Orthodontist Appointment Yesterday!

It appears that our girl is moving right along.  More adjustments and the doctor says she looks good.  We think so too! This momma thinks she always looks good.  Just for understanding, the doctors always say that to us as the cleft continues to change and have more of  a normalcy look to it.  Normalcy is children without cleft.  So here it is.  We noticed as her cleft is filling in and her teeth are coming together, she has this weird gap in her gum line.  This one tooth is super exposed in the front.  This is the tooth we prayed for by the way.  The one that wasn't there. God just told it to show up to mess with the doctors and answer our prayers.  Anyway, this guy has part of the gum missing from the cleft and the our orthodontist told us yesterday that once she gets her second, I said second, set of braces off she will go to a periodontist and have him fix the gum.  Whoo hoo a new doctor.  We have not met this guy yet and hope to meet him in four years.  Flo just looked at me with her mouth wide open, like what?  We were thinking the same thing, but I just said, "okay".  We will do whatever it takes to make her happy with who she is, but if at any point she says no more, especially, at age 13 or 14, I will have to say okay, enough she has decided she is done.  I am amazed and in awe of these beautiful parents that continue to adopt cleft babies.  They do it over and over again.  I am amazed at the sacrifice they make knowing what it entails.  I have no regrets adopting our little Flo so many years ago, but she has been through so much and I am not sure I could do it again and again.  These are wonderful people that God has chosen to deal with all of this SNs ups and downs.  I find these families just amazing and I thank each one of them for adopting these precious children and changing their lives forever.  We are so blessed by our Flo and we have met wonderful people on our Cleft Journey and I know God has been a part of it all.

She is crossing her eyes in the first because she did not want me to take her picture.  Her sister told her to do it so I would leave her alone.  I love big sister's.  We got a reverse band yesterday and he said it will address the under bite.  His goal for this set of braces is to eliminate the gap on top and fix the under bite as much as possible.  I am not sure what the next set will do, but we are so happy we are one-third done with this set.  Flo is hoping to get them off before we go to China.  I don't think that is going to happen, but she is still hopeful.  Thank you for following us on this journey.  I may show some real change next month when the under bite has really moved.

The Life of a Clefty Girl!

We are getting closer to our 5 month mark!  Our sweet Flo is now almost two months into her braces.  It is amazing how much her smile has changed so far.

  The life of a clefty girl.  Here Halloween is upon us and she once again has to let us know how much she hates having braces and missing out on her favorite candies such as-  Laffy Taffy and Tootsie Rolls.  Sad times, sad times for her. This time last year she was wearing her appliance to stretch her upper bite so she could have surgery in June.  I am not sure when she will have a care free, candy frenzy Halloween again, but I know when it happens she will have a beautiful smile.  I plan to take another photo on November 10th to compare.  I felt that October 10th the change was not that noticeable.  This journey is always a roller coaster and I am sure it will continue to be as our little girl continues to change. She is still the same girl underneath all of that plastic surgery and dental work, but she does not look the same on the outside. I still look at her baby pictures and miss that little crooked smile.  Sometimes I wish I could see just a glimpse of it.  As we all laugh at her daily antics I think of how our lives have changed since she entered it. She will thank me for all of this when she is older.  She will be glad that we were given the opportunity to take a little spitfire in Xi'an, China  around the world to live in a very lived-in house with a very lived-in car who also had access to doctors that changed her world.  God is awesome the way He can just move mountains when He wants something to be done.  He moved the world for us to have Flo and I am grateful each day! He is rockin' the world some more and I will share that later on a different page.

Three months out

Here we are once again with some face changes.  The surgery recovery has been great.  She did great and really the only reminder of it all is the scar on her hip. I really expected it to be smaller, but instead it will be permanent reminder for her of what she went through this summer.

Our new adventure includes a bite plate on the bottom and braces on the top.  The under bite is so severe that without the bite plate she would knock the brackets off the front of her teeth.  The orthodontist is optimistic that the bite plate will come out in 3-4 months. This set of braces will be on 6-9 months.  The next set will come about 2 years after these. So she will get a brief reprieve.  It is hard being Flo but sometimes God has mercy on us.

On August 20th, Flo's birthday, she was supposed to get her braces.  Instead the ortho decided she needed a plate.  She got a full three weeks without the appliance and no braces.  It so rocked. My husband was convinced that has never happened to anyone anywhere.  He thinks Flo has exceptional luck.  He could be right. 

Today Flo's response, "I don't  like my braces or bite plate."

We will see how her face changes once again.

FACIAL CHANGES OVER THE LAST WEEK!

WEEK 3 Post Surgery

The swelling is going down, but boredom had set in.  This is what it had come to.

