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This is a picture I found online but this is what will be repaired on Emma on July 24. Her nose and lip will be the first thing fixed, then later on her palate will be repaired.
Today Emma and I have an appointment to go see the Plastic Surgeon. Usually these appointments are pretty short, but since this is the last time I will see him before surgery I’m not sure what to expect. Emma and I are going by ourselves to this appointment, I scheduled it in the afternoon because it worked better for my schedule at work, but then conflicts with Darrick’s work schedule. He didn’t mind because the last couple of appointments with the Plastic Surgeon he went to by himself. If Darrick doesn’t go I usually recruit my mom, but she is in an all day meeting, and my sisters schedule is all over because her kids are at camp and she has to adjust so much during the summer. So its just Emma and I today…we can do it! She is usually smiling so that will comfort my nervous stomach!
The reason I said I’m not sure what to expect is because its getting closer to surgery. I was talking to Darrick last night and I can’t wait until she has surgery so we can stop using all this extra stuff for her. The stomach tube that we will have to use to feed her once she has surgery has come out twice already! We don’t use it now to feed her, she is fed with a bottle! And she drinks it all with NO PROBLEM at all! I do hate that there is a chance she will revert back to some old ways of not eating due to surgery. I love the dentist that she goes to but I am SUPER tired of the mouthpiece! And after the surgery we will continue to stay with the dentist she is with because of her palate and in the future she will probably need braces!
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(Above: Pictures of Emma with her mouthpiece in)
I know the mouthpiece helps in bringing her lips/palate together…but I absolutely HATE this appliance!!! I am VERY thankful for what it does but I can say I do hate putting this thing in her mouth because I know how much she hates it too!
We have introduced food to Emma this week. Since Saturday, June 16, Emma has had two helpings of Carrots. The doctor said to start her off with Veggies, and although there is quite a bit on her bib she kept a lot in her mouth. Yesterday, while feeding her I noticed that she made gestures as if she really liked it and wanted me to keep going! She has been eating a TON lately, and I love it! God is awesome this is the same 9lb baby in the NICU that would fake sleep (then smile) when the Occupational Therapist came along to help her in feeding! The nurses were correct when they said one day she will get up and want to eat everything…we are in that stage now! She is eating ever 1.5-2 hours!
Every other week, Emma goes to see an Occupational Therapist (pics above). They work really well together, Emma listens and plays with her. And the therapist loves how pleasant she is when she comes in, a bottle before therapy works wonders:) LOL! We learn different techniques make sure Emma is developing properly. Honestly, she gets great reviews from her doctors…her pediatrician said she communicates more than her 5 month old grandson, and when she said this Emma wasn’t quite 4 months yet. Her occupational therapist says she just has a sweet spirit. The pictures above are of her working with the therapist, she is showing us how to massage her shoulders to help with her posture. In our last session she gave us tips on how to massage her jaws and lips, which will help once she has surgery.
Emma has always held her head up pretty well. The pictures are of her doing tummy time and holding her head up. They (the doctors) did say she is favoring her right side more than her left, which in my head seems to be correct because if you think about it we all favor one side over the other. However, in the doctors eyes this is something we should work on. So we should talk to her more from her left side, and we learned different techniques on how to make her more centered instead of one sided.
