trinintyandtristansmommy
06-24-2008, 05:19 PM
We tried for 10 months to have Tristan, I had two miscarriages and was so scarred when we finally found out that I was pregnant with Tristan, we prayed for a healthy baby for the entire pregnancy I was so relieved when I finally gave birth to a healthy 10.3 lbs baby and felt like I could relax. We all noticed right away the narrow shape of Tristan's head, but figured it was from pushing him out in only 15 mins. So weeks went by and my husband and I would always laugh at his odd little head but we had no idea that anything could be wrong we just thought all baby's have different shaped heads.
That all changed when I took Tristan (who was 3 months at the time) to the doctor to get his eczema checked out and they felt a ridge on the top of his head. The doctors recommended I go see the wonderful Dr. Wehby a neurosurgeon just in case his suture had fused together. What?! I was shocked and didn't know what to think, luckily my regular pediatrician called Dr. Wehby's office and told them she would like me to get seen right away. We went for a visit 4 days later and thanks to this site I was already prepared for her diagnosis. I had seen pictures on here that looked exactly like my baby and I knew Tristan had sagittal craniosynostosis. Now the hard part the surgery to fix it. Dr. Wehby is a very confident surgeon and told us yep he had it and now we have to do something about it. We were able to schedule surgery for 3 weeks later, 5 days before my younger brothers wedding.
The waiting was so hard the sleepless nights all of the thougts that go through your head, the what ifs. I can't imagine having to wait longer than three weeks like some of you other parents. Then the day was finally here. Sunday night was a nightmare my 4 year daughter stayed the night at my grandparents house so we didn't have to wake her up early. Tristan went to sleep around 7 that evening and I cried to my husband about all my fears and that I didn't think I could go through with it. My husband was very strong and told me everything would be alright it wasn't until later that I found out my husband had been worrying about the same things I was. That night I woke Tristan up around 3:00 am from his sound sleep to nurse him one last time before the surgery. We left our house around 5:15 am to be to Legacy Emmanual Childrens Hospital by 6:00. The whole time we drove I just prayed that he would stay asleep until it was time for surgery. My parents met us at the Hospital and Trisan slept while we checked in. Then we had to weigh and measure him and he woke up but he didn't act hungry at all. I held him for probably an hour just facing outwards so he wouldn't want to nurse and it worked. Then we met everyone who would be helping in the surgery the anestiaologist met with us and told us he would hold Tristan on his lap while Tristan breathed in the sleepy gas and then would put the IV's in so Tristan wouldn't feel anything, I was so happy for that. Then it was time for them to take him I had done so well not crying and then as I handed my son over I sobbed, I knew I was doing the right thing but for a split second I thought about taking my son and running with him.
The surgery was over in less than two hours and they brought my husband and I back to the PACU where I saw my son for the first time with his new head. He looked awful his color was terrible and the nurse told us that he hadn't been crying at all so she hadn't give him any pain meds. Thats not a good idea, because then the anestia wears off and they are in extreme pain, which is exactly what happened to Tristan. We then spent the next hours in the PICU holding Tristan trying to comfort him. While he slept he would moan and groan and then wake up just screaming so one of us had to be with him at all times. I barely ate or slept I just stayed right by Tristan's side hoping and praying that something would work to help him. Its an awful feeling not being able to take away your childs pain. Finally about 24 hours later they decided to give Tristan lasix which is a diaretic it helped him to finally pee and got rid of a lot of the swelling, his eyes never did swell shut thankfully. Dr. Wehby also decided to give him the rest of the blood transfusion. After that happened they moved us to the regular floor and he seemed to finally be getting better, he even smiled at my husband and I later that evening we were so happy. After those first couple days Tristan was much better. The hours flew by and soon we were going home his pain seemed under control with tylenol 3 he did however have an allergic reaction to an antibiotic which was more frustrating then the pain because he would scratch all over and I was afraid he would rip his stiches out. He didn't and finally the hives were gone too.
We went home Thursday evening, we were so excited to be home in our own enviroment and be able to sleep in our own beds. I was nervous though, I was scarred that he might be in too much pain and that I wouldn't have the nurses to call on if I needed help. We did ok and each night we seemed to feel a little more confident and we got to see what our little boy looked like with his new head. We're still dealing with sleeping issues, but life is slowly getting back to normal.
