A Smile a Day

A Smile a Day

A Smile a Day

A Smile a Day

A Smile a Day

The countdown to Dallin's surgery has begun. 6 days. It's not a happy countdown. I think I have mentioned how heartbroken I am that his adorable wide smile will be changed forever. I love this little boy exactly how he is. How can you "fix" perfection?

Since I only have 6 more days with this smile we love so much, I decided to take a picture a day of his smile.

I love this cute boy!

Amazing Support

I have been overwhelmed with how kind and generous everyone has been with Dallin.

Today, my friend brought me some cupcakes from Temptation Cupcake and some aromatherapy lotion that's supposed to relieve stress. She is moving this weekend and won't be here when Dallin has his surgery and wanted to show her support. I was so touched by her kindness!

After Dallin was born, my visiting teaching partner who I love so dearly came to watch Hunter for me while I went to a doctor appointment for Dallin. She brought a cute little outfit for Dallin and another gift that really touched my heart: she made a donation to Operation Smile in Dallin's name. It brought me to tears. I thought it was amazing that she honored Dallin by helping another child with a cleft.

These are just two examples of how thoughtful people have been. Thank you, everyone, for your support and love!

Dallin's Smile

I asked a friend (another cleft mom) for advice about Dallin's surgery:

"It is hard as a mom because I loved, and still love, that face. When I look back at pictures, it is still beautiful to me. . . I think you will be like I was and want and dream about seeing that little cleft face again, but maybe one day you will, when you will be able to hold someone else's newborn baby who will have a cleft lip and you will be able to comfort that mom because you will love that face like she does. . . This new smile that Dallin will have will be the smile you will know the rest of his life. . . I promise you will love his new smile as much as you love the cleft one. And I promise that you will never forget the cleft one."

I was overcome with sadness today thinking that in just two weeks, I will hand my baby over to a stranger, and I will say goodbye to his sweet, beautiful cleft smile forever. He will come back to me looking completely different. I am going to miss his wide smile so much. This post is so I don't forget.

Kidneys- Hydronephrosis

I know this blog is technically about Dallin's cleft, but today I'm going to write about his kidneys. For those who don't know about Dallin's kidneys, read about them here.

We went to Primary Children's today to do some testing and meet with a pediatric urologist. I was apprehensive about the appointments. As strange as it may sound, I was mostly worried that they wouldn't find anything wrong. Or rather, wouldn't find what was causing the kidneys to be dilated. Greg and I wanted answers. A solution, so we could start working towards it. The unknown is scary.

We started out with a lasix renal exam. Dallin was given a catheter and an IV where a dye was placed in his blood stream. They then took pictures of the kidneys every 15 seconds for 45 minutes. This was to determine if there was a blockage. Poor Dallin had to have weights on his arms and legs to keep him from moving. That combined with the catheter and IV made him a very angry boy. It was heartbreaking to see him cry! We got him calmed down with some flavored syrup on a binky. He looked at me with teary eyes and had the saddest face! Like, why are you doing this to me?! Poor baby. (I failed to mention to him that this was mild compared to what's coming in a few weeks:))

After that procedure, he had a VCUG to check for reflux. This one didn't need an IV and was much shorter, so it wasn't as bad.

We ate lunch at the hospital and then met with the urologist. Funny story; the lady called us back to meet with the urologist. He came in and talked to us a bit and then started bringing up the x-rays to look at. He asked us where "the name" came from. Thinking he meant Dallin, we said we just liked it. He clarified that he meant our last name. Greg said something about he thought it came from England originally or something. I didn't realize Pickett was so weird, so I thought it was a weird question. Then he started showing us the x-rays and eventually we realized, "that's not our child!" He had the chart for someone with a last name that had like 20 letters in it, mostly consonants! No wonder he wondered about the last name! He probably thought we were weird when we said it originated in England:) The kid's first name was Galwyn, and when the lady called it, we thought she said Dallin. Looking back, we cracked up thinking what they must have thought when we stood up when they called for a Galwyn Leevxanoino- or whatever it was. There was an Asian family in the waiting room as well. It must have been them. Whoops! Well, that's one way to be seen faster:)

ANYWAY, when we finally had the right chart and x-rays, the doctor discovered that Dallin has a blockage at the uteropelvic junction, or UPJ. That is at the base of the kidneys, as they connect with the ureters. The blockage is preventing the kidneys from eliminating the urine like they should. Normal elimination time is 12-15 minutes. His right kidney is eliminating in 22 minutes, and his left is taking 89 minutes! Yikes! However, his kidney functions are well within normal. So now we wait and watch. There is a 50/50 chance that he'll grow out of it by age two. If at that point it is still a problem, he will have a surgery to remove the part that isn't working. It doesn't sound like a pleasant surgery- he'd be in the hospital for a few days. But we are very happy that it is not something more serious! Definitely something we can handle. Since the blockage is up by his kidneys, he isn't at a high risk for infection so he can be off the daily dose of antibiotic. Another yeah!

Primary Children's is such a hard place to be. There are so many children there fighting serious problems. It always breaks my heart to see the children, and to see parents crying in the hallways. We feel so blessed that our visits are for minor things.

Well, Primary Children's, we'll be back soon. Not looking forward to our next visit. But grateful that we got answers today!