Nine Month Well Baby

Yesterday Desmond had his 9 month Well Baby checkup with Nurse Practitioner Bennett. He is doing very well and is hitting all of the right milestones and growing perfectly, even in his head size.

Dr. Sluis came in and took a look at his ears for me. I told him that the ENT was wanting to wait until June 21 to recheck for the infection and he agreed that it was not worth putting off the surgery for. For right now it looks like the infection is gone. He said there is some uninfected fluid in there and to come back in a few weeks and he'll check again. It was nice to be reassured that I'm not just in a hurry to get this over with. He didn't see why we should have to wait that long.

Nurse Bennett didn't really apologize for brushing off my concerns about Desmond's head at his 6 month Well Baby, but she did express how glad she was that Dr. Sluis caught it only a month later.

So now we go back to Dr. Sluis in two weeks and as well as the ophthalmologist. Man, I have never spent so much time in doctors' offices in my life!

Even though these photos are a few weeks old, I'm going to post them since they were taken on Desmond's 9 month birthday.

Last weekend while Nana was here we went down to the rose garden and shot some Easter portraits.

A long, but rewarding week

Last week seemed endless. I'll start with the weekend first.

Friday night I had to work for a few hours so Desi went and hung out with the Sanchez/Munger family. He behaved beautifully and was sound asleep when I picked him up around 10. We got home and he woke up, so it was after midnight before I got in bed. Saturday morning we were out the door at 7:00 a.m. to drop him off with Shandale while I went to work covering Riverfest and the inauguration of the new Alcorn State University president. That was a 11 hour work day:( Sunday, Regina watched over Desi while I shot two different assignments. I don't know what I would do without all of my wonderful friends!

On Wednesday Desmond saw the ENT and plastic surgeons at UMC and then we went to visit Heather as she had had gallbladder surgery on Tuesday.

When I went to pick up Desmond from daycare on Thursday one of the teachers stopped me in the hallway and says, "You didn't tell me Fluffy could crawl!!" Apparently, they had had an Easter party and Desi had started crawling across the floor trying to get to the other kids' candy.

Mom got in town that night and we all went out to dinner. Desi stayed home with her on Friday and got in some much needed Nana time while I went to work.

Saturday morning we had breakfast with Lauchlin and Olivia before heading to Brandon to spend our Easter with The Carter/Rumfelt family.

We died eggs, ate lots of sweets and had a couple of delicious meals before heading home Sunday night to start the week all over.



I need a vacation!
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ENT & Plastic Surgeon appointments

Today Desmond had his appointments with the ENT, Dr. Caron, and the plastic surgeon, Dr. Angel. Both of them went well and were over very quickly.

Dr. Caron took a look in his ears and throat and we talked about the reoccurring ear infections he's been having. As it turns out, children with skull deformities are more likely to have these kinds of problems since the shape of their skull can effect the shape of their ears. So, he said he'd keep an eye on them and make sure the infection is gone before we go ahead with surgery. We have a follow up visit scheduled for late June. I guess this means Desmond won't be having the surgery until after that.

Dr. Angel came and took some measurements and photos of Desmond's head. He explained that not only will they be taking the skull apart in the rear portion of his head, but they will also have to do this to his forehead to reshape it. Unfortunately, it's a strong possibility that this will have to be done in two separate surgeries.

We got to take a look at his CT scan and it's amazing! There is absolutely no sign left of his sagittal suture or his soft spot. Dr. Angel also pointed out that his eye sockets are different shapes, which I thought I had noticed lately but thought I was just being paranoid.




Desi and Dr. Angel go over the CT results.

The next appointment will be with the opthamologist on May 12 and then we go back to the neurosurgeon on May 27.

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Ahhh Video

With the upgrade to a new iPhone has come video capabilities. And needless to say, I'm going a little bonkers with it.

For all of you who don't often get to see our Fluffy, and even for those who do, enjoy!

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Busy Spring Weekend

Last weekend was so busy I need a weekend to Rest from my weekend.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and went to the anniversary Shape Up Vicksburg walk at the Outlets. I pushed that hefty son of mine for two miles in stroller. I figure that adds at least one mile to my walk.

Then we stopped by Team Mitchell's garage sales for some excellent deals.

With a short nap we were ready to hit the road and head to the Renaissance Fine Arts Festival in Ridgeland for the afternoon. We met up with Sophie, Alex and Manu and enjoyed the warm, sunny day.













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CT Scan

This morning was pretty trying. Desmond was not allowed to have anything to eat since midnight last night. Since he's sleeping through the night now that means he hasn't eaten since 8:30 last night. I hoped to get up before him this morning and eat breakfast, but he woke me up and stared at me the whole time I ate my bowl of cereal. I felt so guilty.

The CT staff at UMC has been really nice. Desmond cooperated with them while they took his vitals and went under anesthesia very easily. After he got the gas they sent me to the waiting room, which is where I am right now. It was hard to leave him so vulnerable and alone with strangers, but I had better get used to it I suppose. This is going to be our life for the foreseeable future.

So now I just wait.

Well, I didn't have to wait very long at all. Only about ten minutes after going to the waiting room they called me back and when I walked in the room he was awake and being held by a nurse. He immediately started leaning toward me whining. I nursed him right away and he stayed there for quite a while.

We stayed with the CT nurses for a while so they could watch his stats. Desmond was fascinated by all of the cords attached to him.




After a short while we were sent home. We stopped by and saw Heather and Bobby for a short visit at Pearl High School and now we are back home just enjoying playing and hanging out.




Desmond was such a brave little fella today. I only hope I can muster up the calm and blind trust that he showed today throughout the rest of this process.

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Location:University Medical Center

Change is in the air

Well, with the beginning of Spring, things have definitely begun to change around here. I tired to get ahead of the Great Shed of 2011 and gave Carmela a good brush and trim.



Yes, that is a grocery bag full of her fur. And that's before the trim:)

And since Desmond is getting more and more mobile...



scooting across the floor on his bottom by waiving his arms up and down...



and rocking toward crawling, I figured now would be a good time to lower the mattress in the crib before he tumbled out.



Let's hope he continues on his record of sleeping three nights in a row through the night!

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