his first Christmas so he was due for new toys but Harper is only 7weeks old and we bought her a bunch of stuff before she was born.
Any ideas???
I have been so busy with Harper I haven't even thought about it, right now it feels like I live my life in 3 hour increments (what do I have time for before her next feed?) 10 weeks is the farthest thing from my mind. But I was at Big W on Friday and they are already set up for Christmas!
Christmas takes along time to organise as I'm sure you all agree. So I figured I should start now. After 10mins I had already come up with about 101 ideas of what to get Paxton, But what do you buy a 4month old baby??? Other than clothes I only have 1 idea so far. Paxton was 11months at his first Christmas so he was due for new toys but Harper is only 7weeks old and we bought her a bunch of stuff before she was born.
Any ideas???
Just to add some cuteness to the post, here is Harper aged 7weeks:
Appointments Galore
Over the last 2 weeks we have had 8 appointments, it's crazy, before Harper was born I thought the weekly visits to the hospital was enough.
Most of them were the standard health nurse and doctors appointment that come along with a new baby, but last week we also had 2 sick kiddos in our house. Paxton had an ear infection, luckily he is old enough to tell us now and he actually likes the medicine the doctor gave him, I think he will be more than happy to go back to doctors next time, he laughed when the doctor looked in his ears then got a handful of jellybeans to take home, he was a happy boy after that.
Harper is also sick, she has her first cold, poor little thing. She has a stuffy nose and struggles to breathe at times and she HATES the nasal aspirator! But she is handling it very well, we still get our smiles and she loves to chat, lol.
2 weeks ago I had to take both of the kids to hospital with me for 3 hours so I could get tested again for Diabetes, they were both so good, especially Paxton, I was dreading taking him with me but he was really well behaved, and the hospital didn't call me so that means no more diabetes for me, YAY!
As for Harper's head, no new news yet, we are still waiting for our appointment mid November with the craniofacial surgeon. I am going to take some more photos next week when she is 2 months old to take in with me so they can compare them and see how her head is changing.
Well we have no more appointments for another week and a half so for now we can just relax at home :)
Most of them were the standard health nurse and doctors appointment that come along with a new baby, but last week we also had 2 sick kiddos in our house. Paxton had an ear infection, luckily he is old enough to tell us now and he actually likes the medicine the doctor gave him, I think he will be more than happy to go back to doctors next time, he laughed when the doctor looked in his ears then got a handful of jellybeans to take home, he was a happy boy after that.
Harper is also sick, she has her first cold, poor little thing. She has a stuffy nose and struggles to breathe at times and she HATES the nasal aspirator! But she is handling it very well, we still get our smiles and she loves to chat, lol.
2 weeks ago I had to take both of the kids to hospital with me for 3 hours so I could get tested again for Diabetes, they were both so good, especially Paxton, I was dreading taking him with me but he was really well behaved, and the hospital didn't call me so that means no more diabetes for me, YAY!
As for Harper's head, no new news yet, we are still waiting for our appointment mid November with the craniofacial surgeon. I am going to take some more photos next week when she is 2 months old to take in with me so they can compare them and see how her head is changing.
Well we have no more appointments for another week and a half so for now we can just relax at home :)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Appointment with the craniofacial surgeon
We have an appointment to see Dr Holmes, the craniofacial surgeon, at the Royal Children's Hospital. BUT... It is still 5 weeks away! I know it doesn't seem that long in scheme of things, but it feels like forever. It is hard not knowing what is going to happen next, whether Harper will need surgery, if so what kind and when. Luckily I found a forum dedicated to kids with cranio called Cranio Kids, there are plenty of other mums whose children have gone through the same thing and they are more than willing to share their knowledge on cranio and give out helpful advice. It's because of them I have an idea of what to expect.
* First Harper will probably need a CT scan.
* From there the decision will be made if she needs surgery.
* Best case scenario is that her Trigon is mild and she doesn't need surgery at all. In this case we would have to return to the hospital every few months so they could monitor her head and make sure it doesn't get any worse.
* If she does need surgery (I think she will) decide on which surgery:
Most hospitals only do cranial vault remodelling or CVR (a large "open" surgery which requires an incision from ear to ear in which they fully reshape the forhead).
Some hospitals also offer an endoscpoic procedure (a smaller incision is made on the scalp and a strip of bone is removed from the middle of the skull down to the top of the nose, then a helmet is used to reshape the head) I'm not sure if our hospital even offers the endoscopic surgery.
