Good Morning~First Day Post Op

We had a restful night~gotta love that epidural!

She's having some breathing issues this morning~had a chest x-ray~lots of doctors checking on her. She had a breathing treatment, IPPB (intermittent positive pressure breathing), every four hours for 10 minutes. It's not her favorite thing, but she hangs tough.

There has been a parade of doctors in and out since about 6 a.m. A host of pediatricians stopped in and talked about her lungs. There is a place on the left side that appears to be either slightly collapsed or may be the beginnings of an pneumonia~hence the breathing treatments. We're praying it's neither and she's just struggling with the cast coming up so far on her rib cage.

She's eating o.k., but not much. I'm happy to report that there has been no "throw-up" since last night. All of her blankets are washed and back in use. But the craziest thing is the heated shower cap with shampoo in it that they gave me to wash the "ick" out of her hair. It was so cool. I put it on her head like a shower cap, scrubbed her hair around inside it, dried the hair and voila~the hair is clean. I can't tell you what a relief it was. All I could imagine was smelling barf in her hair all week~yeh, that just wasn't gonna work for me. It really is amazing the things they have available to use today. I wouldn't mind having a few of those shower caps for when I'm camping~don't suppose I could get any of those at Bass Pro or REI do you???? Then there's how much do those things really cost~I'll be checking the hospital bill and let you know.

She's still pretty swollen, but we've moved her around today. I even put her in a wheel chair and pushed her around the hall. We were not permitted to leave the floor since she still has the epidural. Which was a pity since it's beautiful here today. Hopefully, we'll hit the garden tomorrow sometime. She's resting over on her side right now and hopefully she'll blow some bubbles this afternoon. Right now we have her propped up on her side and she's watching "The Little Mermaid".

I'm hoping she'll nap a little and so will I. Seems like we've been going since 6 a.m., oh yeah, we have been. I also fell victim to the gift shoppe balloon trap~yep, I grabbed the Dora balloon and when I went to pay for it my eyes fell out of my head when she said $10~YOWSA! Thank you please, may I have another???? But she loves the balloon and holds on to it whenever I will let her.

Ronald McDonald House has a very nice facility on the 5th floor with food, lounge chairs, computers, showers and washers/dryers. I stopped by but ended up using the hospital laundry to wash the blankets. It's very nice up there though.

We're hanging tough. Thanks for the prayers. She doesn't complain at all. Her only issue is when we move the bed, it tends to scare her and winces a little. But she never says she hurts.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Post surgery update....

We're in our room and settling in. I have my slippers on and I'm all "connected". Here's what the doctor told me after the surgery:

"Recovery room ~ listening to the IPod"

"The Wiggles are the artists of choice"

Dr. Dobbs only performed the femoral osteotomies. He was so pleased with the position of the femur in the hip socket, that he didn't feel she needed the pelvic osteotomy at this point in time. There was not a great deal of blood loss so she did not need a transfusion. They will continue to monitor her blood counts in case that changes. So, the entire procedure went very well.

When I was heading into recovery to see her, they were coming after me. I guess she was having a bit of a meltdown and wanted her mama! Go figure~bless her heart. I quickly put the IPod earphones in and she quietly listened to The Wiggles. Then she wanted me to take her IV out of her hands and "get down".

They quickly moved her into a room, by herself~hoorah! I don't have a photo of the cast yet. I'll get that tomorrow~but it is purple.


I have her all snuggled in with her favorite blankets and big ole Dora balloon. She's resting very comfortably with her epidural and really only wants the IVs out.

Right now, she's watching "The Jungle Book" and eating some dinner. She's had a Popsicle and some soda. We will see how dinner goes.

Last, but not least, Steve and Elise are headed back to the 'Nati. Elise decided she needed to relax and watch TV just like Amelia was doing...like I said, she doesn't share the throne very well. Steve just phoned me a bit ago and said Elise was "out like a light".

Thank you for lifting us up. Tomorrow is cast care training. That should be a barrel of fun!

Until tomorrow~signing off from St. Louis~

Waiting.....

"Getting her arm squeezed"

"In her hospital gown"

We arrived at the hospital at around 5:45 a.m. and started the check in process. We have our own, personal waiting room within the surgery waiting arrive. We can close our door and shut out the world, it's rather nice. They called us to the back at around 6 a.m. and began that process. We waited about another hour, talked to anaesthesiology and decided on an epidural for pain management.

The girls played around in the play room~Amelia was way too cute in her too-big hospital PJs.

Watching TV while waiting for the doctor

Hanging out in the playroom while waiting...

