Ok so i had Hannah!!

[XoBLoNDiE85]

We had our little baby Hannah (via C section) on July 10th at 12:45 pm. They showed her to me for a sec, i kissed her on her forehead and away she went to be evaluated in the NICU while i got my tubes tied. Geoff went with Hannah. I would have to say that this experience would have to be the hardest we have ever been faced with. The doctors told us that there was absolutely NO MOVEMENT from the waist down (this little girl kicks her legs like crazy now!!!) THEY WERE SO WRONG!! She was is surgery within her first 7 hrs.... shunted and black closure. Her surgery went very well and took about 2 hrs ( 2 neurosurgeons were in there although they only planned on one of them making it.... they both did) Little Hannah came home on day 6! She did great...... quick recovery...... ate perfectly..... we learned how to care for here which scared me to death to think about but actually doing it is so much easier than i had thought! One question I do have is how long does it take for the wounds to heal (mainly the back) ? Thats the toughest one to care for! She is cathed every 6 hrs because of residual urine. She can pee on her own but not all the way i guess.... but they said that could get better we will have to wait and see. She is such a precious baby and i wouldn't change anything for the world!!! She's amazing! Thank you for all your prayers =)

[ollieholmes]

Congratulations and i hope that she keeps improving.

[Dodger67]

Thats really great news!

The wounds would probably take a couple of weeks to close properly, if all goes well.

I have a question: Why did they put in a shunt so soon? Is it a common practice? I'm not fully familiar with shunt issues as I don't have one myself.

Now you owe us baby piccies!

[amigirl]

Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you. :)

[XoBLoNDiE85]

Hey Roger! They shunted to her so soon and at the same time because of the pressure on the brain....the didn't want to risk causing brain damage i guess. She def has hydro so she needed a shunt anyway and 1 surgery is better than 2, although i have heard of it being risky cause of infections but she made it thru without any PRAISE GOD!! Her neurosurgeon said that he always does them at the same time if the child needs both anyway.

[Dodger67]

I see, so its a case of blatantly obvious HC.
I agree that it makes a lot of sense to do the 2 ops together - it reduces trauma, hospital time and expences.

BTW what does "I had Hannah" mean - don't you still have her? LOL!
Give her a little tickle for me.

[eng188]

I don't remember how soon I was initially shunted, but I'd say the earlier the better. You're going to have to have it revised anyway due to bodily growth. If you wait too long, it's a danger to the health.

Boy am I ever learning some good questions to ask my doctors and research in OR reports!

[Barb]

That is great and so goes to what those of us who have been around the block a few times with this always say...usually the doctors scare new parents half to death for no good reason. It is hard to tell a new parent who has just gotten that diagnosis that all will be challenging, but not horrible, but it is so true.

Have fun with her. The wounds will heal quickly and soon you won't even remember that the scar is there most of the time.

[rachiebaby]

Thats really great news!

The wounds would probably take a couple of weeks to close properly, if all goes well.

I have a question: Why did they put in a shunt so soon? Is it a common practice? I'm not fully familiar with shunt issues as I don't have one myself.

Now you owe us baby piccies!

I had my shunt put in as soon as i was born but when i was 2 weeks they had to replace it a shunt is for hydrocephalus which is basically when the soft spot in your head fills up too quickly which means fluid in the brain

[rachiebaby]

That is great and so goes to what those of us who have been around the block a few times with this always say...usually the doctors scare new parents half to death for no good reason. It is hard to tell a new parent who has just gotten that diagnosis that all will be challenging, but not horrible, but it is so true.

Have fun with her. The wounds will heal quickly and soon you won't even remember that the scar is there most of the time.

talk about scaring parents half to death for no reason the first thing the doctor said when i came out was "get that thing out of here"

[Barb]

You have got to be kidding!???

[angel]

Like dodger i never had to have a shunt. I don't know anything about them but most seem to deal with them quite well.

I can't believe that doctor said that. That is horrible!!!!!

[rachiebaby]

You have got to be kidding!???

nope my mom used to cry everytime she talked about it