Almost 5 weeks Post-Op

Bryn gets to see the dr. on Tuesday. I am sure he will be shocked that only 5 weeks post-op she is using her thumb. Today at church she was eating popcorn by grabbing it with her thumb and finger out of the bag. Not her right thumb....but her brand new, 5 week old thumb. Also tonight at dinner she picked up a cookie the same way. She has been holding things in her new thumb space. Last time she really didn't use her thumb for about 3 months later. Her left thumb is definitely not as mobile as her right, but she is using it. It is pretty cool!

Pretty Neat

Today Bryn had PT. I wasn't expecting anything exciting. Her wraps were off and I was just happy to show the PT her new thumb. But then something pretty exciting happened. Bryn was using her new thumb. She didn't move it, but she was using it to hold things. She held a pencil, marker, coins, puzzle piece and Mr. Potato head parts in between her finger and new thumb. The PT was shocked and so was I!! That is pretty cool!

4 weeks Post-op

Today marks 4 weeks since Bryn's surgery. The little bugger wouldn't let me hold her hand long enough to get a picture. It is healing up. Still not as fast as we would like. I am a little more disappointed in how this one looks. I am hoping with time it will get better. Bryn definitely notices that it is there. She got it wet for the first time last night. I put her in the tub. She didn't get it too wet though. Right after she got out I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and let it air dry. We took her warp off today while we were at home. When I took her out I re-wrapped it so the germs would stay off of it. Bryn has gotten so good at taking off her wrap. No matter how hard I try to secure to her hand...she gets it undone! Crazy girl. Maybe I will be able to pin her down to take a pic.

Crazy Sisters

Bryn and her crazy lips

They really do love each other!

I told her to smile and I got the pucker lip again!

Makenna was so nice to let Bryn brush her hair. Bryn did a pretty good job of being soft. They were watching cartoons and hanging out together. They are pretty fun little girls!

Bryn's 18-month Check-Up

Yesterday Bryn went in for her 18 month check-up. It is a few weeks late since her surgery was on her 18 month birthday. She weighs 21lbs. 7oz. (12%) and is 31 inches tall (24%). The dr. said she looked great and was growing up just right!

3 Week Post-Op

Bryn had a cast put on again last week. I noticed on Thursday that is started slipping off. We called the dr. on Friday and he told us to come in today (Mon). I am so glad we took her in. Today it was almost all the way off her hand. Her fingers had been smashed together. Her wrist was in a funny position as well. Her hand had been sweating a lot and her fingers were raw in between them. The dr. said he thought her hand looked great. He laughed and said...it might look a little ugly right now, but it looks great! Once again...the Dr. knows what he is talking about! He cleaned it up with some alcohol and pulled of the scab. He then re-dressed it with only gauze. He didn't put a cast back on. He told us that he we could cancel our appt. next week. I asked if he was sure...he said yea. I told him our summer plans and he said he would see us in Aug. I told him I would feel better if he saw her before then and he told us he would see her back in 2 weeks. He told us we could take off the gauze in 5 days and leave it off for good. He said in 5 days she can get it wet and treat it like normal. So weird. I think I am more nervous with her new thumb this time than last time. It just looks more fragile too me.

Bryn's Biting

Bryn is crazy. I have figured out how she lost her thumbs! She bite them off! That must have been it. She must have gotten upset and bite her thumb off. Let me tell you why I have come to this conclusion. Well...I have known for awhile that sometimes when kids get upset they hit things or pull their own hair or something crazy like that. Well Bryn bites her fingers when gets mad. She puts her 'index' finger and middle finger in her mouth and bites down really hard and growls. It is so hard not to laugh at her. For some reason she thinks biting herself will make whatever she wants to happen, happen. She was so mad at me tonight because I wouldn't let her in the tub with Kenna. It isn't my fault...the dr. doesn't want her getting her new thumb wet yet. So she stood by the tub screaming, then bite her fingers and growled. What a crazy little kid! Luckily she hasn't bitten hard enough to draw blood!

