Craniosynostosis

I think I mentioned before that we have been concerned about Micah's skull. Back in October, Elliot noticed that Micah had a "bump" on his head. I felt it, and quickly realized it wasn't just a bump. One of my best friends' child had a problem with her skull - it fused too early, and she required major brain/skull surgery to fix the problem. The problem is called "craniosynostosis." I remembered her describing the issue as a ridge on her forehead, and the minute I felt Micah's bump, I *knew* it was a ridge. I did a bit of research online, and I quickly realized that there are different "sutures" (spaces) on the skull that can fuse too early, and Micah's ridge was along the metopic suture (it runs from the nose vertically back to the softspot). Elliot and I decided to wait a bit and talk to the pediatrician at our next appointment.

Our next appointment came up in November - I think it was a sick visit for Micah (we've had so many the past few months)! We showed the doctor the ridge, and he said we did not need to worry about it unless his head "started to look really deformed." Immediately, warning bells went off in my head. I knew from talking to my friend that even mild craniosynostosis can cause swelling and pressure in the brain and can result in developmental problems. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I immediately started researching specialists in this area, and tried to call and make an appointment. Not so easy to do! We were given the run around at the hospital, and it was incredibly frustrating. I called my friend and asked for her advice. She immediately put me in touch with her doctor's office just before Thanksgiving.

I called up to the cranio-facial specialist in New York, but waited almost 2 weeks before I heard back. I was getting very anxious and frustrated. When they called back, they asked me to send photos of Micah's head, and told me to make an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist to check his intracranial pressure and eye sockets. I found a pediatric ophthalmologist and made the appointment, but I still heard nothing from the specialist in New York. I asked around and spoke to a few other friends, and they gave me the direct email of the head cranio-facial team in charge of pediatrics in our area. I sent him an email, and he immediately responded and told me to come in for an appointment.

On December 11, we had our appointment with the ophthalmologist. They dilated Micah's eyes, and did a funduscopic exam. We learned that there was no obvious intracranial pressure (great news) but that Micah's eyes are very close together (although within the range of normal), and he has a fairly big difference in the vision between his right and left eyes. We will have to bring him in for more follow-up in 6 months, and regularly for the next few years.

On December 17, we had our appointment with the cranio-facial specialist. He did an initial exam and told us that Micah definitely has a ridge. He said that while craniosynostosis can only be formally diagnosed by CT scan, he felt that it was fairly obvious that Micah has it, but a mild case. He felt that Micah's skull had fused a bit early, but late enough that it should not cause any real problems, just "cosmetic" issues. He said that the ridge was fairly small and Micah showed no other signs of developmental delays or other skull deformities. He suggested that we did not need to put Micah through additional testing, but we should come back again in 6 months if things worsen, and sooner if Micah exhibits any developmental problems (such as not walking by 15 months).

Along this journey, we noticed that my niece also has a ridge on her head, but she has no developmental delays or other skull issues. While discussing this with the doctor, he said it puts Twoey at an increased risk for having this issue, so he suggested that we might want to bring Twoey in for an evaluation visit around the 6 month mark.

I can't even tell you the relief we have - we are so thrilled that we do not have to put Micah through surgery! I've been so worried for the past two months, that this news really was an incredible relief for us. Of course, now I just have to convince Elliot to stop telling everyone that Micah is part Klingon.

Happy First Birthday, Micah

It is hard to imagine that a full year has passed. One year ago today, I became a mommy. That was perhaps the happiest moment of my life. Each day since then, my love for my little man has grown bigger and stronger. I've loved getting to know him and watching him grow, and I'm so filled with hope and excitement for the years to come. It is hard to imagine that my tiny little baby has grown so big. He has two teeth already through, and 2 others that have been sitting on the edge of his gums waiting to pop through. Micah has gone from being unable to take a bottle to downing regular grownup food. He stands and cruises and is on the verge of walking. He has an amazing sense of humor, and he loves to laugh and play. I love watching him learn, and I even enjoy dealing with his growing opinions, pickiness, and even occasional temper tantrum.

