Reherniation....ugh!

So, we went today for our annual follow up with the pediatric surgeon for Christian's congential diaphragmatic hernia. Unfortunately we will have to have another surgery because it appears that he is reherniating (which only happens in about 5-10% of CDH survivors). I was told that life should not have to change for him just because of the reherniation. It is just something that sometimes happens as the body grows and may outgrow the diaphram patch. It is not something that needs to be fixed immediately, but it will need to be repaired. The chest x-ray showed some of the colon pushing up into his left lung. Dr. Kays wants us to get a CT scan and echocardiogram within the next couple months, so I am going to wait for Jason to get home before we do that appt. Once we get that done the doctor will know more about when we should do surgery. Besides the reherniation, the doctor said that Christian seems to be doing well developmentally and that his weight is still a little on the low side, but common for CDH patients. We knew that reherniation was a possiblilty and leave it to our little man to be in that 5-10%. I have to chuckle. When I was still pregant with him, all the ultrasounds showed that his diaphragmatic hernia was not as severe as most. The doctor was guessing we would only have to be in the hospital for a few weeks (we were there for 59 days and the hole was a large hole). The doctor also said that his right lung was looking pretty good and doubted he would require life support(ECMO) and he was on ECMO for 10 days. The surgery was supposed to go smooth (he had internal bleeding afterward and was rushed back to surgery). Now there is this reherniation. Guess we just gotta keep our heads up and know that our strong little man will pull through as usual. I suppose he just likes to be one of a kind.

Our baby girl is one month old!

What an exciting month we have had! Catherine is now one month old. Over the course of this past month we have celebrated her first Christmas and now brought in a new year! She is now tracking better. She stays awake for longer periods to "play" and look around. She is also holding her head up a lot better. Christian loves her so much! He is constantly giving her hugs and kisses.

So, just a brief reflection on 2008. Jason and I had a wonderful year. With each passing day we get closer and closer. We have been together now for 5 years and married for 3. The most exciting news was the arrival of our little girl. Jason had a huge accomplishment. He got his Captain's license. :) I am so proud of him!! I am now fortunate enough to stay home with the kids. I love it! Our pet family has changed. We took in a dog named Biscuit, but lost him. Our cat, Dora, gave birth to 2 litters of kittens this year. (a total of 8 cats) She recently passed, but the kitten's daddy has taken to living here in her place. (Go figure!) Overall, a great year! Hope we have an even better one this year!