"Once last joy ride"

Drs. Wells working on patient Wells

Mom...getting the surgery details from the doctor

Finally, we talked to Dr. Dobbs at around 7:15, right after Amelia got the Versit (sp???). He explained that he will be doing the femoral osteotomies and then check to see if she will need the pelvic osteotomies. So we won't know until it's all over. They rolled her away without a hitch except for the one in my throat~she's a warrior, my little Millie Moo.

They have called from surgery a couple of times and things are going well. They have completed one side and have started on the other. She's been in there since about 8:30 a.m. ~about 2.5 hours. I'll keep everyone posted.

Our hero...Dr. Dobbs

Medicine has kicked in and she's just waiting to go.

Elise has been around to both gift shops and to Barnes and Noble. She is currently visiting the sibling play room with her father. She's doing great for someone who does not like to share the spotlight ;-).

12:30 p.m. UPDATE: Femoral and Pelvic Osteotomies complete! All went well. They are now putting her in the dreaded Spica Cast~that will take another 45 minutes. Now we wait for the doctor.

THANKS for the prayers~they are keeping things moving smoothly.

Finally here....

Yes, tomorrow is Amelia's surgery. Naturally, there were a few hiccups in the original plan, but we are here, home is taken care of and now we try to sleep. I left the teenager in his Aunt's very capable hands. But guilt ridden, I baked him some brownies this morning before I left. You would have thought I left hims $1000. He must have thanked me twenty times. Then when I told him that I had scheduled his swim test for Northern Tier, he was Over-The-Top in love with me. Sometimes, I ROCK, but not very often. So goes the life of the mother of a teenager.

We have successfully made the trek to St. Louie without any a hitch. The girls enjoyed videos on the way here. Elise is capable enough to run the remote by herself, which she informed me of on numerous occasions.

I was more than happy to relinquish the reigns to that task. It's just not so easy for a woman of my age to reach into the back seat, try to look up and figure out what's going on with the overhead video player.

My little girl is growing up...not sure how I really feel about that.

We checked into a corner room-Yea! and proceeded with "The Breaking In of the Beds". Yes, the bed jumping began and ensued until we left the room for dinner. We went to a wonderful Irish Pub and stuffed ourselves. It was fabulous. The girls were free to roam a bit after spending so much time in the car and we enjoyed a libation or two. The only pitfall~Missouri still allows smoking~but we found a nice place that wasn't too bad for smoke. Thanks for the suggestion Patricia!

So now all the chicks are bathed and tucked into bed. We have to arrive at 6 a.m. St. Louis time~YIKES! I should be sleeping, but I thought I'd blog first. Steve is asleep with Millie and I get to sleep with the "Tooth grinder", better get out my earplugs! Should be a restful night ;-).

Good night from St. Louis!

Happy Birthday Girl

Wednesday, the 15th was my precious Millie Moo turned three years old. It's hard to believe at times, but then I hear her talking away and it hits me like a ton of bricks, she isn't a baby anymore.


Steve woke her up and I could hear her shouting...."It's my birthday! It's my birthday!" Her excitement has been building since Elise's birthday last month. Everyday, when her daddy walks in she shouts, "Happy birthday!" It doesn't matter that it isn't her birthday or anyone elses, she just LOVES shouting it.


So I was treated to a day of Amelia singing "Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you." (she never gets to the "Dear Millie" part) incessantly.


We started the day off at the doctors office getting her physical (Jei Jei wasn't that lucky...she got two shots). Millie weighed in at 28.5 lbs (26th percentile) and is 35 inches tall (6th percentile). I think the doctor measured her at 33 and I remeasured her at home because I thought that was a little off. Turns out I was right.

We dropped Elise off at preschool and then we went to pick out the cake. Amelia picked out a "bus" cake much to the dismay of her sister who wanted her to pick out the Penguin cake. Then we began the search for her personal "Princess Birthday Crown". Luckily, we located one at odd lots and she promptly popped it on her head for the remainder of the day.

While she napped, Elise and I hung up balloons all around the kitchen table~she was thrilled at all the "birthday balloons"! Then she smiled and sang along with us when we sang Happy Birthday. She was more excited about the birthday cards than the gifts and she gladly let Elise help unwrap the gifts. I have never had a child be so completely and totally excited about having a birthday.

She was such a total joy on this day. My little sweetie that loves Max and Ruby and The Little Mermaid. She runs around the house with her magic wand shouting "Make it Pink" from Sleeping Beauty and still has a hard time using her manners. When she says, "I love you mom mom", my heart melts. I love when she hugs me and pats my back or rubs my hair. She wants so much to do everything for herself, but still struggles with some things that most three year olds handle easily. I know this surgery will hit her hard and I'm praying that her little spirit will prevail when she's stuck in the body cast for six weeks.

What a gift she has been to our family. Thank you God for choosing me to be her mom mom.