He has been such a good baby, and I hope I don't ever forget a second of this time. I love how he still loves to suck his thumb and cuddle with me. When I hold him and give him a bottle, he plays with my fingers. He laughs a big giant laugh when I tickle his belly. When he is sad, he still cries out "mama!" I remember my heart stopping the first time he fell and cut himself - I think I physically felt pain at the sight of blood dripping from his mouth. I love how he adores the dog, and screeches with joy when he sees her. He loves it even more when she kisses him or touches him. I love watching him push to a stand on his own, and pick up his toys while he is standing. I love holding my breath in anticipation of that moment when I finally see him take off walking. I love watching him hug his stuffed animals and figure out how to work his toys.

Everyday, I'm just so amazed by my little boy, and so thankful he has forever changed my life. So, happy first birthday, baby boy!!

The Birthday Party That Wasn't

Last week was an insanely busy week. We spent a lot of it prepping for Micah's birthday party - buying supplies and decorations, planning and purchasing food for the menu, making the birthday cake, etc. We were expecting about 15-20 people for Micah's "playgroup" party, and then another 30-40 people for our Chanukah/birthday party. I purchased tuna fish and egg salad, we had over 20 lbs of potatoes for making potato latkes, and enough cake baked to feed an army! Our plan was to have cupcakes (decorated like Elmo) for the playgroup party. We baked about 3 dozen cupcakes for that. We also had a huge 2 layer cake for the "main event." My nieces were in town for a few days before the party, so we were a bit crazy all week. We took them to a few music classes and had a great time with them. Anyway, Saturday morning rolled around...and Micah woke up with a 102 degree fever. And a cough. The cough started to get worse as the day went along, so we decided to take him to the hospital. We were actually hoping that he had an ear infection - a couple doses of antibiotics and we thought things would be back on track!

Unfortunately, we learned Micah had a viral case of bronchitis, and would likely be contagious to children. When we came home from the hospital, we sent out a note and canceled the playgroup party. We then sent out a note to all of our other friends and family, letting them know that Micah had a virus and could possibly be contagious. On Sunday, Micah woke up fever-free, but still coughing. We decided to go ahead with the afternoon party, but naturally, nearly everyone declined to come. My parents, my brother, sister-in-law and my two nieces (who had already been around Micah while he was sick), my cousin and her two children, and one of my best friends were the only people in attendance. Despite the poor turnout, we still had a great time!

Here are some pictures and video from the event:

Micah also got SOOO many wonderful presents. My parents bought him a play gym - it has a slide, a ladder and a basketball hoop. Jen and Jeremy bought him an outfit, a dump truck, and a tool bench toy. My cousin Michelle brought him a mega blocks set, and Heather bought him some clothing, some books, and this adorable singing donkey (it sings "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch"), and Ken and Erica dropped off a baseball toy, and Ellen gave him a singing Chanukah bear. My parents' friends Diane & Joey, Sheila & Les, and Suzette & Joel also sent him a wonderful storage bench before his birthday. We were so lucky to have such wonderful presents!

An announcement and some stories

A bottle of baby shampoo...$7

A can of formula...$25

A package of jumbo diapers...$43

The fact that there are 4 people in this photo....priceless:

It is with great pleasure that we are finally able to announce that we are expecting baby #2, due June 22, 2010. After a very rocky couple of months (we thought we lost the baby several different times), we had our 12 week nuchal tanslucency scan on December 8. After everything we went through, we were quite nervous about this visit. We got there and the tech started things up...and we were SOOO relieved when we heard there was still a heartbeat. As the ultrasound went on, the news got better and better. The baby was moving well, the neck measurements were perfect, all the parts were in place...hands, feet, arms, legs and nasal bone. Here are the two pictures of our beautiful little bean, (who we are calling Twoey), that we were able to take home.

Random Story Time

I adore Micah, but he is becoming quite a challenge to handle in so many ways. First, let's start with diapering. Diaper changing is really and truly an exercise in baby wrangling - Micah twists, turns, stands, flips, dances, squirms, crawls, and hollers. We hand him a toy - sometimes it appeases him and he'll play. Other times, he'll throw it on the floor and return to insanity. We've tried remote controls, books, digital thermometers, the blue nose squeegey - at different times, each of these "toys" enthralls him, but some days, nothing but freedom will do!

