Only a Week to Go!

A week from Monday and little Miss Rylan will be a big girl!  I'm very excited for her birthday and I hope everything goes smoothly and that she doesn't get too intimidated by the people at her party.  

Her walking has come a long way in just the past few days.  She now walks everywhere and only falls occasionally.  She is still really into climbing so I took her to a playhouse this past weekend and she seemed to have a lot of fun.

In other milestones, she's starting to communicate more.  She babbles constantly and now says "hi" to everyone she sees.  Her teacher at day care said that whenever someone comes into the room, Rylan will wait a minute then wave at the person and say "hi".  It is very cute!  

Her 7th tooth also broke the surface today!  That makes 4 bottom and 3 top.  Our next visit to see the surgeon got moved back to next Wednesday, so I'll post again after his appointment. 

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Go Phillies!  Too bad it didn't help!

I love climbing!

"She's my lobster" - Fellow "Friends" fans will get it!

Almost a Toddler

I can't believe that in less than a month my little girl will be one!  Wow did this year fly!

Since I haven't done a very good job of writing since school has started, here are some things that have been going on recently:

1) Rylan just got her sixth tooth.  It is on the bottom left.  The top tooth on the cleft side never came in and I'm assuming it won't since its "partner" tooth has been there for months and she is now getting the next set on the bottom.  I'm certainly not surprised by this and know we have a long rode ahead of us with the orthodontist and oral surgeon.

2) Rylan can now climb stairs and is very good at it.  Since we don't have stairs in our house, she has never really tried them.  This weekend we were at her aunt and uncles house and she went right up them without any problem.

3) Her first word is now officially "mama".  She sure knows how to put a smile on Mommy's face!

4) She has taken 5 steps by herself at one time.  Most of the time it is just 1 or 2 and then she falls, but we're making progress.  She is very good at standing up without using anything for assistance and will hopefully be a decent walker by her birthday party.

5) Rylan recently found some pacifiers in a basket in the room and she really likes them.  Looks like we will have the only 1 year old to become addicted to a pacifier.  

Here are some pics and videos from the last few weeks.  Isn't she getting so old?

Up on her Feet

Standing has now become second nature and Rylan is starting to walk around with the help of people or other objects.  I'm just waiting for the moment where she suddenly lets go and takes those first exciting steps!

10 1/2 Months!

Wow!  Life is sure crazy when you've got a little one and go back to work.  Rylan has been doing well at day care and this week she actually hasn't cried once while there.  Last week was a different story, so hopefully we're turning over a new leaf.  She is starting to talk more and make "m" and "b" sounds, along with her other strange "wookie" noises and raspberries.  She is standing easily and cruising around.  Tonight she actually walked across the room holding my hands with very little pushing from me.  Maybe seeing all of the other walkers at day care has motivated her to start trying it on her own. 

Rylan had her first swim lesson on Saturday and loved it!  She is such a water rat like her Mommy!  The video below shows her enjoying herself and towards the end she sticks her face in (which she did like 10 times during the lesson).  

I'll try to write more often in the future, but no promises! :)

Surviving Daycare

It has been three days and Rylan and I are both surviving her being in school.  The first day went pretty well, but then yesterday she was really fussy.  They called me because they thought she might have an ear infection (she was grabbing her ear and screaming) but then last night she never touched her ear once and was fine.  Maybe a tooth is coming in or she was just in a bad mood.  I gave her some Motrin this morning, just in case, and she seemed to have another good day.  Apparently she doesn't really like when the other kids get in her space, but loves all of the new toys.  I like going every day and getting her little report card of what they did.  This week is called "Farewell Friends" and they are working on waving good bye, so all of the activities and books focus on leaving or saying good bye.  It is really cute.  We even got her first art project, a little stuffed snake covered in paint dots.  How you get a 9 month old to put paint on anything is beyond me, but it is still cute even if she didn't do much.  I am feeling more comfortable as each day goes and I hope she is feeling the same way.  At least she doesn't cry when I bring her in the morning, so it must not be too bad!

