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.