The Zoo

There is a cat behind kenna

Abagail, Kenna and Hanna

Abagail and Kenna feeding ducks

The kids on a tiger

Hanna and Kenna with the Gorilla

Blake, Kenna and Levi being eaten

Eating lunch

Looking at the tarantula. She was fascinated by it

The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Mrs. Karen was so thrilled to hold the snake. I think she was more excited than the kids!

Kenna looking at the snake

Smiley Kenna

That is one huge frog!

Kenna's school went to the zoo for a field trip last week. It was pretty cold...so we had to bundle up. The kids got to go into a warm room and learn about some animals. They were able to see a frog, snake, cockroach and tarantula. The kids thought it was pretty cool. Then they ate lunch and had free time to walk around the zoo. We went and saw the gorillas, tigers and rhinos and fed the ducks. The kids had a good time.

Pumpkins

Bryn and Kenna (How cute...they are holding hands)

Addison and Bryn

So my sis-in-law had an idea to put the girls in a pumpkin. Addison wasn't too thrilled with it. Bryn I don't think cared either way. Makenna was bummed she didn't get to get inside too!

She is Human

Haha!!! My 10.5 month old is human. She was grumpy today. But even at that...she wasn't grumpy like most kids. She just whined a little today. So she is still pretty much super human. She has been so awesome. Today she was just irritable and couldn't decide what she wanted. She did enjoy the french fries she had today. She got a bath and went to bed a little bit earlier than normal. I think she just has been a little more tired than normal. She sees the hand dr. tomorrow to be evaluated. He said he will most likely NOT take off her bandages and look at it. So I think he will just look at the tip of the finger and check that it is pink and warm. It is because we check it...but we will let the dr. check too :)

Past Few Days

Hanging with Grandma Catherine

Eating Toast and smiling

Chilling at home

Still smiling

Daddy saying good night

Getting ready to go to sleep

Bryn wouldn't let Papa hold her so Daddy held her and we got a pict.

After Surgery Pictures

Chilling with Dad

Sisters...Makenna is a such a good sister to Bryn

Grammy Larsen and Bryn

Finally calm and asleep on Mommy

One of the few times she cried. She was super hot and wanted the nurses to leave her alone!!

Her "cast"

The concerned Grandmas

Waking up

3 Days After

Bryn had surgery. What? She had surgery??? haha. You would never ever be able to tell she had surgery except for the big bandages on her right arm. She is so happy. She crawled around today and had fun walking around the table. We even took her out for an adventure to Wal-Mart for a little bit. This little woman is amazing! Sometimes I forget that she just had a major surgery. Then I see her hand wrapped and am reminded of how insanely awesome our little girl is. Makenna has been a great big sister and tells everyone to be careful with Bryn because she has a cast. Before Bryn's surgery Makenna said,

M: I don't want Bryn to get thumbs.
Me: Well that's not very nice Kenna. Why don't you want her to have thumbs?
M: I love Bryn without thumbs.
Me: (thinking how awesome little kids are and how unpredjucide they are) Well Makenna...You will love her just as much with thumbs.
M: I know Mommy. But I love her without thumbs too!

I have 2 great girls.

2 days after

Bryn is the most amazing little girl I know. She had surgery just over 48 hours ago. She is smiling and happy. She is only taking regular baby tylenol and antibiotics. She doesn't cry or complain. She does get a little frustrated because her cast inhibits crawling as well as she did, but she is still getting around on the ground. She went to bed last night at 7:30pm and slept till 8:30am this morning. It was awesome. She woke up happy and ate breakfast and played. She took a 3 hour nap also. She is eating a graham cracker right now. She has been so amazing. Her thumb is still pink...that is what we are supposed to look for each day. That means she is getting circulation in it!! Yea! We see the hand dr. again on Tuesday for a check-up. He said he most likely will not take off the cast and look. He will just check the finger tips and ask if I have questions. Bryn is so awesome!

We Are Home

So last night Bryn and I slept at the hospital. She did so awesome. She did end up having kind of a rough time for about 10 minutes before she went to bed though. Tyler was holding her before he left and she threw up all over him. His shirt was covered. I took her from him and tip her over to let her continue and it nailed Tyler's pants and shoes. Sorry Ty. :) The dr. said that the pain medicine and/or anesthesia made her throw up. She got it all over her and her IV cover. The nurse took her IV cover off to get her a new one. While Tyler was trying to take off her soiled jammies her IV came out and blood was squirting everywhere! The nurse got the bleeding to stop and Bryn had puke and blood all over her. Oh well. We got her cleaned up and changed and then Ty left. Bryn went to bed for me at 9pm and slept until 12am. The nurses had me wake her up to take her meds and check her vitals. She went straight back to sleep. She woke up at 2:30am and then about every hour after that until 5:30. She just groaned and I would give her her binky and rub her back and she was fine. She ate at 5:30. Dr. Rayan came up and looked at her at 6am. He said her hand looked perfect (or at least the way he wanted it to look this morning). He told me I could take her home. I just need to keep her inside where it is warm and keep the house warm too....high gas bills for the next month I guess :) But I brought her home and we were at home by about 7:30am. She is so happy to be home. So am I. Bryn is an amazing little girl and has been such a trooper through this whole situation. She is my hero!

