Praise the Lord!

Sawyer has been doing really well! He is completely off of pain killers now and is generally back to his happy, carefree self!!! He is also beginning to sleep better which is very encouraging for me. Thanks everyone for your prayers. I am so thankfull that we are now on this side of the operation and that he is healing well!!!


Sawyer is very enamoured with his hands. He can spend a lot of time examining every different angle of them.













I have added a link on the blogs that I read. The link is for Andrew, Marie and Josiah Haak. Andrew and I went to the same church as children and a couple of months ago my sister sent me the link for their blog. They have a baby just two weeks younger than Sawyer who hasn't left Children's Hospital since he was born. They have lots of prayer support but more can't hurt. . . I had the opportunity to meet Marie and Josiah while I was waiting for Sawyer's surgery to be finished. She really inspired me. Thanks for adding them to your prayers too!!!

Before and 1-week After

?? Sleep ???

Sawyer seems to be healing well. Thankyou for your prayers for him. He has had trouble sleeping since his surgery though. Day and night it he has difficulty falling asleep as well as staying asleep. Last night he was basically up from 1:30am to 5am! If you could add this to your prayers it'd be greatly appreciated. I think that it would help him to feel better (and me too!)

hangin 'round

We're having a pretty sweet day today. Sawyer has been pretty ornery at times but he's eating better and also napping not bad. The number of smiles and squeals is also growing exponentially which we are all loving. Here are some pictures of Sawyer today (scars and all).


Caution: this next picture is ridiculously cute...


Last night was a little like the picture below. Corinne guessed that Sawyer's longest stretch of sleep was 45 min. Here's hoping tonight is better. We're sure it will be.


We have so much to be thankful for! Not the least of these being that Sawyer's surgery is done, it went really well, our family is home and together, and he seems to be healing well.

Home

Sawyer and I arrived home on the 1pm ferry. He is feeling pretty well I think. I am pretty tired but glad to be home. The incision on his head is healing well and the swelling seems to be going down. He hasn't been eating (well, drinking his formula) though. He had about 4oz all day yesterday and only 4oz so far today. He is obviously not on IV anymore so it is important that he drinks or we'll end up in emergency for another IV. . . . so if you could pray for that that'd be great!! Thanks again for all of your love!

Today

Today has been ok. There hasen't been very much swelling. . .well there has been quite a bit but not as much as I thought there would be. . .he can still see out of his eyes! This morning was good. This afternoon has been hard. Sawyer has been very uncomfortable. They tried lowering his morphine and it was evident that he was very uncomfortable, so after about an hour they turned it back up. I think he is sleeping right now while Anika is giving me a little breather. This afternoon was really hard for me. Kirsten came for a visit right at the perfect time this afternoon. Sorry for the random thoughts, I'm tired. Cory may write more later. For now, thanks for all your prayers, they are working!!! Please keep them coming!!!

Tomorrow

(I'm not at home so I had to steal this picture from Anika's blog-thanks!)
Well, I went for all of the pre-op stuff at Children's Hospital today and only cried once! They had someone who was just learning in the lab take Sawyer's blood and he cried . . . a lot, that made me cry too. But we were better as soon as we could hold each other! I feel pretty good about tomorrow. I got a few questions answered, know when and where to be in the morning, bathed Sawyer with a special sponge, put him to bed and now it is just time to wait. Sawyer's surgery is tomorrow at 11:20am and should last for an hour and 15 minutes. It should be about an hour after that that we can see him. My mom is going to be with us. (Thanks Mom, I wouldn't want to do it without you!) I will try to get a blog up and let you all know how it went as soon as I can. . . thanks for your prayers!!!!

Another Update

Just wanted to let you know that we spent the weekend on the mainland. We had a great time with my family as well as some really good friends. We got to see Harry Connick Jr in concert and that was fabulous! Today I took Sawyer to Children's Hospital for a consultation with Dr.Steinbok. He's the head of neuro-surgery there and the man that will be doing Sawyer's surgery. I will try to post tomorrow about the visit but thought I should at least let you know that the surgery is booked for Tuesday June 26. We feel at peace about this but please keep us in your prayers, especially my baby. Thanks.

A Pendulum Swing

The pediatrician called again today. I thought that she'd be calling to tell us about the headbanding clinic. Nope. The neuro-surgen Dr.Paul Steinbok had called her and it is his opinion that there has been some premature fusing of bones in Sawyer's head. His office will be calling us ASAP to make an appointment to see Sawyer in the next couple of weeks because he believes that Sawyer will need surgery when he his between 5 and 6 months old. . . sometime in July. I'll keep you updated as I know more. Thanks for your continued prayers!!!!

