Wide[n] open spaces...

Hello all,
Well Miss Madison went in to see Dr. Eccles yesterday, but before our appointment we stopped in to see Bentley, the other baby with the omphalocele who just had a full closure, and he is doing really well. (Thank you to all of you for your prayers.)
So, at Madison's appointment Dr. Eccles said that she was happy with the way everything was going, but that it is very obvious that nothing is really making its was inside.So she is going to do a surgery to open Madison's muscles so that Madison will have a larger opening at the base.  Dr. Eccles said that there is little chance that the liver would fit through the opening, so even if we get some progress with the downward pressure, this surgery is inevitable, and the liver will need some remodeling (what that entails, I am not really sure).  So occupational therapy made a collar for the omphalocele so that the base will be supported while we continue to put the downward pressure, because Dr. Eccles cannot do the surgery until May, in the meantime we will try to get some of it back where it belongs.  With this surgery Dr. Eccles will move out the muscles, and also remove some of the sac, she believes that the sac is healthy enough that it can be stitches back together, so no skin coverage at this surgery, which means that Madison will have to have at least one more surgery before all is said and done. Dr. Eccles said that Madison will be in the hospital for at least 5 days, just to make sure that the sac actually can hold the stitches and won't just breakdown, also infection will be a risk.  Before this surgery Madison will have another echo-cardiograph just to see where that VSD(the tiny hole in her heart) is at, if it is even there at all anymore.    At the next surgery Dr. Eccles  plans to close the skin and whatever muscle is possible, if not all the muscle can be closed then Dr. Eccles will put in some mesh to hold the muscle in the right shape and size, otherwise, the muscle will spread as Madison gets bigger.  Then, at the next surgery, if necessary Dr. Eccles will remove the mesh, and close all the muscle together.
So, Madison's surgery date is May 4th!  I am excited and terrified!  We will see Dr. Eccles in April one more time before the surgery, but I doubt that there will be any changes from now until then.  Wish us luck!

Splish Splash a Baby Bath!!

Madison and I went to her appointment with Dr. Eccles last week, nothing really new to say.  In regards to Madison's swab that was done, they found out that she has staph, which I guess is not a big deal.  It basically just means that she is cultured, because staph is a bacteria that everyone has on their skin.  Also while we were there the nurse said that if the gauze started to stick we could just use the sterile saline that we had, but then Dr. Eccles said that we could just use tap water, because it is that same as a bath.....  and I said "a bath?!....a bath?!"  Apparently, Dr. Eccles thought that I had been bathing Madison,which I was giving her a bucket bath (I said that for you mom!) but not a real bath!  So a day or two before Madison turned 5 months old she finally got to have her first bath!  The first one that she had I was in the bath with her, to help her stay calm.  She didn't even cry, but for some reason Ollie wouldn't stop...weird dog.  The next day Tyler and I went out and bought a baby bath, something that we thought we might never get to buy.  It is the silly things that we get excited for, and that most people take for granted.   No news on the surgery date, we will see Dr. Eccles on the 22nd, maybe something then.  Please say a little prayer for Bentley who goes in for his omphalocele surgery on the 17th of March.  

Which teddy is your favorite?