Happy Birthday Amelia SiYuan Wells~you make me want to be a better mom!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Potty Training Bootcamp

Since Amelia will be in a Spica cast for six weeks, we determined that it would be prudent and more healthful if she were potty trained. Mind you, she's being pooing in the potty for well over nine months. Yes, that's right, poo. But tinkling is another ball game. Not let me clarify a few things. It was very easy for me to pick up on her "morning constitution", so I started sitting her on the potty. Voila~she easily finished up her business. But she just started telling me in the past month that she needed to go potty. So potty she did. After her original surgery date was canceled, I call the nurse and discussed potty training Amelia. She said it would be very advantageous and help deter skin breakdown if she wasn't in a diaper.

I have dreaded this...potty training. I had a bad feeling about it, thought it would be a real battle with Millie. She can be pretty stubborn...this isn't one of those things you want to be doing battle over~going to the potty. So my preference was to wait until she really wanted to do it herself. So much for what I want!

I bargained, promised and threatened and Boot Camp began last week.Now let me give you the rules of Boot Camp.


1) You are allowed to sleep in a diaper/pullup and said item is permitted to be wet after naps and such.


2) You get one pair of panties a day. If you wet in the panties then you lose your pants and have to wear a long shirt the remainder of the day.


3) If you are wearing only a long shirt, you must stay on the kitchen floor since it is hardwood and not carpeted.


Simple rules! Easy to follow! So we began boot camp on February 21st. Amelia had one accident a day until Friday, February 28th. Then she decided that is was no fun to lose the pants and have to wear the shirt and stay in the kitchen. So, she is now dry for three straight days and going to the potty without me asking.





I guess that means she is officially potty trained. I have to say that I'm so very proud of her. She can't climb up on the regular toilet due to lack of muscle tone and control of her legs. So I brought in the little potty seat that we never used for Elise. This allows the girls the opportunity for "Group Potty Time". They say a pictures says a thousand words, so I leave you with that...a thousand words...
I realize this maybe inappropriate for the internet, but I thought it was kinda cute ;-)

Long overdue Update...

CHINESE NEW YEAR~2009

Do you ever put something off for so long and then when you finally get around to it, you feel so guilty for putting it off that you put if off even longer? Well, that's what has happened to me. I put off updating and then I continue to put if off because I don't know where to begin and the vicious cycle continues.

So here I am, updating you on Amelia.

The casts came off without a hitch and her feet look terrific. Her toes even look different, long and straight. The doctor put Amelia in these walking shoes~rather cumbersome~that would give her support and help her walk. They warned us that her feet would be very sensitive and she might not walk for a couple of weeks with the shoes. It would be hard for them to predict how long it would be before she would walk barefoot.

So we put the boots on her and she even slept in them. After about 24 hours (if it was even that long), Amelia was stomping around the house in those cumbersome shoes like nobodies business. Within 48 hours, she chucked the boots and opted for her AFOs and regular shoes and she started wearing her Dobbs brace again. She hasn't looked back.

Gaining back her strength was our priority and fortunately, she did not revert back to some of her bad habits from before. It wasn't long before she was back to the same p0int as she was before the surgery.

During physical therapy, the therapist discovered that Amelia had a limb difference of about 1/2 inch~which is rather significant. Most people have some sort of slight difference in their legs, but not 1/2 inch. So we returned to St. Louis with this information seeking advice from Dr. Dobbs.

Steve and I both went this time~we did a power trip. Thankfully the weather held out and we didn't have to reschedule. Dr. Dobbs examine Amelia's feet and was very happy with how they look. We were thankful for that~so off to x-ray we went to get her legs evaluated.

We returned to the room and waited~the techs came back and said they needed to isolate her hips. My stomach churned because I had a strange feeling I knew what was coming next. When Dr. Dobbs returned to the room he informed us that she did not have a limb difference, Amelia has congenital hip dysplasia! I know about hip dysplasia, I've followed two families journeys as they have adopted daughters from China with the same issue.

My heart just aches for Amelia as we await surgery in April to repair her hips. At this point we know that she will need bi-lateral femoral osteotomies and there will probably be surgery on her pelvis. We just aren't sure of the pelvis yet. The surgery will address all the issues when we return. She will be in a Spica cast for 6 weeks~yippee. We have been prepping her for the surgery and the cast. I don't believe that she understand that it will be a body cast and not leg casts. I don't think she will be very happy.

We covet your prayers as we move forward with Amelia's surgery and recovery. Millie has the heart of a loin and I know she will be fine. It will just be so difficult for her to be completely immobile for six weeks after finally getting her feet flat on the ground. I worry about the pain she will be in. The hospital stay is several days long~another logistic nightmare of us. But we will enlist the help of family and friends and come through with flying colors, I'm sure of that.

I have loads of photos from Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm working on a slide show to post....keep watching!