3 weeks post-op

Here are some pictures of sweet Brinlee 3 weeks post-op. She is doing great as far as recovery goes and looks amazing. I am so pleased with the results of the surgery. She has to wear the nose stints for another month or so, but they don't seem to bother her and that is good. I love my sweet baby girl and am glad to have another surgery out of the way.

Two days post-op

Brinlee's 2nd surgery

Brinlee had her 2nd surgery on Tuesday. We had to check in to the hospital at 6:30 am and they took her back to surgery at 8 am. She was so hungry beforehand because we had to stop feeding her at midnight the night before. It was even harder letting them take her back for this surgery than the last because I knew it would be a lot longer and that she would look different when I saw her again. The surgery was two and a half hours and it was a long wait. She came out of this surgery much better than the last one. They used a different anesthesia that didn't stop her from breathing afterwards. I was very glad of this. She looked miserable when I saw her afterwards, she was swollen and it looked like she had two black eyes. She also had to have arm restraints on and what's called a logan's bow to keep pressure of the stitches. She will have to wear the restraints and bow for four weeks. They put stints in her nose too to keep the airway open. They will have to be in for six to eight weeks. She did well after the surgery. She was eating pretty quick after and breathing and resting well. We came home Wednesday at 10 am and since we have been home she has been sleeping a lot and eating well. She is in pain, but as long as i keep up on her pain medication she is handling it quite well. She is such a sweet baby and I am so sad for what she has to go through, but the surgeon did a great job on the repair and I am excited to see how she looks after it heals a little bit and the bow and stints can be removed.

Poor Brinlee

Yesterday Brinlee had a doctor appointment with the plastic surgeon and he wants us to keep tape on Brinlee's lip and arm restraints on her. She does not like this at all, nit to mention the fact that the tape keeps coming off and i have to re-tape it every few hours which just makes Brinlee mad. I have a call in to the doctor to see what I should do about that so I will keep you updated.

Brinlee's baby blessing

Brinlee's baby blessing was on Sunday and it was a great day. Scott gave her a wonderful blessing which included that she would look at her trials in a positive way and that she would have compassion on others in need. Brinlee looked beautiful and after the blessing we had a luncheon with over 30 people at our house. Here are some pictures of Brinlee with some of the people that love her.

First surgery

Brinlee had her first surgery on Monday October 4th. She had to stop eating formula at 6:15 am and stop drinking water and pedialyte at 10:15 am. We checked into the hospital at 11:45 am and her surgery started at 2:15 pm. It was supposed to be an hour earlier, but they were running behind. Brinlee slept the whole time we waited which was good since she would have been mad about not being able to eat. The surgery itself only took 20 minutes. Her anaesthesiologist was Dr. Bateman and he carried her to the operating room. That was hard for me to watch him take her away from me. I cried. When her surgery was over i got to go see her in what's called the PACU. When I got there the nurse told me she stopped breathing when they gave her pain meds and that scared me, but not half as bad as when i was holding her and she stopped breathing again. It was not a fun experience. She was miserable and wincing in pain and they had to watch her breathing before they let us go to the recovery room. Scott got to meet us there and we were there for a few hours before they decided to admit us overnight since Brinlee wasn't eating. It was only supposed to be a same day surgery. Brinlee was just too tired and hurting too much to want to eat. We finally got her to eat a few times and they released us Tuesday around noon. When we got home all she wanted to do was sleep and she decided not to eat again, but we just watched her close to make sure she was breathing okay and having wet diapers. I think she just needed to recover. Tuesday night she was having breathing difficulties again and we called our friend who works at Primary's over and he helped us suction her mouth and throat enough to help her breath better. I think he throat was really hurting for the breathing tube they had to insert during surgery. She didn't eat at all Wednesday either and had some breathing difficulties that night too, but we tried to suction her again and watched her close. Today is Thursday and she is doing better. She has eaten a couple of times and she seems like she is in less pain. Hopefully she will only get better. It breaks my hear to see my baby girl suffering. They gave her a prosthetic hard palate and inserted devices through her gums and in her nose to help bring her lip down so that on November 30th they can repair her lip. All the devices are internal so they are hard to see, but here are some pictures of our first surgery and hospital stay.

A new surgery date

Brinlee's surgery was moved from Tuesday October 5th to Monday October 4th. We check in to the hospital at 11:45 am and her surgery is at 1:15 pm. Brinlee can have her last bottle of formula at 6:15 am and her last bottle of water or pedialite at 10:15 am. She is not going to be very happy seeing as she loves to eat, so we will how it goes.

And it begins

Yesterday Scott and I took Brinlee to Primary Children's to meet with Dr. Yamishiro who is the Craniofacial orthodontist so he could make a mold for her prosthesis hard palate. As we met with him we expressed concern about the fact that Brinlee has had an upset tummy for about a week and we weren't sure if it had to do with her formula recall or the fact that her siblings all got the flu mist last week and were throwing up over the weekend and first part of the week. Not to mention the fact that I got a cold and the flu about the same time. Dr. Yamishiro called Brinlee's plastic surgeon Dr. Morales and talked to him about the circumstances and basically they left it up to us whether we do the mold and keep her surgery date or reschedule just in case she is sick. We went to a waiting room and fed Brinlee and discussed what we should do. If they reschedule her surgery they are a month out and it wouldn't be until November 4th. She isn't sick now, so we opted to have the mold made and keep her surgery date and we will just pray she is healthy an that they are able to do the surgery. I was an emotional wreck in the doctors office. I have been gearing up for this surgery and the fact that it could be postponed threw me for a loop.

After the doctors appointment we went and got some dinner and then went back to Primary's for a surgery class where they give us a tour of the surgical unit and talk to us about what will happen and what to expect on surgery day. They also answered any questions we had. This was also very emotional for me and hard. I can't believe surgery day is coming so quickly and I am so scared. Deep down I know everything will be okay, but I am very nervous and worried for my baby and how it will affect her. I hope she handles things okay and that it isn't too painful and that it doesn't affect her feedings, etc. I think part of the reason today was so hard was because I am not feeling well, but it was hard none the less.

While we were in the waiting room I caught Brinlee's first smile on film. I have been wanting her to smile before her first surgery so this was very special for me and it made things a lot better.

All about me

My name is Brinlee Monica Buchanan. I was born on Friday August 20th at 9:13 pm at Timpanogos Regional Hospital. I weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. I was born with bi-lateral cleft lip and I was born without a hard and soft palate. My mommy and daddy were told that I would struggle with eating and that I would probably not pass my newborn hearing test. I proved them wrong by passing my newborn hearing test and becoming a champ at eating. mommy and Daddy feed me with a special bottle that they can squeeze the milk out of since I cannot suck on my own. I am growing like a weed and I am adored by my mommy and daddy and my big brothers Wyatt and Matthew and big sister Cassidy. My mommy says I am her little miracle because of how well I am excelling despite the challenges I was born with. My daddy says I was given to our family to bring them an increase of love and faith and he hopes he can be worthy of the blessing that I am. I am a beautiful baby girl who will soon be going through some very tough times, but mommy says I am strong and with the help of my Heavenly Father and a loving earthly family I will make it through. This blog is for all the people in my life who love me and want to share in my journey with cleft lip and palate.