Saturday of last week Flo had had it.  I think Mark had to.  We had to get her out of the house.  We decided to go to Macon.  We love going to museums down there.  They are rarely busy and the people there are always so nice.  We also really like to go to Mass down there.  St. Joseph's Catholic Church was built in the early 1900's and it is absolutely breathe taking.  We all love it.  Anyway, we took her to the children's museum and to Mass in Macon.

We went to lunch at Arby's, but we had to make a pit stop at Wendy's for Chili.  This is Flo's new favorite treat.  She eats a Frosty and a cup of  Wendy's Chili.  I did not even know that they still serve Chili in the summer time but they do.  Looks gross, smells gross, but she loves it. We showed her how to take the crackers and mush them in the Chili.  She did not know about that.  I cook Chili at home a lot in the winter time, but we normally have cornbread with it.  So, the cracker thing was new for her. We had a great day and I think everyone had fun.  Flo was exhausted by the time we got home and she was ready for bed.  That was a good night for all of us.

We have spent the last week dealing with sleep issues.  Flo has had some issues sleeping.  She just can't go to bed alone.  It is just a little more than the rest of us can deal with at times.  We spent several days trying to get big sis back to health.  She has had some Asthma issues this week.  We spent a whole afternoon at the Asthma and Allergy Clinic.  She seems to be getting better.  I think as the temperature rises her Asthma gets worse. We stayed low key inside most of the week. AG's asthma seems to get worse with the heat.

We did have a mostly uneventful week.  I tried some new food recipes this week.  We are far from Chicken noodle because she is very done with that choice.  I introduced her to steamed squash and we added a shredded chicken to the menu as well.  She seem to be doing well with the soft foods and we have had only one melt down. 

24-hour famine and boiled french fries

First before anyone continues reading this, please pray for Teresa.  She is a little girl that was adopted from China and just had a heart transplant.  She is not doing well and really needs prayer. 


Thank you for praying for little Teresa and her sweet family! 

 What does a 24-hour famine have to do with boiling French fries? 

My oldest signed up to do a 24-famine lock-in type event at the church where she attended school for 7 years.  In the 24 hours the tweens and teens learn what it is like for people in Guatemala and other third world countries who go for days without food.  They originally were going to stay overnight outside in cardboard boxes but because of storms in the area they decided to set up their boxes inside.  Thank you Lord because this worried Momma slept better last night knowing that.

My oldest decided for her last meal before famine time she wanted McDonald's nuggets and fries.  Well, my no French fries girl was totally not pleased with that. Flo went on and on and on how she knew she could eat a fry and AG could check it for her.  I think at one point there was talk of  AG eating it for her and then spitting it in her mouth.  (just kidding, but it was almost to that)  I finally convinced her that we would go by the grocery store on our way home and buy some frozen fries.  We then discussed all the way to the store how we could prepare them so they would be soft enough for her to eat.  Then some Chinese wisdom came to me.  Steamer!  Put those bad boys in the steamer.  I use it to make pot stickers a.k.a. Chinese Dumplings.  We put them in there, added a little French fry salt and voila!  Done.  Did they look a little limp?  Yes.  Did she eat most of them? Yes.  Was I mom of the moment?  "Babam!" Yes I was.  We are getting quite creative to get her to eat something.  I will continue to post my creative Cleft surgery moments.

GREENLIGHT!

We got a date today.  We will have surgery the second week of June.

We also had our pre-op today for our 4th set of ear tubes.  That surgery will be next week.  Flo is not excited about this one either.   The PA told us they would use a local ansthesia, no gas or anything.  Flo is going to hate that.  I pray it goes well.  I will not get to be in the room with her.  I just hope she does not have a panic attack or anything.  The PA told us today it only takes 7 minutes per ear.  I certainly hope so.  It took us 2 years for her to get over being held down to have her ears cleaned.  I cried with her as I was made to help hold her down so they could remove wax from her ears.  It was awful and she didn't forget it and neither did I.  Daddy now takes her when he can because I just can't watch it.  Although, she informed me that she just lays there while they do it. Daddy just holds her hand.  She is such a big girl.  I hope God is preparing her for big things.  I hope she finds a way to work with kids that have been through what she has gone through with Cleft.

LADYBUGS FROM HEAVEN

Today was the big day.  The big consult.  The one I have been dreading for years.  I just simply thought it will be forever before it gets here.  Forever is now!  Our children grow and with Cleft growth means more adventure.  Everything I read in the Bible reading for today and in my Bible study book spoke about the Peace the Lord gives us in times of turmoil.  It was just repeated to me over and over to have no fear for the Lord is with you.  With the LORD you will find peace, etc.  I prayed all day for me to feel Peace and be at ease when our surgeon came in.

