Hand Doctor Visit: Part II

Trust in the lord with all your heart; Lean not on your own understanding; Acknowledge him in all your ways and he shall direct your paths~Proverbs 3: 5-6

Round Two begins.  The other day we took Sydney to meet with a hand surgeon at Duke.  Prior to the appointment, I tried to prepare myself for a no-nonsense doctor, one that would not candy coat anything.  I did not prepare myself enough.  I would love to be able to say that meeting with this doctor made our decision clear, but I now feel more conflicted than before.  I was hoping that both doctors would have similar philosophies, but they didn't. 

We had a rather long wait in a fairly crowded waiting room.  As I watched the other families bring their children in, I felt humbled and was slapped in the face again by how lucky we truly are.  There are so many other people that have much tougher circumstances to deal with than us.

Before the doctor came in, we were visited by a resident, which was not unexpected as the same thing happened at UNC.  The random part was that the resident was a guy that I went to school with; he was even in my 5th grade class.  What a small world.  Although I hadn't seen him since high school graduation, it did help to relax me a bit even though we were mainly only acquaintances.

The doctor at Duke came in the exam room, felt Sydney's fingers and basically said "Yup, I can separate them."  No details, no explanation, no comforting words.  Try as I might to keep in mind that things could be so incredibly much more serious, I can't seem to do it and this surely didn't help.  The doctor's communication approach were difficult for me to stomach.  I'm glad we had questions prepared as we had to ask them to get any information out of the doctor.  Blake did a great job prodding the doctor to give us specifics about the surgery.  To add to my frustration, X-rays were supposedly received by Duke from UNC but when we got there, no one could find them (of course!).  So while the doctor was able to say he could separate her fingers, he was going on feeling alone. 

While the doctor at UNC said she would do two separate surgeries, the Duke doctor said he would do both at the same time.  The doctor at UNC wants to start the surgeries at nine months, Duke at six months.  The UNC doctor would take skin grafts from the side of Sydney's hand, Duke from the groin area.  How are we supposed to choose?  How do we know who is right?  Answers I know we will never receive. 

During what was a frustrating appointment due to a long wait only to have a short chat with a doctor that left something to desire in the personality department, we were able to find joy in the day.  Sydney gave us two HUGE laughs while waiting in the exam room.  While we feel like she has giggled already, these were unmistakable laughs.  It was the sweetest sound and helped us (especially me) relax.  It was just what the doctor ordered!

Next stop on our journey: another appointment with the UNC surgeon, Sydney's four month appointment with her pediatrician (where hopefully we will get some guidance), and then decision time.  We have a tentative date scheduled for surgery should we choose Duke: March 16.  Boy does that sound close!

I continue to pray for wisdom, strength, and guidance.  And I continue to thank God for the sweet, healthy, happy bouncing baby girl that continues to amaze me and that I fall in love with more every day.

Blake with Sydney outside Lenox Baker Hospital

Sydney and me in the waiting room...look at her cute outfit! :)

Scrub-a-dub-dub

One of Sydney's favorite things is taking a bath!  She is so relaxed in her tub.  She loves holding her washcloths and has even started splashing a little bit.  She seems to love it so much we give her a bath pretty much every night.

Holding my washcloths

Love my bath!

Winter Wonderland

Although we didn't have a White Christmas, we did have a White Day-After-Christmas.  It snowed all Christmas night and we woke up to almost nine inches covering our yard.  Sophie and Eaton loved running and bouncing around in the snow.  I think it took us longer to get Sydney dressed to go out than she actually stayed in the snow.  Soon enough she'll be sledding, building snowmen, and throwing snowballs at her dad.  She sure did look cute in her snow gear though! 

New hat from Santa

So pretty

Snow covered trees

"Hurry up, Mom, I'm sweating here!"

Brrrrr, it's cold!

Hard to capture Sophie on camera.  She doesn't hold still in the snow.

What is this stuff falling from the sky?

About 8 1/2 inches!

Our home

Birdhouse in the backyard

Dogs are exhausted!

 

Baby's First Christmas

This year, Christmas was so much more special for Blake and I having Sydney.  She is the best Christmas present we could have ever wished for.  Santa and her family spoiled her rotten already with more toys, books, and clothes than she could ever need.  It is heartwarming to see how much she is loved.  Even  though she won't remember this Christmas, we certainly will for her.  I think Santa even anticipated how many toys she would receive considering he brought her a toy box to store them all in. 