* Timeline- If Harper needs the endoscopic surgery she will need it done before she is 4 months old and would then have a moulding helmet for 3-6 months after. If she needs the CVR they normally do the surgery around 8-9 months old. She is 7 weeks old now.
* First Harper will probably need a CT scan.
* From there the decision will be made if she needs surgery.
* Best case scenario is that her Trigon is mild and she doesn't need surgery at all. In this case we would have to return to the hospital every few months so they could monitor her head and make sure it doesn't get any worse.
* If she does need surgery (I think she will) decide on which surgery:
Most hospitals only do cranial vault remodelling or CVR (a large "open" surgery which requires an incision from ear to ear in which they fully reshape the forhead).
Some hospitals also offer an endoscpoic procedure (a smaller incision is made on the scalp and a strip of bone is removed from the middle of the skull down to the top of the nose, then a helmet is used to reshape the head) I'm not sure if our hospital even offers the endoscopic surgery.
* Timeline- If Harper needs the endoscopic surgery she will need it done before she is 4 months old and would then have a moulding helmet for 3-6 months after. If she needs the CVR they normally do the surgery around 8-9 months old. She is 7 weeks old now.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Harper's Head- 6 weeks
Here are some pictures of Harper's head shape that were taken last week when she was 6 weeks old:
This pic shows how her head shape is triangular (I call it teardrop shaped)
In this pic you can easily see the ridge running from her nose up to the centre of her forehead. This is called a Metopic Ridge
This pic shows how her head shape is triangular (I call it teardrop shaped)This is the Trigonocephaly
What is Metopic Synostosis (Trigonocephaly)?
The metopic suture begins at the nose and continues to the top of the skull, dividing the frontal bone into two halves.
The metopic suture is usually open at birth and fusion normally occurs in the first 12 months of life. With premature fusion of the metopic suture skull growth is restricted and the forehead will have a triangular shape and the eyes may appear closer together. This occurs somewhere between one in every 2,500 - 15,000 live births with a male to female ratio of 3:1.
The deformity can vary from mild to severe. There is usually a prominent mid-frontal ridge (pointed forehead) down the forehead that can be seen or felt and the eyebrows may appear "pinched" on either side. The eyes are usually spaced closer to each other than normal, causing a definite recognizable deformity of the forehead and eyes. When viewed from above the forehead has a triangular shape.
The only treatment for this condition is surgery on the skull. In general, a single operation is all that is necessary to treat this condition and the outcome is usually excellent. 
The metopic suture is usually open at birth and fusion normally occurs in the first 12 months of life. With premature fusion of the metopic suture skull growth is restricted and the forehead will have a triangular shape and the eyes may appear closer together. This occurs somewhere between one in every 2,500 - 15,000 live births with a male to female ratio of 3:1.
The deformity can vary from mild to severe. There is usually a prominent mid-frontal ridge (pointed forehead) down the forehead that can be seen or felt and the eyebrows may appear "pinched" on either side. The eyes are usually spaced closer to each other than normal, causing a definite recognizable deformity of the forehead and eyes. When viewed from above the forehead has a triangular shape.
The only treatment for this condition is surgery on the skull. In general, a single operation is all that is necessary to treat this condition and the outcome is usually excellent.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Harper Lily
On August 23rd 2010 our second precious baby was born, a little girl we named Harper Lily. After her birth I noticed that her head shape was a bit different, she seemed to have a pointy forehead. Harper was born prosterior (facing up) so the midwives and doctors put it down to that. They all said it will round out soon enough. She is now 6 weeks old and not only has it not gone away but it has become pronounced.
I did some research online and came across Metopic Craniosynostosis and Trigoncephaly. It was pretty scary as it described Harper's head perfectly and most other babies with this condition go on to have major skull surgery before their first birthday.
Earlier this week I took her to see our GP armed with some information and our doctor agreed that it looked like Metopic Craniosynostosis and sent off a referal to the craniofacial department at the Royal Children's Hospital here in Melbourne. Right now we are waiting for an appointment, it is a bit nerve racking just waiting, not knowing what is going to happen. Hopefully they see us soon.
I did some research online and came across Metopic Craniosynostosis and Trigoncephaly. It was pretty scary as it described Harper's head perfectly and most other babies with this condition go on to have major skull surgery before their first birthday.
Earlier this week I took her to see our GP armed with some information and our doctor agreed that it looked like Metopic Craniosynostosis and sent off a referal to the craniofacial department at the Royal Children's Hospital here in Melbourne. Right now we are waiting for an appointment, it is a bit nerve racking just waiting, not knowing what is going to happen. Hopefully they see us soon.
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