Getting So Big

We had another appointment with Dr. Morrissey this week.  When we got there, he was stuck in surgery so I had to distract Rylan in the waiting room for over an hour.  She did really well though and was the entertainment for everyone else waiting to see the doctor.  He said that her lip is looking good and that we need to just keep massaging it to help it relax.  He wants to see us again in October to keep track of her healing.  It really is amazing how different she looks now.  We were watching home videos at my parents this weekend from when she was born and I forgot just how wide her cleft was at first.  You certainly would never know if you saw her today.

Not too much else going on in our household right now.  Rylan is still standing a lot but seems to have no desire to walk yet.  She starts day care on Monday so I'm sure I'll post next week about that traumatic experience!

Here are some recent videos and pics for those who haven't seen her:

Fun in my tunnel

Go Reading Phils!

My serious look

Hi Mommy!

 

Standing all by myself

My new trick - Shaking my head "no"

Little Swimmer

Rylan is getting herself ready for swim lessons in the fall!  She must have stuck her face in five or six times yesterday and while she had a surprised look every time, it didn't seem to bother her. 

9 Month Check-up

Today we went to the pediatrician for Rylan's 9 month appointment and she gets another good bill of health.  She is 15 lbs. 4 oz. (only the 5th percentile this time) and 25 1/4 inches long.  The doctor still isn't concerned about her weight since she is eating fine and making all of her developmental milestones.  Looks like she is just going to be one petite girl.  

Things have been going very well here and we've got 3 new big events to share! First, I think I am finally getting Rylan on a napping schedule.  The last two days she has taken both of her naps in her crib with only minimal crying before falling asleep.  She has been sleeping for longer than she used to which has been great for me.  It is nice to finally be able to get her to sleep without her bottle. 

The next big thing is that she is getting her 4th tooth.  It is coming in in the part of her gums that were visible before her cleft was closed.  It seems to be coming in pretty straight and right in the middle, so maybe her teeth won't be too affected.  

Finally, Rylan is starting to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time.  It is usually just a second or two where she lets go (as you can see in the video) but the other day she stood for a full five seconds before falling back down!  Yeah Rylan!

As Promised...

My cute new shoes...playing with my new toy...making some strange new sounds :)

Almost 9 Months Old

Where does the time go?  Rylan will be turning 9 months this week and it certainly doesn't feel like she's been with us that long.  Sorry I haven't updated lately, but I've been going away a lot and haven't really had time to get on the computer.  As soon as I'm settled at home again, I'll be sure to add some new pics.

She is doing really well.  Her surgery site is healing nicely and she has been a lot better with the scar massage, thanks to a helpful hint about a song from a fellow family of a daughter with a cleft.  We don't go back to see Dr. Morrissey until the middle of August, but I don't really need him at the moment anyway.  The only thing I am wondering, which maybe he will be able to give some advice on, is how to teach Rylan to suck.  Since she has been using the Haberman since she was born, she's never really had to suck.  When I try to give her a regular bottle, she tries to drink it like normal, which involves kind of making a fishy face, opening and closing her mouth.  I decided that maybe I just need to keep having her work on it, even if it means she is eating really slowly.  Today she had a few moments were it looked like she was sucking and there were actual bubbles forming in the milk, so maybe we're making progress.  We could just keep using the Habermans, but she needs to learn to suck to drink from a sippy cup anyway, so why not make the transition with the bottle.

Our other big project has been trying to get Rylan to go to bed at night without falling asleep to her bottle.  She has always been a really good sleeper, but she has needed to be asleep before we lay her down, otherwise she would scream and scream until she could get the bottle again.  While it isn't a big deal to me, it has made naps also a problem because she will only sleep to her bottle then too.  She also has never had a consistent bed time, since we wouldn't put her down until she feel asleep, which could be anywhere form 7 - 10 at night.  About 2 weeks ago, we started getting her ready for bed at 7, reading her a story, feeding her a bottle, and laying her in her crib awake.  She screamed for almost an hour the first night and has slowly cried less and less.  Tonight was the first night where I layed her down and she didn't let out one cry.  She is currently sleeping soundly.  Woohoo!

Pictures and videos to come soon!

Beautiful New Smile

2 Weeks Post-op

Sorry I haven't written in awhile, but we had a very busy weekend.

