Life after surgery

Easter 2009. No more surgeries for a couple years...at least we think so.

Lovin' life, even when my mom makes me wear silly things.

I am now walking.

Getting ready to go on my first airplane ride. Since I had such a rough year, I get to go to Disney World.

What else can I play with in the hotel room?

My only picture with Disney characters before the rain came.

Little sport.

16 months old. This is me...as laid back as they come.

Misc. Pictures

Christmas 2008. A couple weeks after surgery. So glad to have the catheter out.

Had to go to U of M to get my eyes looked at. May have to have surgery on my eye muscles if they don't get stronger on their own.

Getting more mobile...

Valentines day 2009

Post Op

One day post op. Sis is so happy to see me.

Brandon's surgeon was amazing. I have never seen such tiny stitches. I cried so hard when I first saw him in the recovery room. His face was so swollen and I was scared he was going to be in a great deal of pain. He was given morphine for the pain, which helped, but morphine has a side effect of decreasing your respirations. His oxygen saturation level dropped so low we ended up having to take turns holding oxygen over his face all night.

Wearing his arm splints. This was a requirement as well for 10 days to prevent him from pulling at the surgical sight. We nicknamed him "Houdini" because he kept finding ways to get his arms out.

One month after surgery. Doing great. It's amazing how fast they heal.

Welcoming Brandon Thomas Burditt

March 4th, 2008.

Weight: 6lb, 4oz Length: 18 3/4".

So precious...Still feeling a little nervous, but feeling extremely blessed that he was healthy. We found out he not only had a cleft lip and palate, but was also born with a hypospadius (a birth defect of the urethra in males)as well. Urology to get involved down the road to discuss surgery.

Overall, doing well. Teaching him to use his special needs feeder to eat which was time consuming, but at least he was eating, so they let us go home after a couple days.

Before leaving the hospital a staff member shared a touching personal story with me. I know now that it was not something I did wrong, or something that happened to me. Brandon was the one who was going to have to go through the pain of surgeries, etc... He knows no different. He is innocent, and is a child that needs loved like any other. I believe now that God chose me to be his mom, because he knew that I could give him all of the love and care he needed...I love him unconditionally.

Finding out: A Mother's Perspective

I remember going in for my 20 week ultrasound. I was so excited to find out if I was having a boy or a girl. My midwives told me that so far all of my labs and vital signs were picture perfect for a pregnancy. Then it happened...I saw the ultrasound tech's face turn serious. She kept taking more and more pictures of my son's face, but wasn't saying anything. With my medical background I knew the possibilities; I finally came out and asked..."What's wrong?","Is there a cleft?". The ultrasound techs aren't allowed to really say anything until it is confirmed by a doctor, but she did say she wasn't sure. Tears began to roll down my face, but I was trying to stay strong. My daughter was with me and I didn't want her to be scared. More and more pictures were taken. I was then asked to wait 4 weeks before I came back to get another ultrasound. This would allow my baby more time to grow and then confirm what they thought...my baby was going to have a cleft lip and palate. I was devastated, but there was nothing I could do. I searched online for any information and pictures I could find to satisfy my desire to learn more. I had no family history of this birth defect. I was referred to a high risk doctor for further evaluation...from there my world began to fall apart. The more and more they checked my baby inside my womb, other concerns began to develop. As it turned out, my little boy was not measuring "normally" and the doctor was worried about a form of skeletal dysplasia, specifically - achondroplasia. For those of you who don't know, this is the most common type of dwarfism. They sent me to a neonatologist to learn more about different types of skeletal dysplasia. Some skelatal dysplasias are lethal, but most have a good prognosis. This was the point when I opted for an amniocentesis to rule out a diagnosis of achondroplasia or chromosomal defect. I felt I needed to do this to prepare myself for what was to come. I had hit my ultimate low...what was wrong with my baby growing inside of me...would I finally have him and lose him all too soon...what did I do wrong...why is this happening to me? Many more weeks of anxiety and anticipation...and then the amnio results came in. Everything was normal!...(Sigh of relief). Still feeling nervous, not sure how my baby will look or what the severity of the cleft will be, but am definitely more hopeful at this point.