Sunday, October 12, 2008

Something new



John thought Mallorie was asleep as he walked near her crib, but he heard the sound of her lips smacking, and got this picture. THIS is something completely new for her; she has almost never sucked on her fingers or anything else, and we don't know how much of that was that she never had a good lip seal, and how much was that she had such a strong oral aversion. She's had so much un-fun stuff done to her mouth (suctioning, mouth appliances to pull the hard palate together before the first mouth surgery, a total of three mouth surgeries, and that time in February when she was on the vent for so long). Oral aversion was to be expected, and is part of why speech therapy is so important for her. So it makes stuff like this all the more exciting.

We go back tomorrow to get the tube taken out of her nostril. She somehow pulled/prodded it out today, and freaked the kids out, so they pushed it back in before I ever saw it. It's bothering her a lot, so it will great to have this over with for her.

And yesterday she let me give her some baby food (fruit) by mouth and nothing went up into her nose, as far as I could tell. This makes me VERY hopeful that the surgeon was right, and he might just have closed the opening between her upper lip and gum.

Oh, and her extremely smart and wonderful pediatrician has always had a problem with what she called us "rushing to cut on her." She is so very protective, and I say (to myself) that it sometimes feels like she's another mom for Mallorie. She's certainly taken some ownership rights, and gotten all huffy about certain issues ... which in MY blog shall remain undiscussed. :)

So, Dr. B? It's looking like it was worth it all, huh?

7 comments:

Anxious AF said...

More little things to be excited about. I always take notice, when Alex is sucking or chewing on something. Although he hasnt sucked on anything in a while:(

I will make a pureed food post just for you my dear....Give me a day.

Anonymous said...

While I have not been, nor will I ever be, anxious to cut on her, I told you we needed to finish her mouth!! Remember you were hoping I would say no to the lip surgery?! I am VERY glad she had a good outcome. I think as different providers figure how to handle her, the chances of poor outcomes diminishes. I wouldn't press our luck though. Now is not the time to get cocky!!! :)

Dr B

connie said...

Oh, yeah. That was me that wanted an out, wasn't it! :) (Oops.)

I'm forever grateful to you, by the way. We don't deserve you, but we happily accept it all.

Laurie in Ca. said...

This picture is so sweet and it looks like everything is healing up and she is discovering her new mouth. I am so happy for her Connie and your doctor was right, she deserves the very best and it looks like she got it. Love you girl and talk to you soon.

Love, Laurie in Ca.

Cathy said...

I jsut love the picture. I am so glad her surgery went well and there are good results! I am so happy for the blog so I can see much more of Mal!

The VW's said...

What a precious girl! I'm so glad that her surgery went well! I'll be praying that you won't have any more hospital stays for a LONG time! Thanks for visiting Gavin's site! I'll be praying for you and your sweet girl!

Anonymous said...

I love the picture that John took and can only imagine his surprise when he realized what she was doing! How very, very cool! I bet Ms. Mal is much happier now that she has that tube out of her nostril. How very exciting about feeding her some fruit without any problems. I will keep praying for continued progress and sucess.
Love ya,
jb