Quick Update

Jude gives high fives! Or are they a high 2 1/2's? Ha either way, he is high five-ing (most of the time) waves hello and goodbye and claps!

He just turned 10 months and I feel like as soon as that day came, he has changed more drastically than in the last 9 months combined. He crawls every where and FAST! I chase him all around the house as he crawls and pulls up on anything and everything. There are times where I go in the kitchen for a few seconds (in eye shot of the living room) and next thing I know he is down by my feet crawling around... HOW DO THEY DO THAT?? He is a fast little sucker.

Not only that but his personality is growing so much and you can see how he is blossoming. It's super precious :) 

I wish I had more time to write but life is crazy right now so I must move on! Thanks for stopping by though!

Have a Blessed Day :) 

Stay Positive!

This post is dedicated to all the positive things about ABS. I know as a mommy who has a son affected by this it can be hard to stay positive. Well I am in a bible study now all about being a positive mom and I thought it would be good to list all the good things about ABS.

Here goes!

- Only a few fingernails to trim

- Only a few toenails to trim

- Can't flick anyone off (  ;)  )

- No need to buy flip flops

- Get to know so many other families with children with ABS

- Be taught awesome lessons from my son

- Anything I think he can't do and does, is incredible

- He can beat all odds

- He will be a hard worker

- He will be determined

- Some shoes and socks fit for a longer time

I know that there are a million other things and I will add to it as I think of them but for now, this is my little list. Growing daily. But I have this list written down so that I (and any others) can look at this and know there are some good things about ABS! I know many of us parents can dwell on all the negative (trust me, that's all I could think about while I made this list) but you have to stop thinking about the "bad" and start realizing that all of those things, your children will prove you wrong in and do anything they set their minds to. Feel free to comment with any other positive ideas as well! 

Have A Blessed Day!

Shoes in Holland

Since it's summer everyone is wearing flip flops or going barefoot. Well... when you have a son who is missing toes on one foot you start to realize how important or not important shoes are. If you ask my husband he will tell you that I absolutely love baby shoes! When I was pregnant that's all I wanted to buy, shoes. I guess its the girl in me ;) Anyway, its hard seeing all these cute little babies and toddlers in flip flops knowing that my son will never be able to wear normal flip flops. But! The fun and positive part of it all is that I then get to go look for other types of sandals that his adorable little feet will fit in and lets me honest, he looks cute in anything!

An update on my little guppy is that he is now crawling everywhere and pulling up on anything and everything! I am chasing him around all day everyday and when it comes to naps! Forget it! Unless he falls asleep while he is being fed and rocked there is no way that he will lay down and nap. He gets up and plays all the time, nap time is a joke now... Hoping that's just a phase!

I have a fun story for you guys since it seems to have been a while since the last post. All about being positive!

So since Jude is up and crawling everywhere we put him on the floor while we get ready so he can crawl and play rather than be strapped into a toy. Well the other day we were in his room and he has a floor fan and when we change him it gets moved off the changing table onto the floor. If you don't remember to put it back up, little man will get into it for sure! So we caught him crawling towards the fan and told him no, that he doesn't have any fingers to spare if they got caught in the fan! He also did this with the door while he was playing with it the other night. Now he's never gotten hurt and the positive (I always try to see the positive, even when my natural instinct is to be negative) is that if a door slams in his fingers, it probably wont matter because they are shorter! (and cuter ;) ) He is going to be lucky whenever he has a sibling come along who tries to close his fingers in the door, he can giggle and laugh at them because it wont happen as often if at all :)


Something else that has been on my mind is a story that I read in my bible study this past week. It was about a mom who had a child with a disability and was asked to describe what it was like to raise a child like that. Now, I don't know about any of you but I have never been asked that, maybe it happens when they are older but it has never happened so far. Anyway, she goes on to say that it is like a vacation. You have this plan that you are going to Italy, a fun, fast paced environment, you've had friends go there and it's all the craze, so you decide to go. You get on the plan and endure the long flight there only to find out you're in Holland! Yes. Holland, not Italy like you planned. You now have to vacation in an unexpected, unplanned place but you make the best of it and enjoy your time there.

Now, I read this and cried because it was the perfect explanation on what it is like! I went through my pregnancy with a few friends and their children were all born with fingers and toes and no problems and yet here I was in Holland with a newborn missing fingers and toes and I was devastated. I now can't even imagine my life in "Italy" with everyone. It's like a breath of fresh air and I am so grateful for my son and his lucky little fins. They are truly amazing and it's even more amazing to see him use his hands and feet for anything and everything. Not only that but he is keeping up with all the other kids and is having no issues what-so-ever. I am beyond blessed to have him as my child and consider it great joy to go through life with him. He has taught me so much already that I can't even think about what the future brings!

