CC's first week with us was more than I could have imagined. I can't stop staring at her beautiful eyes. Her little crooked nose has become something that we adore. It's what makes her special - makes her different. Of course, we hope her breathing eases a bit as it appears to be labored sometimes - but she's stills so stinkin' cute... We gently push it to the middle sometimes to see what she will look like if/when it straightens up. We barely recognize the girl with the straight nose. Ha! Either way, we just love her to pieces!
She's discovered her hands - they are all over the place! In her face, folded together, holding on to mommy's finger. Her long fingers are just beautiful. We think she has hand model potential in her future. She has long fingernail beds - I'm looking forward to watching Lily paint them for her! They are quite the canvas for the pretty paint colors Lily will add.
And her feet & toes... Oh my... Sleepers with footies are not in the future for this girl. Her perfect little feet are already the size of my palm. And her toes are so long, she curls them. I love to watch her in her swing when she props her long legs up on the edge of the seat already. The more I look at her, the more I see another Lily in our future. I couldn't ask for anything more.
Her first week brought on two doctor's appointments. One with our personal pediatrician. Dr. Kathryn Ginocchi. She is this petite little thing who is so gentle with Caelyn. We were very happy with this initial appointment and Caelyn handled it well too. She didn't like to be weighed but everything was great!
We took her to her pediatrician on Monday morning, 5/13. CC is back up to her birth weight already - she had two weeks to get there and she did it in under a week! Girl is eating like a champ! Her pediatrician didn't feel the same issues with her skull that the pediatrician at the hospital felt right after she was born, so we were feeling a bit more confident going into Tuesday's appointment that she may not have the skull issues we were originally concerned about.
We then took Caelyn to Nationwide Children's Hospital yesterday morning to their Craniofacial Center. We met with Dr. Gregory Pearson, who is the center director. He and two other Drs looked at CC's head, nose and palate. They quickly determined that her skull looks to be forming fine - so much so that they didn't even think images were necessary. We were so relieved! Ken was pretty confident going in that this would be the case - he's always the calm, collected one... I am the typical new mom and was living with a lump in my throat every time I thought about it...
They looked at her palate as well. It is not open, so they ruled out a cleft palate. They said there is a potential that she has a submucus cleft palate, which means the roof of her mouth is covered by a mucus membrane. This is usually identified by a cleft uvula (the tissue that hangs down at the back of your mouth/throat). She does not have a cleft uvula, so they believe the submucus cleft palate is unlikely as well. But in a week old child, it was difficult for them to determine 100%. We will keep an eye on this.
And, for her nose, she definitely has a deviated septum. This could have occurred in utero, or during the birth process. Considering she was born sunny side up, we believe the birth process is more likely. But, it doesn't really matter, right? Her right nostril is completely closed at this point, so she is breathing through her left nostril. It doesn't seem to be affecting her too much though. Her breathing is a little louder than other babies, but she is able to get plenty of oxygen. There is no real treatment for her at this point since she is so young.
Her nose continues to move and bounce back more and more every day. If you saw her on her birth day - she looks much more comfortable. The swelling has gone down at the bridge of her nose, as well.
We have a follow up appointment on August 27th to look at her nose again.
