Tales of a Sleepless Sidney

Sidney’s latest turn into a bedtime bandit continued last night. Today I decided, if we eliminated ear infection as a possibility, it might be easier to contend with her nighttime antics. Her ears are thankfully clear. It sounds strange, but I was kind of hoping she had ear infection so there is a reason for her behavior. Eventually, she will feel back to herself and things should resolve themselves. For now, the morning pot of coffee might be a bit emptier than usual. I remember going through phases like this with Eli.


Like Sidney’s newest fashion statement? She loves to try things on. These were her brothers boots a number of years ago and are still sitting out from a donation we made to Good will. I thought the boots in combination with the cast were a great fashion statement. I would also like to report that she is now in bed and it is quiet!

Tales of Sleepness Nights

We have experienced a crazy last couple of nights. Sidney has never had night terrors but started this week. Our nurse during surgery told us this might happen. Basically it happens about an hour after they lay down and takes place the first third of the night. Kids don’t remember ever having a night terror as evidenced by Sidney giggling and running around the living room! This too shall pass. Check out my other blog, I was trying to better understand them, so I decided to write about it for today’s entry -
http://www.musingsandmishmashofanadoptivemom.blogspot.com/


On a more positive note, she is totally off of pain medication and seems to be doing much better outside of the stuff that is going on at night. We are back outside for stroller rides and enjoying running around the yard. Thank goodness the cast is closed off on the end. It will come off the last week of the month. Something we are all excited about! We notice the second time with the cast has been a bit more frustrating for Sidney than the first. The first time, the whole concept was new. Now she understands that it limits her ability to play, so she gets annoyed. The pin comes out the same day the cast comes off, and physical therapy will create a splint for her hand. This allows us to give her a normal bath outside of the bread bag and sprayer in the sink routine. Our hope is the splint is gone before vacation…….fishing that is. Yes, dad is already looking for the appropriate Dora fishing pole and has selected a life jacket small enough to fit her 19 pound frame.

We are off to a family graduation. 2 hours one way and another 2 hours back. Tom and I consider it an opportunity to talk like adults. Sidney typically falls asleep, and as bad as it sounds, I am more than happy to throw in a DVD for Eli while we drive. Ahhh, the sweet sound of silence as I sip a mug of coffee, talk to Tom, or read a newspaper. It doesn’t take much to make this mom happy!

And now in postsurgical news....

Bun Bun (Sidney’s stuffed bunny) has gotten an extra workout this week. He has barely left her right arm since we came home from the hospital. This is typical for Sidney as he is never far from where she is playing and always with her while she is sleeping. She is doing incredibly well, considering we are less than a week out from surgery. We are giving pain medication at night only and have taken away the muscle relaxer. She responds well to Tylenol during the day, and she is not so groggy. It also helps her appetite which always waxes and wanes. I have never met such a fickle eater. I have been told by mothers of adopted children and mothers of biological children that girls have this tendency. I am unaccustomed to people not eating anything in our house that isn’t glued down. However, we know she has to be getting enough, because we measured her last night and she has grown 4 inches since we came home in July! Eli has grown 2 inches over the last year. He is so tall that this is actually a slowdown from previous years!


In my last post, I forgot to indicate Sidney’s distinct anger over her cast when she woke up out of surgery. She held the cast up and yelled, “no, no, no” at Tom and I. Who could blame her? When the nurse came close she actually scowled! Fortunately, the cast will be on a shorter period this time. Tom is also pleased the elbow of the full arm cast is at a better 90% angle. We are hoping this prevents another midnight drive to the ER!

Syndactyly Reconstruction Round II

 

"For I know the plans I have for you." declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11



Tom, Sidney, and I are home from the hospital. Upon returning home, we were greeted by Jean, Jean the cleaning machine, or my mother. Eli was treated to grandma sleeping over last night, because we had to report to the hospital bright and early. We spent the night in Iowa City and enjoyed gyros we pick up when we are in town. She quickly whipped my house into shape, taking on Mt Mesuvius (our laundry pile). Eli was disappointed Grandma would not be spending a second night however was exicted he lost a tooth in school. Upon returning from school, he quickly produced the tooth from a film jar, saying “look mom, there’s even blood!”