Bryn Today

So....Bryn's surgery went great. The dr. was a little worried. Her muscles and her blood vessels were under developed in her index finger. He is very hopeful though that things will be okay. He hasn't "lost a thumb" yet and doesn't expect Bryn to be his first! He still continued with the surgery and is just watching to make sure the circulation stays in it. Her right arm is all bandaged up. Her left arm has a brace on it because of the IV. She hates seeing the nurses. Every time one walks in the room she gets mad and cries. She was in surgery from 7-10:32am. The surgery started around 7:20am this morning. It was very difficult to hand her over to the nurse and walk away. But it made me feel a lot better that Bryn did not cry when we left. So far there have been no tears from me or Tyler!!! That is good! Just lots of prayers! The nurse called about every 45 minutes to update us and tell us that Bryn was doing great. We got to see her 10 minutes after they put her in the recovery room. I got to sit and hold her. She was very out of it and just cuddled with me. She is talking and playing a little more right now (2:36pm).

We just want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support. Words canNOT express how thankful and grateful we are for all of our friends and family that have constantly called, written and texted to check on Bryn and us.

Bryn and I are staying over tonight in the hospital. The Dr. will check on her tomorrow and we should be good to go home sometime tomorrow morning/afternoon!! When I get a chance I will post more pictures!!

Surgery is over

Surgery is over. The doctor has said that the surgery went well, but we need to watch the circulation in Brynn's Thumb. Crazy to say she has a thumb now.

Pre-Surgery Pictures

Waiting to go back into surgery. Watching Mickey Mouse on t.v.

Mommy...I'm tired and hungry!

Grandma Catherine and Bryn

Chubby Bunny!

How do I get this thing off?

Mommy and Bryn

Oh Hoo...cute bum!!

Isn't she cute?! Ready to go into surgery and has no idea. What a sweet little girl!

Grandma and Bryn

Mommy, Daddy and Bryn at 5:30am checking-in

Daddy and Bryn

We had to check into the hospital at 5:30am this morning. Man was it early. Bryn was trying to figure out why she was awake and where we were at. We got all signed in and taken up to the waiting room. We then went back with her and got her vitals and weight. We got to put her in a little hospital gown. She didn't like having her oxygen taken. She cried when the nurse tried to get it. She was talking like crazy and was pretty happy considering she was starving and tired. She did really well. We then met with the surgeon and the anesthiesologist(sp) and then walked Bryn to the back. It was really hard handing her over to the nurse. But she didn't cry so that made it better for us. The nurse called up front at 7:26 am and told us that she had gone to sleep just fine, her IV went great and they had just started surgery. My mom, Tyler and I are playing on the internet and watching movies on the Ipod. We are doing well. We are trying not to think of what they are doing to Bryn back there!

Can't Sleep

With Tyler being out of town...I can't sleep. I am sitting up watching late night t.v. playing on the internet. I am thinking of how there is less than 6 days until Bryn's surgery. I am thinking about how cute and fun she is and how awesome it will be for her to have a thumb. I am thinking about how scared I am that something will go wrong. I am thinking of how I feel fine, but I know it will all hit me when I take my little 10 month old baby girl into the hospital. I am thinking about how 10 months ago she was in the hospital with tubes up her nose and down her throat and how scared I was then. The dr. seems super confident and kind of makes it seem like this surgery is no big deal. He has done a ton of these surgeries so that is good. I know he will do an amazing job. But it is still scary. I don't want my baby to hurt.

I stole this part from a friend's website. Her son had this surgery last year. She has been a help to me. Thank you to Dawna, Catherine and Elizabeth for all your support, help and advice!

Thumb Pollicization

So what is thumb pollicization? Well in my definition it is an incredible surgery that will allow my child to perform anything that requires a thumb/finger pinch grasp. So what will this allow Bryn to do? Cutting, writing, zipping, grasping tweezers, holding her bottle better, holding a spoon better, grasping a parallel bar, holding a car steering wheel to list a few. Somethings she will be able to do better and some she will do for the first time. The medical field would define it as the surgical creation of a thumb from a finger, usually the index finger. There are several techniques, but they have in common steps to shorten, rotate, and reposition muscles to achieve a functional and aesthetic result.

http://www.vacterl-association.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=11

Bryn Eating Her Muffin