Surgery....again

A trooper is probably the best way to describe Julianne these days since she has been through more medical procedures in the past two months than most people in a lifetime. At least we can say that we have really only received good news from the barrage of tests that she has undergone. Yesterday she had a test to rule out bladder reflux and thank goodness, it is just fine. Quite a stressful test for her since she was placed under a machine where she could not see me. It was fairly quick though. On Tuesday, we had an orthopedic appt. to be sure that her pin had not shifted and it thankfully is still in place. Also her cast is coming off on June 22, so we'll take all this good news anyday. However, just as soon as one cast comes off, another one is on the way since surgery is right around the corner again. On July 7 (yes, that soon), she is having a 4.5 hour surgery on her fingers. Her thumb will be replaced by her pointer finger. The younger she is then the easier it will be for her to learn how to use it.

Firsts...

Her first attempt at cruising in the kitchen. We better start babyproofing! Her first tea party.

Her first dance recital.

Her first cake....can you tell she liked it??

Citizenship and the Zoo

Seeing the fish and manatee

Waving "hello" to the elephant

"Aren't those from China, Mom?"

Julianne became a U.S. citizen as soon as we touched ground in Chicago back on the first of April, but we now have the document to prove it. She can now apply for a social security number, birth certificate and also a passport for that return trip to China (someday). Unfortunately, she will never be able to be president - not that we would really want to subject her to that anyway.

Julianne is recovering very well from her surgery and is truly back to herself. Before we left the hospital, I pushed for an EKG since her heart rate was so high. For those of you that do not know, heart and kidney conditions usually accompany "radial longitudinal deficiency" but thank goodness, everything panned out ok. As of now, her hand/arm/shoulder are the only affected areas from her condition.

I took Julianne to the Cincinnati Zoo last Friday with my sister and nephews - Heinrich and Peter. I wasn't sure if Julianne would really pay attention to the animals. The facial expressions that she made after spying each animal proved to me that she knew that they were more than just funny looking "dogs".

Post-Surgery

She has no idea what is about to happen. OK...now she does.

Safe in daddy's arms (and Monkey's).
Go Muskies! (Xavier U.)
Feeling better.

Now that all the tears and pain have subsided for the most part, I can now say that Julianne made it through surgery like a champ. Her wrist is now almost perfectly straight due to a pin that is placed in the wrist. She will need to wear her cast for about six weeks and unfortunately about three months later, we will have to endure another surgery to move her pointer finger to her thumb position. Her current thumb is called a "floating thumb" due to no metacarpal so it will need to be removed.

Prior to surgery, Dr. Cornwall had asked what color we wanted Julianne's cast. I wanted a color that would not show dirt due to the fact that she is still using her arms to help her become mobile. So I said, "Let's have the Xavier (my Alma mater) blue color." Dr. Cornwall added his touch by putting a big "X" on the cast with glow-in-the-dark white. Go Muskies! Too bad we're not in the March Madness season.

After surgery, we were called back to her recovery room where we were informed that her heart rate was sky high - hitting over 200 beats per minute. We are still not sure if it was due to pain/stress or if this is an indicator of a heart issue. Currently, as Julianne is babbling, 152 is the current number which is still high. She is now in her crib without me holding her - just amusing herself with her lovies - monkey and blanket. Leah and Natalie had saved up money and bought Julianne a monkey back in November and now she cannot go to sleep without 'the monkey'.
As I sit here with pee and puke on both my shirt and jeans, I am feeling so blessed - three awesome daughters, a loving husband, Children's Hospital, health care, supportive family, and the list goes on.....

Surgery Tomorrow

We leave before the rooster crows tomorrow (5:00am) to get to Children's Hospital for Julianne's centralization surgery. She will be in surgery for 2.5 hours and she will be staying the night so they can watch for any hand swelling under her cast. I believe she will wear her hard cast for six weeks and then eventually transition to a brace that she may have to wear 24/7 for quite some time. So prayers would be appreciated as you wake tomorrow morning. We'll keep you all posted.