D-day + 4 Months Options

[Father_x]

Yesterday, it was exactly 4 months since my daughter Léah was rolled into theatre for her operation (she had metopic synostosis). I'm writing this for all you parents out there who are anxious about your own child who will undergo the same procedure (and I guess also as some kind of therapy for my own benefit).

Our baby was born in late October and it was a rather difficult birth. Forceps had to be used and it took a very long time. My wife was very brave and so was our little princess. Eventually she entered this world at 20 minutes past midnight and we were immensly happy. The gynaecologist told us that the ridges on either side of Léahs head was most likely due to the forceps.

Léah, only a few minutes old :
Newborn

However, the very same morning at 8am when the pediatrician came to see us, he informed us that Léah would almost certainly need surgery. 3 weeks later his diagnosis was confirmed by professor Renier, one of France's most prominent experts in this field. It was also decided that he himself would perform the surgery 6 months later, when Léah would be 6-7 months old.

Evidently, the first few weeks (and indeed months) of parenthood were not exactly what we had imagined and of course we worried quite a lot about this surgery. We tried browsing the net for information and to read about other parents experiences on forums like this one. We took great comfort in reading some of the success-stories, but at the same time we could not simply ignore the gnawing pain we felt deep down inside that our baby-girl would had to endure such an ordeal. It seemed so unfair.

A few weeks after the first consulting with the surgeon, life returned to something that could be described as normal. Léah found her thumb at Christmas time which let us have some real peace and quiet at night for the first time since her birth.

At Christmas time :
2 months old

Months went past and the "ridges" on the sides of her head remained (of course, we kept on wishing for a miracle). Soon, we had to take Léah for various tests (blood, x-ray, irm etc. etc.) and before we knew it, it was time to take her to the hospital for the procedure. The days leading up to the operation were without any comparison the worst I have ever endured, culminating in the waiting room before she was rolled away by the anaesthetist. I was sure that my hair was going to turn grey over night.

The operation took almost two hours longer than expected and the first words the surgeon uttered, when we met in the waiting room after the surgery, were "there were complications..." while shaking his head and fixing his eyes on the floor. My wife and I looked at one another for a split second in absolute terror before he realized what he had said and continued "no, no, no - the operation went well!!!". The "complications" was infact a larger than usual amount of blood loss, but nothing critical to the results or the healing process.

It now started to dawn on us that we hadn't needed to worry so much during the horrendous months that lead up to the hospitalization. The operation had gone well, but it was still hard preparing for the next step ; seeing your child entangled in a maze of tubes and wires. I for one, was not entirely prepared for this :

3 hours after the operation was completed :
Operation + 3 hrs

Her face looked totally "normal" at the time and her forehead was now "flat", whereas it had an abnormal bump before the operation. She looked pieceful as she was still sleeping. When she was coming to, we were asked to leave and as the hospital closed their doors we were not allowed to stay, but invited to come back the next morning.

For the next few days, Léahs state pretty much followed the pattern that the doctors had predicted (increased swelling in the face, fever and other minor expected complications). Here are some photos :

D-day +1 :
Operation + 1 day

D-day +2 :
Operation + 2 days

D-day +3 :
Operation + 3 days

D-day +4. Léah opened her eyes for the first time since the op. and she was in a surprisingly good mood and had a great appetite (which she did already on D-day +1 :
Operation + 4 days

To be continued...