On Friday we had Rylan's post-op appointment with Dr. Morrissey.  He snipped some of her stitches and cleaned things up a little bit.  He said that everything is looking good and told us her nose will drain for a little bit but just to keep cleaning it out.  We were given the name of a scar cream to rub on her face twice a day that he wanted us to start on Monday.  (We discovered yesterday that this is going to be a two-person job because she does not like people touching her face).  He said that she will probably need minor work on her nose down the line and possibly some fix-ups on her lip, but we will just have to wait and see. We go back to see him on August 17th. 

I think her lip looks really good and am excited to see how it heals.  It was a tough decision whether to use Dr. Morrissey or drive down to CHOP, but now I am feeling much better about our decision.  He is very good at what he does, although he does not work strictly with clefts.  Next stop for us is to start seeing the dentist/orthodontist.  

10 Day Update

Monday night we switched Rylan from sleeping in her car seat to the pack'n'play.  She slept great till midnight then was up for 2 hours crying and fussy.  We ended up giving her some Tylenol and she went to sleep within minutes and slept through the rest of the night.  Last night she woke up a few times, but went back to sleep pretty easily when we gave her a bottle.  She seems to have lost her ability to put herself to sleep, which happened with her last surgery too.  A few more days to make sure her surgery site isn't bothering her and then we'll have to start the sleep training again.

We go to see Dr. Morrissey on Friday for our post-op check-up and stitch removal.  I can't believe how well her lip looks.  The scab on her lip is almost completely gone and there is only a slight indication of a scar.  The skin between her lip and nose is flawless...I don't know what he did but there is no sign of any scar there.  Her nose is still draining a bit so until it is cleaned out completely, it's hard to see what it will all look like.  I am assuming she will need to have some plastic surgery done on her nose when she gets older, but we'll have to wait and see.

Lookin' Good

One week post-op and the first picture without the tape.  It looks even better in real life!

5 Days Post-Op

The tape fell off completely today and we were able to get a good look at her skin.  The area between her lip and nose looks really good.  If the scab on her lip would just heal, things would be looking great.  I decided to put on a new piece of tape just to keep things safe until we see Dr. Morrissey on Friday.  

Another Tooth

Rylan was lying on her back crying today and I was trying to look into her mouth to see how the inside was healing.  Well wasn't I surprised to see a tiny little tooth coming in on the top of her mouth.  It is on the non-cleft side and I assume it is one of the front teeth, even though it really isn't in the center of her mouth.  Maybe that is why she had such a rough time the other night.

Her face is looking better each day.   The swelling in her cheeks in almost completely gone and the bruises are fading.  Last night she slept through the night again so we are going to continue to sleep her in her car seat as long as it's working.  She is still only napping when in her stroller so I've continued my marathon of walking, adding another 2 or 3 miles to my total today.

48 Hours After Surgery

Her face is healing nicely.  The lip looks very good although her nose is looking a little crooked still.  As the swelling goes down, I'm able to get a better idea of what her "new" look will be.  It's sad, but it is already getting hard to remember what her "old" face looked like.

Million Dollar Idea

So while I was up at midnight, 1 a.m., and 2 a.m. (at which point my husband took over and I got some sleep), I came up with the next big invention: the self-propelling stroller.  Just like those vacuums that run by themselves and turn around anytime they hit a wall or furniture.  It would go in a straight line as far as possible then turn around and keep going.

As you can probably guess, last night did not go so well.  I knew this surgery couldn't continue to go so easy.  Mason took her for a walk last night around 8:30 and she slept in her car seat just fine until midnight.  Then she woke up crying.  She wasn't screaming in pain or anything, I just think she couldn't get comfortable.  I fed her some milk but she was still awake.  I tried having her lay on me, using the swing, and sitting back in the car seat.  The only thing that worked was pushing her in the stroller.  I would walk from our family room through the kitchen and into the living room, then back again.  After 10 or so laps, she would be conked.  But after 10 -20 minutes of the stroller sitting still while I layed down, she would be up again.  Then the process would start over.  

Mason didn't have any more luck and was able to get her to sleep for 20-30 minutes at a time in her car seat by feeding her more milk every time she woke up.  So needless to say, we are all pretty tired here.  Let's hope tonight goes a little bit better.

What surgery?

Apparently Rylan does not realize that she underwent a pretty painful procedure yesterday.  She's slept a bit more than normal, but other than that she is acting like she normally does.  She is drooling A LOT and her face is still swollen and turning black and blue.  We've had a little bit of blood and drainage from her nose, but nothing too bad I don't think. 