Kenna

Poor Kenna is getting bored of hanging out in the house with Bryn and I. I have tried to take her outside to play while Bryn takes naps. But she is getting bored. I don't blame her. I keep reminding her that we are going to go to CA and have a lot of fun. She has been having fun hanging out with Tyler when he comes home for a bit. She is very interested in cuddling lately and wants to hang out with Ty and I. She is a BIG story teller now and loves to imagine all sorts of things! She is pretty crazy...but we love her!

2 week Post-Op

Bryn and her new 'club'

Bryn getting her cast cut off

Today was Bryn's 2nd week Post-op appt. We were all ready for Bryn to lose her 'club' today. I was more prepared to see her thumb today...or so I thought. When the Fellow took off her cast it almost looked like her thumb was hanging off. I thought my worst nightmare had come true and her thumb didn't connect. But when I took a look from a different angle I could tell it was on there :). I still thought it looked horrible. The dr. said it looked great. But apparently the gauze moved away from her hand and let some moisture in. It was nothing we could have prevented because we couldn't see her hand...it was covered by the cast. So the incision wasn't able to dry up and scab. The dr. re-dressed it and made her a new cast. She has her cast on for another 2 weeks. Which means...no outside going to the park, swimming or the zoo. The next few weeks are going to be super super boring. The dr. doesn't want her sweating and getting more moisture than what would normally be there. So inside air conditioning house...you get to love the girls and I for at least 2 more weeks!

Bryn was pretty happy to have her cast off, for the 20 minutes. She was looking at her thumb trying to make it work. She wanted to to try and suck her thumb and she kept playing with it.

Grandpa Would Be Proud

My grandpa Jim is a fix-it man. He is usually pretty good about fixing things on his own. Growing up he would always change the breaks on our cars and help fix thing around the house. If I ever have a question about how to fix things...I call him. Well we have some things that are working quite right in our house. Bryn's lamp has been broken for about 2 weeks. It has been driving me nuts. The fan worked, but the pull chain for the lights broke. I got online and read on how to fix it and what I needed to do. I kept asking Tyler to help me, but he has been busy studying. So...today I gave in and did it myself. I took apart the fan and got everything removed. The pull chain wires weren't as they said they were online. So Tyler did stop by Home Depot on his way home today and bought the pull switch and asked the guy. They told him to cut it off and twist the wires together. Well...with that help from Tyler I got the fan put back together and the light now works. We fixed it on our own...with a little advice from the Home Depot man.

1st Swim of the Summer

Kenna and I finally got our of the house today. My MIL was home and volunteered to watch Bryn while I took Kenna swimming in her backyard. Bryn still can't be outside or get her hand wet. It was nice to be out in the sun. I got a little color. Makenna had a good time swimming around. Well...kinda...she didn't really swim. We had to practice again, but she did okay. I had her jumping in the pool and then swimming over to me. She got water up her nose a few times...but she survived. I can't wait until Bryn can go in and we can spend the day hanging at the pool!

Post-Op Pictures

Her right hand...look at her use that thumb to hold her popsicle.

Kenna also loves popsicles

Bryn loves popsicles

Kenna loves making silly faces

This is the best picture I could get of the 2 of them together. Makenna's head looks way funny, but oh well.

Her 'club'

Her left hand

She is a total Monkey. She loves climbing over everything!

Bryn's 'club' hasn't been slowing her down a bit. She is still climbing, running and jumping over everything. She is a crazy kid. Makenna has been helpful with Bryn. Bryn should be getting her cast off on Tuesday and hopefully it will make her less frustrated.

One Week Post-Op

For some reason I had it in my head that the dr. was going to take off Bryn's cast today and wrap it in only gauze. Well I was wrong. We drove 20 minutes down to his office and spent a total of 7 minutes in his office. We were called back very quickly. I had my camera ready this time. He came in...said hello...looked at her fingers tips and said we were good to go. He told us her fingers look great (warm and pink) and he told us to come back next Tuesday and we should be able to unwrap it. So that is the story. She has her club for another week. I haven't taken very many pictures this time. I need to bust out the camera.