Sydney was surrounded by her family for her first Christmas.  Both sets of grandparents visited as well as both of her uncles.  I think everyone was more enthralled with her than presents.  Christmas certainly is different, in a better way, with children.  We can't wait for the years to come when she will tiptoe downstairs in anticipation of seeing what Santa has brought her.  For now though, we cherish this first Christmas.

One of the many first Christmas outfits!

Sydney and Pops

Love my new hat...it should fit for a long time!

Sydney with her Santa haul.

Christmas smile!

Mom and Sydney on Christmas morning.

Dad and Sydney on Christmas morning.



Love my toy from Nana and Grampa!



Love me some Grampa!





To MeMe from Sydney



Sydney's Baptism

~And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. ~ Mark 10:13-16

Sydney had a big weekend as she was welcomed into the Church.  Her baptism was wonderful and we are so glad to have been surrounded by her family.  We worried about the little things: her crying or having an explosive diaper in the middle of the baptism.  We dodged the diaper bullet (barely) and she did cry some, but she is a baby after all.  Her grampa says that crying during her baptism will make her a good Catholic!  She looked beautiful in the baptism gown that her Nana and I also wore which made the day even more special.  Following the baptism we had everyone over for a reception and fellowship.  We are truly blessed to have the family we do!

Sydney and Mom

Sydney

Sydney and her dad :)

Our family

Sign of the Cross

The water was cold!

Lighting the Baptismal candle

Sydney with us and her Godparents: Uncle Matthew and Aunt Katie

Sydney's whole family came!

Yum!  Cake!

Santa Baby

Today we took Sydney for her first visit with Santa. The weather was cold (of course) and rainy (of course).  When we got to North Hills, the parking lot was full and it looked like Blake would have to drop us off and find a spot in Timbuktu.  Just as we were passing Santa's Workshop, the stars aligned and someone pulled out of a parking spot right in front!  At least we didn't have to drag her far in the rain.  We were keeping our fingers crossed that the line wouldn't be too long to see the Big Man.  When we walked in, there was absolutely no line and Santa had an empty lap- SCORE!  Santa's elves oohed and awed over Sydney and told us how cute she is (and man is she ever!) and then Santa did the same.  Sydney sat in his lap and seemed content to do so.  Santa also asked Blake if he could guess how old Sydney is.  His guess?  4 weeks!  Close, Santa...3 months!  Needless to say, this year was a success visiting Santa...next year, who knows...

Mom and Sydney

Sydney and Santa

Our whole family!

Dad and Sydney

"Maybe this silly outfit isn't so bad after all!"



These are pretty awesome, don't ya think?



O Christmas Tree!

Last weekend we took Sydney to get her first Christmas tree.  It's funny how some years we get our tree and are wearing short sleeves.  This year, though, it was pretty cold and we actually got our first snow of the year...and Sydney's first snow ever!  The man that helped us at the Christmas tree place even looked like Santa.  We didn't spend a long time choosing a tree since it was so chilly, but we ended up with a pretty good one.

With our tree...picture taken by Santa! :)

Our cute Santa baby

Guys, I can't stand this hat!

Watching the snow fall.  It was pretty, but didn't last long.

We got the tree home without a hitch and started decorating.  While we took a break (mostly because nothing is easily done with a three month old) the tree suddenly came crashing down...I guess to make Sydney's first Christmas tree experience a memorable one.  I couldn't help but snap a picture so she can laugh at it one day.  The weird part was that Sophie was laying by the tree and got up just before it fell.  Also, when the ornaments shattered because it hit our coffee table, glass went flying.  Oddly enough, there were splinters of ornaments everywhere but they miraculously missed hitting Sydney, who was sitting with me on the couch.  A Christmas miracle?

TIMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!



 We did end up finishing the decorating.  Here is a picture of the completed tree:

Finally...up and decorated!