GREAT News!

The pediatrician just called this evening and said that the CT scan came back "EXCELLENT"! She said that the bones that she was worried about haven't joined together and that the brain is developing perfectly as it should. There is no pressure anywhere on the brain either which can happen when a baby doesn't have a fontanel. So, she will be in contact with people at Children's about a "band" for the head that would help it learn where to grow but it looks like NO surgery in Sawyer's head!!! Praise the Lord. I know that he would have been fine had he needed the surgery but I feel so good knowing that he won't need it. Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers for my baby!!!

More on Sawyer. . .

This is a picture of Cory's Grandma holding Sawyer in April when we were in Winnipeg. So precious. I love them both so much!

I got a call from the pediatrician's office this morning and was told that the Doctor had spoken with the people in neurosurgery at BC Children's Hospital. They are waiting to see the results of Sawyer's CT scan so they can determine what kind of intervention needs to be taken. . . . then they will contact us and let us know. So basically we are in a holding pattern until then. I am thankful that as far as the rest of life goes Sawyer is happy and healthy. He has started sitting a little on his own and is continually babbling away, waiting until someone looks at him and then giving the biggest smiles. I don't have a very sick baby withering away in front of me. This makes it easier to wait.

Quick Sawyer Update

Sawyer had a CT scan on Friday. The procedure went very smoothly, Sawyer slept through it all. Now we are just waiting for those results and waiting for an appointment at Children's Hospital. Thanks for your continued prayers we really appreciate them!!

Opps. . .

On Friday I still hadn't heard anything more about Sawyer's appointments. This confused me so I called the paediatrician's office to see if they knew anything. The office assistant there did some checking and found that the doctor had forgotten to put URGENT on the requests. Opps. (Doctors are human too but it is still a little difficult when they make a mistake that effects your baby). She will be in Monday morning, will change the requests and then hopefully things will get moving here.

As time passes I do have more peace about the whole situation but I would like things to happen. The doctor said that the sooner things happen the better and better is better from my perspective ;)

My Baby

I emailed this to a lot of you who read this blog already but I think that the more people praying the better. . . the words in bold type were not included on the email.

Dear Family and Friends,

I had a hard day yesterday. I think that it was made harder due to the fact that we woke up at 4:40am and I was really tired but it was hard none the less.

(We woke up at 4:40am because a friend of ours bought us Canucks tickets for the Sunday game . . . SOOO fun. Sawyer's paediatrician appointment was for 10am Monday morning so that meant catching the 7am ferry, hence the very early wake up :) )

I took Sawyer to the paediatrician to have a look at his head. It is (and always has been) oval shaped instead of round. This in itself isn't concerning but he has really never had a soft spot (called a Fontanel) on the front of his head. This spot is only supposed to close at about a year. It also seems like his head bones are beginning to fuse together already. These two things mean that the brain is growing out to the front of his head and to the back of his head because there isn't the room for it to expand like it normally should (causing the oval shape). He is doing everything that a three month old should be doing and more so they are almost totally certain that the brain is growing as it should be so far and that is good.

He will be having a CT scan here in Victoria and going to the head clinic at Children's Hospital in Vancouver within the next two weeks to see what the next step will be. Best case scenario is that the bones have not began to fuse together but rather it is just the membranes (which are pliable)that have been fusing. If this is the case he will have a band made for his head that will force the head to grow rounder. If however the bones have already begun to fuse together he will need to have a surgery to seperate those bones, allowing the head and brain to grow properly. These thoughts are really hard for me. I know he is in good hands, most importantly GOD's and also those of the doctors at Children's hospital but I am still a little scared and kinda overwhelmed.

Sawyer and I have had several "conversations" about this and throughout them all he just "coos" and smiles, I think he is reminding me that God is in complete control so why worry, right?!

I'll update you all as I learn new information.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Thanks so much!!!!!!

Easter Fun

Sawyer was mezmorized with this little chick.

9.5, 10.5, 9.5, . . .

The last three nights Sawyer has gone to bed at 7:30pm and then slept thru!!!! 9.5 hours Friday night, 10.5 hours Saturday night and another 9.5 hours Sunday night. Oh, the feeling of normal again, a less foggy brain is so wonderful!

The First 8 Weeks

Sawyer has experienced a lot in his short life so far. Here are a few snipets for you to enjoy.

This is me at 7 weeks 4 days

"I like this Bumbo seat"

Keeping an eye on those older brothers

I've been starting to "talk" more

I'm Sick

Sawyer has caught a cold. It is not too bad but his nose is stuffy and he has sneezes and coughs. This crying face is one that he gives me after I use the nasal aspirator to clear his nose.

Beautiful