We walked in and signed in.  I saw a lady with the cutest Chinese bundle of boy I had ever seen.  He was smiling with his little Clefty smile.  Very cutie patootie.  And over at the video games was his 5 year old Clefty sis.  Sweet welcome in the door.  Their mom told me they were both Henan babies.  Little man, Matthew, has been home one week.  Big sis came home 4 years ago. Biggest sis was at school and she was their only Bio daughter.  Maybe our story will turn out like this one.  Who knows what the future holds.

Anyway, it was wonderful to talk to them. They wanted to see Flo's appliance because their 5 year old would be heading in that direction of this adventure sooner than any of us would like to think about.  Little man was being prepared for his first cleft palate surgery and dad had a few questions about that. It was very nice and they were a sweet family.  As we waited for our turn to be called up to the desk, I was not sitting and thinking about all that we would have to hear today, I was sharing my own experience with those following behind me on this same adventure that we are traveling.  Some days it is easier to share the road with fellow travelers than it is to walk it alone. God knew I needed this little side track and throwing in that sweet little Clefty boy was a little bonus. Thanks God.

Flo and I sat down after they called our new Henan friends back.  We were called up to sign paperwork and within ten minutes were in the mirage of health professionals and many, many questions from every direction. A typical day at any Craniofacial Clinic across America.

We were taken down to a room by the triage nurse and another nurse said, "don't go in there it is not clean."  So our nurse took us out and then she took us back in and then she took us out and then the other nurse came down the hall and said," no, this one is not clean take them two doors down."  She said, "Oh, I did not understand what you meant.  Sorry".  Not her fault because in the middle of us traveling maybe 6 feet about 7 people passed us and went in between us in the hall. Typical day at the Craniofacial Clinic.  Anyway, we entered the room and I just continued to ask God to bring us some peace.  When we walked in the door Flo was checking out the books propped up in the window and she saw a ladybug.  She said, "Look Momma, I want to take him home."  I smiled and I thanked God for him being there.  She finally got up on the big table with a book and right next to her was another ladybug.  She started looking around and we saw another one.  There was one for each of the adopted China babies in the building right then.  I knew we were good.  The nurse came back and brought in some paperwork and of course asked more questions.  Flo brought me one of her new ladybug friends and I placed him on my pants leg.  He stayed right there until we were about to leave.  The nurse looked at Flo and I and said, "I don't know why they love this room. They always seem to come in here."  I knew why they were there today.

The particular cleft surgery that Flo has to have this time is more complicated and very different from any other surgeries we have had in the past.  It involves a bone donor site. In the past she has had a cartilage donor site, but this is our first experience with actual bone.  I have read countless articles about this particular surgery over the past few weeks, month, and I have read several articles written by our surgeon on the subject as well.  I knew that I was prepared to ask questions, but I was not sure he was going to give me the answers I wanted to here.  My ladybug friend let me know that it was going to be alright. GOD was with us!

We saw our orthodontist whom we visited in his office last week.  He reassured us we were ready for surgery and that he would let Dr. B know in the hallway. "GREENLIGHT!"  We had several other assistants stop by as usual and then the nurse let us know that Dr. B should be in momentarily.  He came in with one of his assistants and said well, "Michael says we're ready to go?."  I looked at him and said, "Yeah!  Greenlight!"

"But, I do have some questions."  And he says, "Shoot, ask me whatever you got?"

He gave me his undivided attention for 25 minutes.

Let me back up here.  I received a phone call Wednesday afternoon from the Craniofacial Clinic in panic mode.  They informed me that they made my appointment for 2:30pm (2 months ago), and Dr. B had to be somewhere else at that time and was there anyway they could move my appointment to noon.  Uh no because I work until noon on Fridays.  I jumped right in and said 12:30 or 12:45pm was the best I could do. She said that would be fine.

FASTFORWARD
Because all of the preschool teachers love me and allowed me to move their classes up 10 minutes, we got to the clinic around 12:15 and 40 minutes later Dr. B came in and just hung out with us and listened to my questions and answered everyone I had. He never checked his watch, he never rushed, he and the assistant just took a time out with us.
This is what God is all about! This is what prayer is about!  This is why God is all powerful and can drop Ladybugs from Heaven anywhere, anytime.

I will not get into details about the Cleft surgery here.  I will save that for our Cleft adventure page.  I will tell you that we feel good about this.  It will not be easy and it will not be pain free, but the hands of the man I spoke with today will be amazing and God will be there to help him make every move. I bet a ladybug or two might show up as well. Thank you for all of the prayers lifted up to us today!  We are really and truly blessed in so many ways!