I blogged about our new little nephew Chase before he had a name...he was born on my friend Casey's b-day, April 26th. He's had a bit of a rough few months ahead of him but he is the cutest, happiest baby now and smiles all the time! He has changed so much since his surgery...I need new pics of him to put up and will do that when Ash & the kids get back from Cali. Below is Ashlee, my sister-in-laws blog post about everything that's happened since he was born.
Just a note- if you're looking at the pictures thinking he looks quite a bit different than our other kids- its because the suture in his forehead has fused prematurely. You can see a ridge on his forehead and his eyes tilt upwards. The condition is called trigonocephaly- or metopic craniosynostosis. He's scheduled for surgery in June to correct it- luckily the pediatrician that evaluated him caught it immediately, referred us to the head of plastic surgery and neurosurgery at Primary Children's, got a CT scan ordered and an appt to meet with the surgeons immediately after we discharged from the hospital. We've been in excellent hands. The surgery he is able to perform (one of the few in the world that performs it), will just be a small incision at Chase's hairline and then they'll cut out the bone that is the fused suture- just a small strip from his soft spot to the bridge of his nose (the other surgery is much more invasive, and includes an incision from ear to ear across the top of his head, pulling the scalp forward, removing the entire front portion of his head, reconstructing it and putting it back. Huge, massive, etc. THANK HEAVENS he doesn't have to have that done!!! Recovery on the endoscopic surgery should be minor in comparison. The actual correction will come over the course of the next year, as he will wear a helmet that helps to reposition the bones and direct bone growth of the forehead to flatten out. His eyes will level out and he'll look much different by next year. In the meantime- I'm sure you'll see him with pictures of the helmet. Honestly- no big deal to me in comparison to a surgery that removes a portion of his head!!! In the meantime- he eats and sleeps great- and is such a cutie to have around!I'm too tired to write all about the surgery- but in quick summary- Chase had his endoscopic assisted craniectomy (they removed a strip of his skull where the suture had fused prematurely), we're a week post-op and Chase is doing great with normal eating and sleeping habits back- he's even smiling pretty often now- just melts your heart! He was in the pediatric ICU the first night- and that was rough for me. All the lines in my little baby and him whimpering in pain in his sleep. And then he was swollen up huge. It sucked. Somehow in my stressed and non-functioning state I remembered I was lymphedema certified, though, and did some treatments on his face that really helped drain the fluid quickly. So that was a little better. And breastfeeding essentially stopped for a day (even with pumping) and so I had complications there, too. Lame. But its over now- he's had his scan and we're waiting for the helmet to be made (it will re-shape his skull)- and my mom's here so everything is going smooth now. Yay for mom's!
(Just a wee newborn}
{With his new helmet this summer..he hates it!}
Pics after his surgery
1 comments:
such a sweet baby!
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