Here is a link to the story if anyone wants to read it :)

http://www.our-kids.org/archives/Holland.html

Have a Blessed Day!  

9 Months

Wow I didn't realize how long it had been since the last post! Guess I've been a little bit busier than I thought :) Let see... We have fully moved into the new place, everything is hung up and decorated and put away! Not even a month later and we are all set and ready to play! Little man has been crawling like a pro lately and keeping me very busy. He started army crawling before his surgery but perfected the practice soon after and has only gotten faster. He now tries to really crawl but only gets one or two before realizing sliding on his belly is faster. Funny thing though, little man hates our tile floors. What's funny though?! He like other peoples tile floors! I don't understand! He will crawl on pretty much any other tile and as soon as he is home and gets off the blanket or toy mat, he is not a happy camper; little booger is picky ha.

He has also been eating like a big boy and eating us out of house and home already. Dude, you are 9 months, slow your roll or we are gonna be livin on the streets! ;) just kidding but he really is chowing down on quite a bit of food lately. I'm assuming it's his lovely growth spurt of 9 months since Saturday he will be 9 months old!! I can't believe that my baby. My one and only little boy, will be 9 months old. It seems like just last week I was pregnant and craving tacos all the time. It seems like yesterday I was rushing to the hospital in labor waiting to meet him! Like it was a few hours ago holding him for the very first time. Loving on him and realizing that I had just become a mommy, but no, that was 9 months ago! Now we are planning first birthdays and more surgeries. Oh how times flies! In just 3 short months we will watch our silly boy smash into his very first birthday cake and smear it all over. I am quite excited for that moment, to capture it forever with a picture, to frame it and show his girlfriends down the road. Man... 9 months.

Here are a few pictures we have captured over the last few weeks :) Enjoy!

Happy 8 months little man! 

His aunt captured these lovely faces of his! Never a dull moment :) 

This was dinner time! 

He was helping mommy unpack after moving

First pool day at the new house! 

Have a Blessed Day!

1 down 3 to go!

Yesterday was the day. It was the day of our little guppys first surgery!

Short back story: we are moving and so all last week, leading up to surgery I was very preoccupied with packing. This made my life easier when it came to surgery because I didn't have time to think about what was about to happen to my little man. I didn't have time to think about all of the what ifs or possibilities. The only time I thought about the surgery was when someone would ask how I was doing, or when I would ask my husband how he was doing with it all. With that said, Monday morning came very quick. 

Before I knew it, it was Sunday night and I was packing all I needed and setting my alarm for the following morning. 4:45 am is when I would get up and start prepping everything for his surgery. The next few hours went by way to quickly for me! We packed some food for my husband and I and all of Jude's comfort items and left to make it to the hospital by 6:00 am. We got there and they prepped him and got all vitals and everything they needed, all while he cried because he was so hungry. I feel horrible that we couldn't feed him! Around 8 (his scheduled surgery time) they took us down to the pre op room and we talked with the doctors and nurses about what was about to happen. While down there Jude got extremely fussy because she was so tired and hungry so I put him in the bed and he feel fast asleep. The doctors came back in to take him back into the operating room. Aaron and I got to give him a hug and a kiss and they wheeled him on back. 

The next hour went by quickly and they soon came out to tell us all went well and he was in recovery! 

For those that don't know, he had his toenail removed from his right foot. This foot was affected by ABS and curves his toes so this was the only nail and it was growing sideways into his other toes. They decided to remove it so it wouldn't cause any infections or problems later on down the road. 

So they pulled us back into recovery where little man was screaming because he was so hungry! He hadn't eaten anything since 1:30 the night before and it was now 9:20! I got to feed him and cuddle with him for the next hour or so and then we went back to the original hospital room we were in in the beginning. We were there just to wait to be discharged! That process took about another hour or so. The nurse practitioner and other nurses kept coming in to tell us about the healing process and what to do and not to do. They were all so sweet and Jude was very happy now that he was fed! 

We were able to go home quite quickly where Jude took a nice long nap. When he woke up he was back to his normal happy self! He is a trooper; only had a few doses of Tylenol and had been off it all day today! He is crawling around and acting like nothing ever happened! We are super happy that it all went well and couldn't thank you all enough for the support you have given us! We know this wasn't the end and he will have more surgeries to come but I'm just happy that 1 is down and we only have 2 more to go! 

Few cute pictures for you guys from his surgery day! 

Right before they took him back for surgery

In his adorable hospital gown! 

Post surgery playing with his toys!

Have a Blessed Day! 

ABS vs Symbrachydactyly

NOTE** Not sure what's up with the white background... tried everything to fix it but it's not working. Hope you enjoy the blog anyway! 

This was a very interesting article that I read through The Lucky Fin Project. They posted this on their facebook group and I knew I had to share! It goes into the difference between ABS and Symbrachydactyly and why it is so commonly confused with one another. It was written by a Dr though limbdifferences.org. Awesome new site that I am going to play around on! I'll let ya know how I like it ;) 

Anyway!