Sydney's first ornament

Syndactyly: Sydney's unique hands

~For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. ~ Psalm 139:13-16

And now we embark on our next journey with Sydney...her hands.  When Blake and I decided to start a family, we knew there was a risk for our child to have syndactyly since Blake was born with the same condition.  Syndactyly is a condition where two or more fingers or toes are joined and occurs only 1 in 2,000.  Blake was born with syndactyly on both hands.  He had surgeries to separate the fingers as a baby and now has 5 working fingers on both hands.  When we first found out we were going to have a baby, we discussed the possibility of this condition being passed on with our OB.  We opted to have a Level II ultrasound early on in the pregnancy to attempt to see.  The ultrasound technician worked hard and was able to get some pretty good shots of the hands...which showed syndactyly on both.  From what the ultrasound showed, it looked as though her middle and ring fingers were fused on both hands.  I remember the tech saying, "I have never wanted a baby to flip me the bird as bad as this one".  During this ultrasound, we were also able to find out that our baby-to-be was a girl! :)

Once the ultrasound showed the probability that Sydney had syndactyly (the doctors would not guarantee 100% that she did), so began a range of emotions and appointments.  We immediately met with a genetic counselor who drew out our family histories.  The very interesting thing (and bear with me on the logistics of this one) is that both Blake's paternal grandparents' bloodlines carry syndactyly.  How's that for genetic make-up and luck?  The genetic counselor told us that there are some rare syndromes that can be associated with syndactyly, but that since Blake was born with syndactyly and no associated conditions, the probability was low. 

The counselor set up an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at UNC for us to meet with as a prenatal consultation.  We met with the surgeon when I was about six months pregnant.  She gave us a rundown of how she would go about the surgery.  I felt at ease with her when she said "I love working with babies".  She asked us to bring Sydney in when she turned about two months of age.  She also recommended having a late term ultrasound to check kidney and heart function as syndactyly can be associated with some abnormalities with it.  (The late term ultrasound came back fine!)

Well, now that Sydney is here, the doctor's visits can begin!  She does have exactly what we thought.  Middle and ring fingers are fused on both hands.  Her left hand does not appear to be as severe as the right.  In fact, when she holds her left hand certain ways, you can barely even tell.  By the way, her hands look almost identical to the way Blake's looked. 

Sydney's left hand

Sydney's right hand

We met with the UNC doctor recently and have a consultation set with a doctor at Duke before we decide our plan of action.  The meeting with the doctor at UNC was rather informative.  As we were huddled in the small exam room, along with two medical students, the doctor felt Sydney's fingers.  Then she said something we weren't expecting/prepared for.  A little background information first: each finger is made of three bones.  She said on the right hand she could feel all the bones for the middle finger but wasn't convinced she could feel the third bone for the ring finger (picture where your fingernail is).  We opted to have an X-ray done to try and see what bones are there. 

The X-ray technician came to take us for the X-rays and showed us his hands...he was born with syndactyly as well!  What a small world!  I have to say, for whatever reason, this helped me relax some.  The tech could not have been a nicer guy and was so patient with Sydney, but it was still really hard seeing my tiny baby laying on the X-ray table.

The orthopedic surgeon had us take a look at the X-rays.  Thank God, the X-ray showed that Sydney has all bones necessary to make two fingers on that right hand!  However, the doctor has decided that she would start with the left hand for the first surgery.  The reason for this is that the X-ray shows Sydney has an extra bone growing in between basically where your fingernails are on the left hand.  This could cause bowing of her fingers that we want to avoid. 

At this point, we are in a holding pattern.  If we decide to go with the doctor at UNC, we are looking at surgery around June.  We have another appointment set with the same surgeon in January where more X-rays will be done to see how her fingers are growing.  We are meeting with the doctor at Duke in December and are interested to hear what his plan of attack would be.  Ultimately, we want to make the best possible choice for Sydney.

Sometimes it is hard to look at her hands and think of what lies ahead.  I hate to think about Sydney being brought back to the operating room.  I hate to think about Blake and me waiting to hear the outcome.  I hate to think about the recovery following the surgeries.  However, I try to remember that we are so blessed.  Sydney is happy and healthy.  In the grand scheme of things, it could be way worse.  Ultimately, I want to document our journey for Sydney since she won't remember what her hands looked like in the beginning or what it was like to have the fingers separated. 

Here is a link to learn more about syndactyly if you're interested.

Sydney and Mom getting ready to go to UNC

Sydney and Mom in the exam room waiting for the doctor

Sydney and Dad after the X-ray- see her sticker for being a good patient? :)