Not all surgeries and no fun...

I realized I have not posted any good times yet. Hadley has managed to have some fun in all these medical issues. She actually has been to quite a few places and made some friends. I also have not introduced her amazing Big Sister, Rylee, who is 4 now.

Hadley loves Rylee. So far Rylee is the only one that can get Hadley to have that full on belly laugh. She smiles a whole bunch but Rylee can crack her up. It is very sweet.  

This was sometime after her first two surgeries and we were finally home and enjoying every minute of it!  

She goes to pool parties and meets new friends, Ansley and her are only 3 weeks apart. But sadly, she lives in Charleston.  But that means we get to visit, often!

Hadley also goes to the beach! It was pretty windy that day so she was in her bouncy seat, with a towel, in a tent, under a big tent. She loved every minute of it as you can see. Good sleeping weather.

She also loves porch rocking!

She even gets dressed up to go to the lake!

Yeah it's a little bright on the water.

This is what happens when big sister has fun. She said she was giving her a halloween costume. I'll say! But she did end up with a "normal" costume. My little pumpkin!

Look at the big girl in her sisters chair! Also teething, hand have been in her mouth from Labor Day until now. 8 teeth and counting!

Rylee and Hadley

 This was the Spina Bifida Association of Georgia Walk and Roll fundraiser. We had sweet friends and family come and and walk with us. It was a fun day.

Of course Santa surrounded her with gifts. She was a little overwhelmed but her big sister saved the day and help unwrap all her gifts.

 And last but not least, one of my favorites. Hadley was a little star-struck by Santa. But she did not cry throughout her sisters long list of wishes. It was like she was frozen. LOL!

What a difference two weeks makes!

It is been 2 weeks post recovery and we are doing good! She is pretty much back to her happy, smiley self. Last week was pretty rough, I'm not going to lie. On top of the surgery she woke up last Tuesday completely stopped up with a cold and started running a fever late in the day so I rushed her to the pediatrician and it turns out another UTI as well. But she got antibiotics for that and then her staples out on Thursday so that really helped with  her being so uncomfortable. This past weekend we just relaxed. Much needed! We went out and did some shopping, really just to get out of the house, but also to feel somewhat normal again. It is really important to us to do things as a family again after everything has been so out of routine, especially for my 4 year old, Rylee. She does really well with it, who wouldn't with round the clock grandmothers giving her attention, plus my husband and I take her individually for some special time. In fact I'm pretty sure there was not a day last week or the previous week where she did not convince someone she really needed an ice cream or a treat on the way home from school! Oh yeah she knows how to work it!  But Hadley also started sleeping much better over the weekend so that meant we all got more rest. So this week we are back at daycare and back to work full time so we are getting back into our routine whether we like it or not! I have posted a pic of her scar that is healing very nicely. It needed to be done since I grossed you out with the previous one! Not bad at all.

From here we have to really ramp up the physical therapy. We need to get her back to where we started and then try and progress more. She still seems to be sore but it does seem to be less each day. She would scream when we picked her up this time last week but now just a little grunt and maybe a whimper. We have Physical Therapy this Thursday so we will make a plan of attack and get her moving again!

And We're Home!

Yes, we made it home today, about two hours ago and Hadley is so happy. She is napping now and I will probably do the same even though we had a great night last night we are still very worn out. The hospital stay was some what eventful. We stayed in ICU the first night and next day and during that time we had some really bad storms come through and the hospital went on lockdown with tornado warnings twice. So that was fun. Luckily nothing happened because we were told that because in the ICU they do not evacuate. They basically moved Hadley's crib away from the window as far as they could, put some blankets on the sides of the crib and gave us a flashlight and told us not to leave. The night before had been a pretty painful one for her so needless to say my nerves were shot at this point so we just went with it. Late that afternoon the commotion had died down and we were given the OK to head down to the Neuro floor in a regular room. In a way it's kind-of like getting downgraded from first class to coach but the big advantage to the regular rooms is that they have their own bathrooms! So that meant I could take a shower finally! ICU bathrooms are located outside of the ICU entrance and are for all families so I just decided to hold out for one in our room. The second night proved to be just as exciting as the first. Remember when I was saying Hadley's appetite was amazing. Yeah it all came back up at about 3am. So that meant the nurse and I had to clean and move a screaming child that did not want to be moved and wasn't supposed to be moved. And not to mention the pain medication was in all that mess that came back up, that is really what started it all. So once again we had another sleepless night but we plowed on and things got better the following day. One thing that was funny to me about Hadley was she really hated the nurses. I know that should not be funny but it was because you can start to see her little personality coming through. One nurse was talking to me and put her hand on Hadley and Hadley reached and picked her hand up and took it off of her. The nurse was shocked and we were laughing so hard. I don't think Hadley really hated the nurses but she just associated anyone coming in the room with temperature taking, medicine giving, and more poking. Even when the Grandparents were there at different times she gave them attitude right at first. She is such a sweet and gentle baby but I'm glad to see she is getting a little independent streak.

I know this next part will be gross to some so don't read further if you get queasy but I will post a picture of the incision site and really just so you see exactly where it is an how big. To be honest Sean and I both were expecting it to be bigger. But this will heal just like her others. And pretty soon she will have longer hair and it will cover it up regardless. So here is the pic...

She is still pretty sore today but the Dr. said the swelling lasts for about 4 days and so we should be on the tail end of that so things should just get better from here. But we still will be taking it easy this weekend and next week. I am going to keep her out of daycare next week also just because I really can't handle her getting a cold or something worse on top of this. Lets just keep her sister well also!