Spring is all about new beginnings and new awakenings. That is exactly what Addison is experiencing with her new lip/nose. Everyday we are more and more amazed at the transformation of her face. It has been a week since the Dr. did his magic and we are so impressed, we can't begin to imagine how it will look in a month, six months or a year. She is thankfully healing very well, both emotionally and physically. She hasn't had the screaming events at night with this surgery. We think it has a little to do with her being more comfortable in our home. The other great news is that she is making more and more sounds. She mimics a lot of what we say, but still isn't able to enunciate. She has come a long way since she has been here.
I am posting a few pics from the DC Cherry Blossom Festival. They were taken on Sunday. Even since then the swelling on Addison's face has gone down and more goop has come off. We were happy to be able to take my mom, who is here helping out, to see the Blossoms. It has been one thing that she has always wanted to do.
Keep checking back for more pics. We see the surgeon on Friday and we are anxious to see what he has to say.
I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Addison's surgery. She did great! Her surgery took place Monday about 12:30 and she was done around 4:30. Then we were relesed around 1pm on Tuesday.
The Dr. used stiches, glue and steri-strips to help hold her lip together. She also has a bar over her lip taking the pressure off of her lip when she smiles. That will fall off in the next day or two. We can't see much of the repair with all the protection over her lip, but what we can see she looks great.
I will try to post a picture in the next couple of days. Right now she is still pretty bloody and beat up --- with the bar she looks somewhat like a beautiful hannibal lector:-)
Emotionally she has done much better with this surgery. She slept through past two nights with minimal crying. Nothing like the screaming she did last time.
Thank you for all your prayers. I definetely think they worked. We will keep you updated on how things are going.
We had a wonderful visit with Lori, Brian, Gavin and Landon. It was nice for me to finally get to meet Brian, but of course everyone was most excited about meeting Addison. She had a ball with the boys and was giving Uncle Brian high fives when he left. While they were here, we went to a couple of places with them, but they also ventured out on their own. It was a nice visit and we were sad to see them go.
Addison is having her lip repair on Monday. We are so excited! She has such a beautiful smile now, we can't imagine how she will look when it is a repaired smile! We pray that she will do well with the surgery and that the recovery will be easier on her this time. Check back next week for some updated pics of Addison.
On March 10th, Addison celebrated her 2nd Birthday! We are so thankful that she was at home with her forever family on her special day. She had a great day, with lots of presents. She was a little overwhelmed by the whole celebration, however she loved hearing us sing "Happy Birthday." Today she kept trying to get me to sing it to her again.
Addison continues to blossom. She is saying more words and learning more signs everday. Her favorite thing to say right now is "Alright!" Her lip surgery is scheduled for the 24th of March. We can't wait to have these initial surgeries behind us.
This Friday, Addison gets to meet her Aunt Lori, Uncle Brian and cousins Gavin and Landon. We are excited to have them visit us. We can't wait to show them around DC.
We have made a resolution to try and take advantage of this beautiful area by visiting different DC/VA attractions. This weekend we visited the US Air Force Memorial.
Last week we took the kids to the zoo. The weather was nice and we thought we would use the opportunity to run some enegery out of Addison. Her nights are better, but not the best. She still wants to sleep in bed with us, but at least she isn't screaming all night long. The next surgery is scheduled for the 24th of March. We hope that we can get her nights figured out before then. During the day she is the same old cute, loving Addison. Nathan is doing good as well.
The great thing is that we FINALLY got to see the Panda Bears. Everytime we have been up there it was too hot for them to be outside. We only got a quick glimpse, but they were so cute to watch!
Since Nathan's birth almost 8 years ago we have heard several Drs. utter the words - "I have never seen that happen," or "It is very rare," or "Only a very small chance of that happening." Of course every time those words are uttered it happens to Nathan. We really didn't expect the same for Addison.
As you know, Addison had her palate repaired and lip adhered last week. Before we left the hospital I said to the surgeon "You know Addison's lip split when she was in China, what are the chances of that happening again?" That is when he uttered the words, "I have never seen a lip split open...even during my years of residency." We think the world of our surgeon and believe him to be a very caring man, he just didn't know that those words shouldn't be uttered around us.
The first few nights home were rough, but we figured it would only get better. Sadly it didn't. When the sun goes down a totally different Addison comes out. Addison is usually very loving and easy going, but at night a switch seems to flip. She screams and hits and kicks and then throws herself to me to be held tight. She only wants me....no one else, but at the same time the comfort I give her only lasts a little while. She (and I) have only been averaging a total of three hours of sleep each night - an that is total not consecutive. We do not believe she is in pain since she is find through out the day, we believe she is experiencing some sort of post tramatic stress from her time in China.
By the weekend we noticed her lip was coming apart. We called the on call plastic surgeon who have us some recommendations and told us to call our surgeon first thing Monday morning. In the meantime we tried melatonin, benadryl and tylone with codine to help her sleep. None of it worked. By Monday her lip was ripped up to her nose. We got an appt. for today - the 6th.
Today, Bob took Addison so I could get some much needed sleep. The surgeon was shocked to see how much her lip had come apart. Bob told him that we should have warned him about uttering those words to us. He really felt bad that Addison had to have gone through all of this. He too agreed that we were dealing with much more than pain. He spoke with the chief of anesthesia who told him that the only thing we could give her would be valium. So tonight we are going to try and see if that works. We pray that it doesn, not only for now but because she will be having another surgery in a couple of months. When they do the total lip repair/revision her lip will once again be at risk for seperation. So if we can keep her calm it will allow her to heal properly.
The good news is that her palate looks great. So far there are no fistulas and we hope that it stays that way.
I posted some pics of my families visit. We had a great time while they were here.
