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!

Exciting Night

Of course when I was home by myself tonight, Rylan did two new things!  Luckily I was able to get them both on tape (at least for a little bit).  

First at dinner she successfully fed herself a "puff" several times.  Once in a while it would still get stuck to her hands, but a few actually made it in.  Now she just needs to learn to take her hands back out of her mouth!

After dinner we were playing in the back room and she was trying to get to a book.  She got up on her hands and knees and took two "steps" forward with both her hands and knees.  I moved the book farther away and she did it again.  The next time I moved it, she took one "step" and then fell.  I was so excited!  After a few failed attempts, I was able to get a couple of "steps" on video.  Next move, standing up!

Welcome Summer!

It is so nice that the summer weather is finally here!  Although it's been warm in our house, it doesn't seem to bother Rylan and she is as active as ever.  She still hasn't quite figured out how to crawl on her hands and knees, but the speed of her army crawl has definitely improved.  The backroom is now officially gated from the rest of the house.

In the last few weeks, we took our first trip to the farm, went to a park with her cousin, and took a swim in our backyard pool.  Rylan continues to follow in her Mommy and Daddy's footsteps and has become quite the good eater.  She has started eating "puffs" and I've become a little bit daring feeding her tiny bits of food like bananas, strawberries, and muffin.  Once she gets the hang of using her pinchers, she'll have no problem at meal time.  

We have surgery in 3 weeks so the time is counting down.  I'm beginning to start thinking about the procedure and especially the recovery, planning ahead as best as possible.  With her being completely mobile now, there are a whole new line of challenges that we didn't face last time.  

Since it's been awhile since I've written, here are some fun photos and videos of that adorable face from the past few weeks!

Change the channel Mom!

Higher, please!

Daddy told me I could play with my food!