Now that we've covered diapering challenges, let's talk about eating. Micah does not like to drink much milk, and he refuses to take a sippy cup. He should still be drinking 20-24 ozs of formula a day, but I'm lucky most days if he drinks 10-14. In the morning, he likes to go play. In theory, that alone would be fine if he did a great job of eating. And some meals, Micah is a GREAT eater. He loves veggie burgers, hamburgers, turkey burgers, cheese sandwiches, pizza, cheerios and kidney beans. He also loves bananas and pears. Just about anything else, however, is a crap shoot. He appears to hate pasta, although he was willing to eat pesto-coated tortellini the other day. He will sometimes eat yogurt and cottage cheese, and he will sometimes let me feed him applesauce or oatmeal. Other times, he grabs the spoon and smears it in his hair while dumping the bowl on the floor. He will not eat white potatoes (can you imagine?), peas, green beans or carrots anymore. I can actually handle this newly found pickiness, but what is driving me crazy is his need to "share" the food with our dog! He drops at least half of everything he touches on the floor for her! And if we say "no," he smiles and tries to "sneak" and drop the food on the floor. I mean, seriously, is deviousness an instinct or a learned trait? The worst part is my dog is supposed to be on a grain-free diet because of her allergies. We finally had her skin doing better and her hair re-growing, and all this recent influx of waffles and Cheerios and bread and crackers has her skin back to being a mess again, her bald spot is back with a vengeance, and her nose irritation returned. How do you explain that to a 1 year old? I think I'm going to have to put MICAH on a grain-free diet for the sake of the dog!!

By the way - did you notice I said 1 year old? That is right - Monday is Micah's first birthday! We are having a party for him on Sunday (well, two). It is also Chanukah for us (the "festival of lights"), when we celebrate Judah and the Maccabees' (the Jewish makeshift "army") victory over the Syrian King, Antiochus, who tried to kill us. After our victory, Judah and the Maccabees sought to rededicate the Temple, and there was only a small amount of oil left to light the eternal flame. Once lit, the eternal flame should never be extinguished. The miracle is that the little tiny bit of oil managed to last for eight days. To commemorate the miracle, we light candles every night for 8 days. Each night, we add one more candle to the lighting, and on the last night, the entire menorah is lit - all 8 candles (plus the one we use to light the other candles - known as the shamas). Because Chanukah falls around Christmas time, in the US, Jews also celebrate Chanukah with gift-giving.

In honor of both Micah's birthday and the holiday, we are having a Chanukah party for Micah's birthday! At 12, his playgroup friends will join us, and we'll serve traditional Chanukah food (like latkes - potato pancakes). Micah will then take his afternoon nap, and around 3:30 or 4, we'll have some other friends and family join us for Chanukah party, take 2. We'll continue eating traditional food, playing Chanukah games, and we'll have Chanukah music playing. We'll light the candles, exchange gifts and watch Micah destroy a birthday cake. What could be more fun?

Thanksgiving....in three parts

****I apologize for being missing in action for so long - over 1 month! I've had a lot of blogs partially written, but due to computer problems, sickness, and a variety of other crazy things, I just haven't been able to post. I decided to "catch up" today, and I am backdating many of my posts (for accuracy) and I will let them publish over the next few days. I promise to stay on top of blogging again from here on out.*****

Part I....Visiting Della

Growing up, we were very close with the neighbors who lived around the corner from my parents. Their oldest daughter, Rayna, and my younger brother are the same age, and they were best friends growing up. She and her younger brother Stuart, were always like siblings to me, and Arleen and Lorin were a second set of parents. For Thanksgiving, Rayna and Stu were in town, and we brought Micah over for a visit and to meet Arleen's mother, whom we all fondly call Della. Della was in love with Micah - the hugged and generally just had fun together. We had a great little visit before heading out to our Thanksgiving plans.

Part II....The Farm

My cousins (Hank and Marlene - my Dad's first cousin and her husband) own a farm in Comus, Maryland, about 25 minutes north of where we live. It is a fairly large farm - about 88 acres, I believe. For the past 15 years (at least), they have been living in an apartment over the barn. Sounds crazy, right? It is actually a very nice apartment, and I'm always amazed how they manage to fit 40-60 people in there for holidays.