Some good ZZZZ's

My little girl is one tough cookie.  She continued to play and eat last night until her Daddy took her for a walk in the stroller to put her to sleep.  We kept her in the car seat and she slept straight through the night, not really making a sound until around 5:45 this morning.  She didn't even wake up crying.  I woke up to the sound of one of the musical toys hanging from her car seat.  So far this morning she is playing like nothing even happened yesterday.  Makes me a little nervous since she still has no fear and I'm afraid she is going to bang her face on something.   Hopefully the rest of the day goes smoothly.

Surgery Take 2

Today has been a very long day.  I'm sure many of you have been waiting to hear an update and see some pics, so here is the tale of our day:

I woke Rylan up at 6:00 and got her ready to go.  She was very good on the ride to the hospital, even though we had to give her an empty bottle stuffed with a paper towel to trick her into thinking she was getting fed.  After being weighed and checked, we brought her down to the playroom to wait for her time to go down to the operating room.

My lucky onesie from "Aunt"Becky (see my initials?)

Wasting some time before surgery

Having fun with Daddy in the hospital playroom

What do you mean there is no milk in here?

Around 7:45 we were brought down to the operating area.  The anesthesiologist explained his part and then Dr. Morrissey came out and reviewed what he would do for the surgery.  We kissed her goodbye and then went to wait.  It was close to 11:15 before we finally got word that the surgery was over and everything went well.

Just like last time, only one of us was allowed into the recovery room.  I went back and saw her new look for the first time.  It reminded me a lot of the first surgery, but was still a little shocking to see.  She was sleeping in the nurse's arms, so they passed her to me where she stayed asleep.  After a few minutes and a couple of checks or her vital signs, we met Mason and my mom in the hallway and went up to Rylan's room.

For the next few hours, Rylan was in and out of sleep.  When she did wake up, she would cry and mostly refused to eat anything.  The nurses wanted us to stay at the hospital until Rylan had shown that she was really able to eat a decent amount.  Around 4:30 they gave her some Tylenol with codeine and then she started to show a little bit of life but still wasn't eating much.  The nurses told us it was our decision if we wanted to stay or go, since we know Rylan best, and we decided to go home.

It turned out to be the best decision we could make because she was a whole new girl once we got home.  She ate a bottle right away and then started playing.  She's been a little fussy but that is totally understandable. 

Now we just have to see how the night goes.  More updates tomorrow!  Thanks for all of the well wishes and prayers!

One More Day

So I'm sad to say that we are officially home from the shore.  It was such a fun vacation and definitely memorable.  Now that we are back, I can post some videos of Rylan's first experience with the beach and ocean.

We got the call from the hospital today and the plan is the same as last time.  We need to be at the hospital by 6:30 and surgery will start at 8.  No food or drinks after midnight, so we will have to wake her up to do a "dream feed" around 11:30.  Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  I'll update as soon as possible on Monday for everyone who is eager to hear.

It looks like spending a week with her older cousin has motivated Rylan to learn to stand and walk.  She is now constantly trying to pull up on things and was successful multiple times using me as a brace.  Today she used one of our chairs to get herself up and I was able to catch it on video!  I was just getting used to the craziness of her crawling and now I can't let her out of my sight again.

Beach Beauty

Rylan is having a great time on her first trip to the beach.  She has no fear of the water or sand and loves being in the sun as much as her mother.  We've gone on a boat ride, visited the aquarium, and played a lot on the beach.  While we were here, Rylan even got her second tooth!

This water is cold!

What's in the bucket?

Time to clean off in the pool

I'm too tired to eat

Sleeping in the ocean breeze

Boat rides are fun!

SPLASH!

Crawling on sand isn't that easy

Enough pictures Mom!

Look closely and you can see my 2nd tooth

Family time

One Strong Little Lady

It amazes me every day to watch Rylan and see just how fast she learns things.  I feel like I was just posting that she was crawling and now she has learned how to put herself into a sitting pushing and is starting to pull up on things (just on her knees, not her feet....but I'm sure it won't be long!)  It seems early to me for her to be doing all of these things, but that just makes it even more exciting!  

Can I ride the dolphin Mommy?

Wake up Daddy!

Look how good I can sit now!