It seems like this is such an acomplishment for the parents to go through together. I feel like it was something that my husband and I had to work through with each other. It really brought our family closer together and makes us feel proud that we were able to get through this and be strong for our baby.
Thanks for reading and to see surgery pics. go to my albums in my profile.
That all changed when I took Tristan (who was 3 months at the time) to the doctor to get his eczema checked out and they felt a ridge on the top of his head. The doctors recommended I go see the wonderful Dr. Wehby a neurosurgeon just in case his suture had fused together. What?! I was shocked and didn't know what to think, luckily my regular pediatrician called Dr. Wehby's office and told them she would like me to get seen right away. We went for a visit 4 days later and thanks to this site I was already prepared for her diagnosis. I had seen pictures on here that looked exactly like my baby and I knew Tristan had sagittal craniosynostosis. Now the hard part the surgery to fix it. Dr. Wehby is a very confident surgeon and told us yep he had it and now we have to do something about it. We were able to schedule surgery for 3 weeks later, 5 days before my younger brothers wedding.
The waiting was so hard the sleepless nights all of the thougts that go through your head, the what ifs. I can't imagine having to wait longer than three weeks like some of you other parents. Then the day was finally here. Sunday night was a nightmare my 4 year daughter stayed the night at my grandparents house so we didn't have to wake her up early. Tristan went to sleep around 7 that evening and I cried to my husband about all my fears and that I didn't think I could go through with it. My husband was very strong and told me everything would be alright it wasn't until later that I found out my husband had been worrying about the same things I was. That night I woke Tristan up around 3:00 am from his sound sleep to nurse him one last time before the surgery. We left our house around 5:15 am to be to Legacy Emmanual Childrens Hospital by 6:00. The whole time we drove I just prayed that he would stay asleep until it was time for surgery. My parents met us at the Hospital and Trisan slept while we checked in. Then we had to weigh and measure him and he woke up but he didn't act hungry at all. I held him for probably an hour just facing outwards so he wouldn't want to nurse and it worked. Then we met everyone who would be helping in the surgery the anestiaologist met with us and told us he would hold Tristan on his lap while Tristan breathed in the sleepy gas and then would put the IV's in so Tristan wouldn't feel anything, I was so happy for that. Then it was time for them to take him I had done so well not crying and then as I handed my son over I sobbed, I knew I was doing the right thing but for a split second I thought about taking my son and running with him.
The surgery was over in less than two hours and they brought my husband and I back to the PACU where I saw my son for the first time with his new head. He looked awful his color was terrible and the nurse told us that he hadn't been crying at all so she hadn't give him any pain meds. Thats not a good idea, because then the anestia wears off and they are in extreme pain, which is exactly what happened to Tristan. We then spent the next hours in the PICU holding Tristan trying to comfort him. While he slept he would moan and groan and then wake up just screaming so one of us had to be with him at all times. I barely ate or slept I just stayed right by Tristan's side hoping and praying that something would work to help him. Its an awful feeling not being able to take away your childs pain. Finally about 24 hours later they decided to give Tristan lasix which is a diaretic it helped him to finally pee and got rid of a lot of the swelling, his eyes never did swell shut thankfully. Dr. Wehby also decided to give him the rest of the blood transfusion. After that happened they moved us to the regular floor and he seemed to finally be getting better, he even smiled at my husband and I later that evening we were so happy. After those first couple days Tristan was much better. The hours flew by and soon we were going home his pain seemed under control with tylenol 3 he did however have an allergic reaction to an antibiotic which was more frustrating then the pain because he would scratch all over and I was afraid he would rip his stiches out. He didn't and finally the hives were gone too.
We went home Thursday evening, we were so excited to be home in our own enviroment and be able to sleep in our own beds. I was nervous though, I was scarred that he might be in too much pain and that I wouldn't have the nurses to call on if I needed help. We did ok and each night we seemed to feel a little more confident and we got to see what our little boy looked like with his new head. We're still dealing with sleeping issues, but life is slowly getting back to normal.
It seems like this is such an acomplishment for the parents to go through together. I feel like it was something that my husband and I had to work through with each other. It really brought our family closer together and makes us feel proud that we were able to get through this and be strong for our baby.
Thanks for reading and to see surgery pics. go to my albums in my profile.