A lot of times Symbrachydactyly is confused with ABS but the main difference that I saw was that Symbrachydactyly doesn't even let the fingers form. Whereas ABS, they are formed and then in the 3rd trimester are affected by the bands. Symbrachydactyly is often mis diagnosed with ABS when it's actually a totally different thing! Also, ABS can affect any part of the body and Symbrachydactyly primarily only affects the hands! Super interesting to read and I encourage you to look it over! It's not very long which is nice so it won't take much of your time :) The link is below! 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/lucky-fin-project/symbrachydactyly-vs-abs-what-is-the-difference/637487209601487

I also encourage any parents who read this to go to the Connect page on limbdifferences.org. There are so many different posts, articles and other parents with stories, encouragement or advice. I've been reading them for over an hour now and I can't stop! It's nice to see I'm not alone. (I know I'm not but sometimes you forget!)

Also, this is a cool page that shows the different names for hand/finger losses. Maybe you were given an iffy diagnosis; this can help you out! It's written by the same Dr who wrote the short article above!

http://www.netorthodoc.org/2LochnerCongenital%20Hand6UpForPrint.pdf

Of course I couldn't post without a cute little story ;)

So I was at my in laws the other day and Jude was playing with all his aunts and uncles (7 of them!). My mother in law was showing me how to recover some chairs that we bought for our new house. Anyway, they were in the living room and kept saying "give me a high five, give me a high five", and then you could hear them kind of stop talking and one of my sisters in law came in and said "what do we call it? He doesn't have five fingers! What about a high 2 1/2 and a high 3 1/2?" We all got a giggle out of it and my brother in law (who is 7) said, "lets just pound it!) Made me smile that they work with him on his little lucky fins :)

 Have A Blessed Day :) 

Two Stories in Two Days

So I have the pleasure of telling you all two wonderful stories about my son that happened within 2 days of each other. Here it goes!

Day 1:

My lovely husband and I are moving (as you may know) and so we decided to have a garage sale. Try and make a few extra bucks and sell a lot that we didn't need. Well, if you have ever done a garage sale you know how tiring they are! I told Aaron that I didn't want to make dinner because I was so tired and so we decided to go out and eat. We just went to a nice place right down the road from home and our course had the little squirt with us and as always he catches everyones attention. Well the waitress loved him from the beginning and he had eyes for her too! He would stare at her anytime she got close to us; it was quite funny. Now, her husband was 2 booths behind us and since our little man kept starting she told her hubby to look at this cute baby. He came over to see him and started talking with us about being parents and his story and kids and all that good stuff. About 7 minutes or so into the conversation Jude started reaching for this guys face and cross necklace and at that point he noticed Jude's hands and asked. Aaron and I looked at each other to see who would explain Jude's story and I got picked. I was able to tell this man all about ABS and about Jude. He stood there and talked with us for another 7 minutes or so and kept telling us that his hands and feet didn't matter. That Jude was a beautiful baby with a wonderful spirit and could make anyone smile and that's what mattered. After this man walked away I looked ay my husband, almost in tears over our son. The fact that we get to share his story so much and will get to the rest of his life. I absolutely love it and loving being able to tell people about ABS and hearing their responses. They're always so different but all end with 'he is a beautiful boy and his smile is contagious' or at least something along those lines!

Now for day 2:

We were now on our second day of the garage sale and exhausted to say the least. I hate haggling with people and getting up early... Why I do garage sales, I will never know! Anyway, Aaron had left to go play football with some on his friends so it was just me and the little squirt working the garage sale. I had him sitting next to me in a travel bassinet and some toys. Again people would comment on how cute and well behaved he was being. Well there was this one family who came up looking for electronics; they had a little girl about 7 or 8 years old... maybe a little younger (I'm horrible at guessing ages!) She gravitated toward Jude and he was just staring at her the whole time. She was playing with him and touching his hands and feet and immediately noticed his hands were different. The little girl came right out and asked what was wrong with his hands. Of course the parents were trying to hush her and apologizing for the lack of manners and I told them it was perfectly ok! Kids are kids and she wasn't asking to be rude or anything, she was genuinely curious as to why Jude's hands and feet didn't look the same. So I gave them my typical shpeal about ABS and both parents chimed in and were very curious. I bet we stood there and talked about ABS for 15 minutes! It was awesome and the little girl said that it didn't matter because he was the cutest baby she had ever seen. She proceed to ask if she could stay and play with him all day! Ha! Gotta love little kids :)


Needless to say we had an eventful weekend and Jude was able to share his story a little more. I hope that whoever read's this, you are able to see his journey and my journey as his mother. Maybe that can help you along with whatever it may be you are going though!

Have a Blessed Day!