Shunt Happens.

Ok, so Madison is 8 months old today. (cannot believe how fast it's going by!) From day one we have been watching her closely for any definite signs that she needed a shunt. We knew the odds were not in our favor, but she was doing great and showing no symptoms of increased pressure on her brain...so we were optimistic. Our neurosurgeon told us if Maddie made to her first birthday without a shunt, she was 95% confident that she would not need one at all....


So, with our eyes on the prize we continued to watch her and hope that we would be the exception. She made it to 6 months. At the 6 month check up with our pediatrician her head circumference, which had already been off the charts, took another disappointing jog away from the curve. So an appointment and CT was scheduled, and the neurosurgeon told us what we already knew..Madison would have to have the shunt. So yeah, we were bummed, but you do what you have to do, and we knew it was the best thing for her.

In the midst of all this, some friends of ours gave birth to their first baby...a beautiful baby boy. We were shocked to learn that the baby was found to have spina bifida. The odds of having a baby with SB are about 1 in 1500...so, the odds of this happening to us and them, all within a year...ridiculous. This news rocked me all over again. All of the pain I felt when we found out about Madison came rushing back and I was truly heartbroken for them. At least I have the benefit of knowing, with absolute certainty, that it gets easier, and everything actually will be OK. Now if I can convince them of that, I'll sleep good again.

So the shunt surgery was last Thursday, and yep I was scared. But she did great, and she continues to do so. We are watching her very closely and she has another CT set for next week, so we'll see for sure that everything is working right. And hopefully it is.

So now a few pics from the shunt experience...

Bright and early on our way to Children's

Sweet girl got so upset over the blood work,

she went right to sleep once it was done







...and now for some fun with hospital gowns

The goofy juice was kicking in, and in spite

of the knot in my throat, I found it impossible

not to smile back at this face.

Off she went...hiccuping all the way down the hall :)

and when she finally woke up....sort of.

Sweet girl tried to play with her toys, but she was pretty zonked

Eventually she gave up and fell asleep, keys in hand.