We arrived at 6am for Sidney’s procedure. Like the last proceedure, Tom's dad sat with us. Tom and Steve are a hilarious combination, and on a day like this, I needed to laugh. By 7:15am, a very sedated Sidney was taken to the operating room. Our surgeon worked to reconstruct the bones and growth plates in her forefinger (on her hand, the middle of three fingers). Prior to surgery, Sidney’s forefinger  had two large circular masses of bone at the base, a very short bone in the middle, and a straight bone at the tip. Her growth plate is positioned around the two masses at the base of the finger, in the shape of a C, causing the finger to grow wider versus longer.


Bone was removed as well as one of the growth plates. This growth plate was replaced by a fat graft off of her upper arm. Skin was used from the same graft over an area which the doctor removed with a small amount of syndactyly or webbing. A skin graft from the hip was not needed, so the proceedure was much shorter than the last. Finally, a pin was placed in the end of her finger.
Our surgeon also took this opportunity to examine the hand completed in January. Her newly separated fingers are curling a bit as is the bodies natural tendency to go into their orginial position. She feels using a brace at night can correct the situaiton, however we will wait to do so until she is out of the cast. It doesn't sound like it will be a huge deal and a small thing to do to make sure they are straight. At this point,we are uncertain of what her hands will need surgically over the coming years. It is difficult to say with certainty, because her anomoly is so unique. Our surgeon advised, girls hands typically stop growing after the age of 15. 

Luckily our ride was uneventful after Sidney lost her lunch on the entrance ramp to 380. Poor baby. I guess taking the advice of the nurse and sitting in the backseat was a wise option. We were given a large plastic bucket with a lid for such an occasion. Dad was happy for the lid, as opening the windows is not a great option going down the highway. Tom can handle many things but puking is not one of them. Mom was cursing the medical system that thrusts people out after surgery so quickly, but I was greatly relieved when we got home and she began eating and drinking normally without issue.

We are once again in awe of what a day in the hospital has done to improve the quality of our daughters life. She makes it so easy. She is so brave and such a tough little cookie. It is a thrill as parents to watch her growing into her full potential.

One Hand Down One to Go

As Eli, Sidney, and I sit munching on usual afternoon snack of microwave popcorn, I have a couple of minutes to update everyone on surgery next Thursday. Surgery is scheduled for three hours, but as we are all aware, it could take longer. Dr Lawler advised a couple of months ago during an appointment, this particular hand is the more complex of the two. When looking at the second finger, it is obvious the finger is crooked. Two pieces of bone, in the shape of a circle, lie next to one another at the base of the finger. In this area, the growth plate is misshapen or the shape of the letter C. Our surgeon’s objective is to reshape the bone at the base of the finger and to correct the shape of the growth plate. A pin wil be placed in the end of the finger. Correcting the growth plate will require a graft of fat from the upper arm. This will leave a scar the size of a chickenpox. If additional skin is necessary to close, another skin graft will come off of her upper hip. Our surgeon has also advised she will not know completely what is necessary until she is inside of the hand. We took pictures, so other Sidney can see her hands prior to surgery when she gets older and for prospective special needs families can better understand the variety of complexities families encouter.

Our nurse let us know the pin is scheduled to come out by May 27. This is great news, as we are planning on a week of vacation in June. Worst case scenario, she will have a splint. We are hopeful this will also be gone making it easier to keep clean.

We have found the anxiety leading up to the actual event is less this time around. Like her last surgery, we feel empowered by our ability to do something which would have been out of the realm of possibility for Sidney’s birth parents. We have discussed the inability of people to seek medical treatment in China. We are certain her birth mom and dad fell into this category. When operations 1-25 are covered, and there is a lack of education, putting the pieces together becomes simplified.

In the midst of all of this, Sidney has found something she absolutely loves, crayons. We did not teach her to make circles however found her making them. Over and over and over with her right (hand which was completed in January) and her left hand. A budding artist? Only time will tell.

***As a side note, I have created a new blog on China adoption, international adoption, and anything in between. There is a lot of content available online, however I remember a lot of dated material while waiting. Some of the content is linked, however a good portion of the content will be written by yours truely. It is still under construction, and I am in the process of creating a blog button. As many of you already know, I freelance business content but nothing this fun. I also wanted another excuse to post the HTS blog button. They were integral in Sidney adjusting so quickly. Please add it to your reading list, each day will be something different hence the name http://www.musingsandmishmashofanadoptivemom.blogspot.com/

Without boring my audience too much, we are enjoying warm weather and spending lots of time outside. This equates to Sidney taking longer naps and this makes me happy. Of course, any additional time this week has been spent preparing for a garage sale. Our community is the most zealous I have ever seen about finding a good deal.