We've been going to celebrate Thanksgiving out at the farm for many years. We have not been out there very often in the past 3 or 4 years, however, and I think this is actually the first Thanksgiving Elliot has been to the farm. For the last few years of my grandmother's life, it was just too difficult to go out there. The apartment has about 30 steps to the front door. With 40-60 people in attendance, there is always a lot of noise and commotion, and usually more than a few runny noses. After one Thanksgiving, she caught a nasty case of pneumonia. That was the last time we all went out to the farm together. Last year, I was on bedrest at the end of my pregnancy, and we left town on Friday to head to New Jersey to attend my niece Stephanie's bat mitzvah (against doctor's orders), so we just had a quiet Thanksgiving in our "new" house (that turned out to be crazy, too - we were so unprepared to host a meal in our house)!

This year, we were thrilled to head back out to the farm! It was the first time my nieces had been there, and we were excited to have Micah spend time with his cousins and extended family. We arrived around 3:00 pm. After all these years, Hank and Marlene are finally building a "real" house, and we were able to take a tour. Their daughter, Lisa, gave us the grand tour, and we were really excited to see it. It should be ready in 2010, and hopefully next Thanksgiving, we'll be dining in the house!

We all started out milling around inside the apartment and catching up. Outside, there was a swing set and a jungle gym for the kids, and we were able to bring the kids to the field to see the animals. Micah got to pet a pony - he was a bit unsure, though. He could hear the dogs barking (they were in the barn to keep from being underfoot) and all he wanted to do was find the dogs.

The food was delicious. There were several different kinds of stuffing and sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, and there was roasted turkey and fried turkey and duck and goose. There were different kinds of sauces and veggie dishes. For dessert, there were cookies and pies and cakes and fruit. It was an eating feast! After the meal, we lit a bonfire out front. The kids played on the equipment, we roasted marshmallows, and we talked to the horses. We left around 7:30 pm and headed home, but it really was a fun day, and we hope to go back again next year.

Part III: Friday night

On Friday morning, bright at early, we loaded up the car and hit the road. We went to New Jersey to spend Thanksgiving Part III with Elliot's family! In an effort to accommodate us, they graciously agreed to postpone Thanksgiving until Friday. Not surprisingly, we left a bit later than we had planned (Elliot never quite gets out the door on time). Micah was really good in the car, and fell asleep quickly.

A few hours into the trip, Micah woke up (as expected) and we stopped for lunch. He sat in a high chair, ate some pizza, and was truly wonderful. Until we had to get back into the car. Unfortunately, he had had enough car time, and he was fidgety and crying on and off the rest of the trip. We sang to him and played games, and eventually, we got him to fall back asleep for a little while, but he was awake and crying the last 1/2 hour of the trip. We finally arrived at my Steven and Jodi's house, and everyone was there waiting for us. Micah got to crawl all around and play, and he spent some quality time with his family. He sat with his Grandma Roberta and Poppy Ira, and he played with his cousins Ethan, Stephanie, Brian and Melissa, and he had a great time. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures - we accidentally left our camera at the farm and missed a great photo opportunity.

Elliot and I had done a lot of the cooking - we brought turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, and a few other things. My sisters-in-law made meatloaf, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a few other side dishes and desserts. Everyone got along really well, and we had a fun celebration. Thanksgiving turned out to be a fantastic holiday, and perhaps we'll try doing this again in the future.

Bedtime in NJ was a bit of a challenge. Micah was in unfamiliar territory, and he really didn't want to go to sleep. I ended up having to go in there and sit with him for over an hour to get him to sleep. He finally crashed, but he did not sleep all that well. He woke up around 5:30 in the morning, and it was a challenging day. Luckily, Micah's cousins wanted to spend some time with him, so Elliot and I got a bit of a break. Jodi was a huge help, too - I apparently was sound asleep during Micah's morning nap, and when he started crying, I didn't even move! She went upstairs, changed his diaper and brought him downstairs and gave him a bottle while I got some much-needed sleep. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I was! My niece Stephanie was able to catch a few photos on her camera:

Micah started calling Brian "Bubba" (we were working on saying Brian, and we started to say Brian - Buh, Buh to get him to make the sound, and he eventually said Bubba! I think Brian will now forever be Bubba).

We hung around the rest of the day, and headed out to dinner at the Olive Garden. Micah loves their minestrone soup (not surprising, since he made me crave it by the bucketful while I was pregnant with him)! Micah ate a ton of soup and bread, and around 7:00 or so he started getting tired and cranky. We changed him into his pajamas, and put him to bed in the car. The ride home was relatively uneventful, and we were able to transfer Micah back into his crib and he slept through the night.