6 months! 7 months! 8 months!

I decided to group a few updates together so forgive me for it being so long.  I not only write these for you, but also as a way for me to remember everything, so it doesn't hurt my feelings if you don't read through it all. :)

Let's get started!

At 6 Months!

Sawyer went to the pediatrician and weighed in at 11 lbs 9 oz!  We jumped from the 1st percentile to the 2nd percentile on the growth curve---hooray!  According to the little 6 month milestone checklist that we filled out before our appointment, Sawyer was meeting each milestone right on track.  We hadn't necessarily mastered every single skill, but we were definitely attempting and doing each one.  Up until now we had been seeing our occupational therapists twice a week and speech therapist once a week and I was curious about whether or not Sawyer really needed therapy that often if she was proving not to be too far behind the average 6 month old.  So I asked our pediatrician to give us her honest opinion on how she thought Sawyer was doing.  Her thoughts? Sawyer looked amazing! She was performing about average for a 6 month old despite her rough start and NICU stay.  She didn't think Sawyer needed therapy so often and she suggested reducing OT to once a week and stopping speech therapy.  

While most parents start introducing solids between 4-6 months of age, our therapists had wanted Sawyer completely sitting unassisted for at least 90 seconds before starting them.  Our pediatrician didn't necessarily think she needed to be doing that, but did recommend us holding off until 7 months due to her feeding issues the first 7 weeks when she was in the NICU. Fine by me.  A few days later, she started sitting up for long periods of time, no problem.

Feeding-wise, she's mostly taking straight Enfamil AR.  I throw in a bottle of EBM here and there and it obviously exacerbates her reflux so at this point, I'm not pushing it.  She's growing, she's healthy, that's what really matters.

6 Month Likes:

• Being outside---walking, sitting, riding in the stroller
• Sleeping in her crib for naps AND bedtime
• Chewing on EVERYTHING
• Patty-cake and Itsy Bitsy Spider

Dislikes:

• Tummy time....I thought once she could roll there herself she'd like it, but nope.  She rolls there, realizes her epic mistake, and rolls right back.

At 7 Months!

Her little personality is just shining!! My favorite, favorite thing is when she wakes up in the morning or after a nap and you go and peak over the side and she sees you and starts giggling and kicking her feet and just seems so happy.  She laughs hysterically at the silliest things and I can't get enough. 

We are down to one therapy session a week and she is still doing so, so well.  We now have a little more flexibility to our schedules and that has been really nice.  We did, however, add another member to the Team.  I had been doing research on chiropractic care for infants and was really interested in it and what it had to offer.  I talked to quite a few parents who had positive experiences and decided to give it a shot.  Ryan and I took Sawyer to a Holistic Health Chiropractor (who also happens to be a relative) and had the best experience.  It's not your bone popping chiropractic care---he has been focusing on calming her sympathetic nervous system and mind which in turn has helped her lateral head tilt and her reflux.

We've started adding in solids! Originally I wanted to do the Baby Led Weaning approach which skips purees and gives the infant soft, solid foods that they can feed themselves.  Because Sawyer will have a surgery on both hands soon and not able to feed herself, I decided to do a mix of spoon feeding purees and whole foods so she will be familiar with both! Weight-wise she's a little over 12 lbs, but don't know the exact weight. 

7 Month Likes:

• Sitting up like a big girl and playing
• Laughing at reflection in mirror
• Trying new foods---favorites: butternut squash with cinnamon and pears
• Still chewing on everything
• Standing (not pulling herself up, you have to stand her up and she holds on)
• Taking baths in the BIG bathtub
• Rolling back and forth
• Visiting cousins in California

Dislikes:

• Mom and Dad eating things in front of her that she can't have yet...oops.
• Sitting still on plane

At 8 Months!

Sawyer is 13 lbs and her first tooth is coming through!!! It's about time because I feel like she has been teething for months.  She's also getting so close to crawling which breaks my heart because in two weeks we're going to put casts on her arms and completely throw off her groove.  Same with feeding---she prefers feeding herself and digs whole foods more than purees, so the four weeks after her surgery may be a little frustrating.  Now that she is rolling nonstop, tummy time is no biggie.  I feel like overnight she realized it's cool to play on her tummy and I'm already forgetting the days that she hated it with all the passion in the world.

8 Month Likes:

• Rolling anywhere and everywhere
• Eating--sweet potato fries and puffs
• Napping on stomach
• Drinking water out of a straw cup
• Swimming!

Dislikes:

• Not getting to try ALL the foods ALL at once 

Alright now for the surgical update.  I'm including a picture with labeled bones of the hand, so what I'm saying makes a little more sense. :)

 

We're two weeks away from her first surgery, so Monday we took Sawyer to Houston for her official "Pre-op" appointment with the surgeon.  I am confident still that we have chosen the best surgeon for her.  Even with a waiting room full of people and it being 6:30 pm, he did not rush through the appointment, took time to answer all of my questions thoroughly, and again, so sweet with Sawyer.  We found out that her surgery will be considered an outpatient day surgery so she likely will not have to spend the night in the hospital!  As long as her vitals are stable and she's able to keep milk down following the surgery, he said recovery/post-op is generally 2-3 hours.  He did prefer us to stay in Houston another night rather than drive back right away in case any complications arise, but he thought it was less stressful for children if they were able to go home rather than spend the night in the hospital. 

He anticipated the surgery will take around 4 hours.  On her left hand, he will be separating the 3rd and 4th digit which is considered a complex complete syndactyly, meaning the skin of her fingers is fused all the way up, as well as the actual bones in her fingers.  Thankfully, however, only the  proximal phalanges are fused, which makes it a little easier to separate.   

 

Her right hand will be a little more involved.  He will separate the 4th and 5th finger, simple complete syndactyly, so only the skin is fused, not the bones.  He will separate digits 1-3, create a webspacing for the thumb, and actually completely remove the 2nd digit.  As you can tell from the picture, her 2nd digit seems to branch from the third.  While she technically has a corresponding metacarpal in the hand, the proximal and intermediate phalanges are fused with the 3rd digit and her distal phalange is distorted in such a way that makes it unusable.  I discussed with the surgeon the possibility of saving that finger and completely reconstructing it and while he seriously considered it, he was certain that while he could construct a finger, it would not have any function and just be a stiff finger.  While aesthetically she would have five fingers, only four would be functional and that 2nd digit would just be in the way and make things more difficult.  He, of course, will evaluate once he is operating, but for now the plan is to remove the 2nd digit completely, including the metacarpal.  Next year, she will have a 2nd surgery on her right hand to close the cleft. 

Following the surgery, she will have casts all the way up her elbow for 2 weeks then those will be removed and she will have soft "boxing glove" style casts for another 2 weeks.  After those are removed, we will continue to have to see him for checkups every 2 weeks for a few months, only to start all over again in November with her feet.

I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm anxious, I'm a little bit of everything. I will of course post updates following her surgery, but thank you for continuing to think of us and keep us in your prayers!!