I caught these photos of Sidney mastering the stairs on her bottom. She must have done this twenty times. Mom insisted that Eli pose with his new haircut. He wanted it shorter, because it was getting hot on the playground. By the way, the Arizona Wildcats shirt from my uncle and aunt has become a favorite. Each time Sidney puts it on I have to give the obligatory roar and she reciprocates. Sidney loves cats. I am sure animals are fascinating, because her exposure was limited in China. I still laugh about our guide in China pointing to a dog and saying “hot pot.”

We will keep everyone in the loop on her surgery. T Minus 2 weeks from tomorrow. On May 26th, we have a genetics appointment. In this appointment, we will find out more about the reasons for Sidney’s anomalies. Before traveling to China, we were unaware that her hands are a result of her leg or fibular hemimelia (missing the fibula bone on her left leg and four toes, a common result of the condition). I have done hours, and I do mean hours of reading, online about her condition. I was able to find only a small percentage of children with this condition have issues with internal organs. Of course, this needs to be ruled out. The thought of any more issues is concerning, however we know there is someone much greater in charge of her care. Genetics has advised us she will need an echocardiogram and ultrasound of her internal organs. This will all happen after her surgery, probably in June.

For now, we are content watching Sidney’s personality continue to unfold. She has definitely become more outspoken. When she doesn’t like what I am telling her to do, she tries to shush me. She can also hold her own with her brother. He, on the other hand, is not looking forward to another cast. She has accidentally clubbed all of us on more than one occasion.

OK, off to enjoy the sound of two children sleeping or absolute silence!

A Mom on the Run (after Sidney)

We are finally enjoying beautiful spring weather and experiencing a healthy family! Eli and Sidney’s heads hit the pillow and Tom and I enjoy SILENCE.

As Eli rides laps on his bike, Sidney stands by and discovers an entire world outside. Watching her run as Eli chases her around is the most awesome feeling. Her hands have been the main source of medical treatment over the last few months, but her leg is her other special need. She has a limb length discrepancy of over an inch (Sidney is missing her fibula bone with fibular hemimelia on her left leg and has four toes which is normal with this condition), so we purchase regular athletic shoes and have an lift placed in the sole. This requires a prescription and a trip to the orthopedists office. Her left foot is significantly narrower than the right but has increased in length and is almost the same size as her right foot. When we purchased her first pair of shoes, they were two sizes apart. Now the length is close enough that we can purchase one size.

Sidney’s leg was something we were completely aware of until the day we first met. There is always a lot of buzz in the special needs community about undisclosed medical issues. When a medical professional looked at her special needs photo, she commented the leg looked shorter. We tossed around the idea of taking it to an orthopedist but decided it could be the angle of the camera. Of greater importance was that it did not change anything.

All of this has been at the forefront of my mind, because I am in the process of creating a digital scrapbook of our trip. It was somewhat emotional to look back. For some reason, I thought about the possibility of her limb length discrepancy on the flight over, but it caught me off guard on Gotcha Day. Our agency told us they hoped the information was all included in the medical profile but could not tell us with absolute certainty. Every parent in a special needs adoption travels with the expectation that there might be more than listed. We were also unaware of the webbing on one hand as her hand was curled under in the photo. We knew all of this could be a possibility, and she would probably necessitate surgery of some type.

None of this changed our resolve or our feeling that God had given us our daughter for a reason, and her purpose in much life was greater than her physical anomalies.
Having said this, I will tell special needs parents that it is shocking the first time you confirm there are undocumented issues. Tom said we were taken aback, because we were caught off guard. But a couple of hours later, I was fine. I think I was in a state of shock, because we were actually in China in the process of moving forward with almost four years of plans. I am certain Sidney looked back at parents who equally had the proverbial look of a deer in headlights. No parenting with Eliab could have prepared me, and yet, there was a natural feeling about holding this little girl who I never met. I will say with all honesty, it felt like the first time I held Eli.

OK, I have again rambled off of my point. Enjoy the photos of the kids trying Dad’s new work boots. I also included some photos of her hand. It is completely healed.