Liam – Sagittal

liam 4Our sweet little Liam was born May 24th 2012 a healthy 7lbs 12oz, 22 inches long at 38 weeks. Everything was normal throughout the pregnancy, the only thing was he dropped early around 7.5 months. Delivery was a little bit more work for me compared to my first because he was face up. I noticed right after he was born he had a ridge which they passed off as the plates moving from birth. Liam had jaundice so we had to see the pediatrician a lot in the first two weeks and I questioned his head numerous times and the same answer was given. I left it at that and we went on with our regular check-ups. Liam had always been fussy during growth spurts and only then otherwise he was a very happy baby. I had mentioned that to our pediatrician and she said that happens to some babies.
At 3.5 months old we took him into a different Dr. to check for a possible ear infection. He did not have one but she pointed out his odd shaped head and said that she will talk with our pediatrician (I thank that Dr. every day for catching his sagittal craniosynostosis). We went in for his 4 month check-up, 11 days later and she said the word craniosynostosis. We had x-rays done that day and I knew as soon as I read about it that he had it. I did not need any confirmation.
We were sent to Gillette Children’s in St. Paul, MN to see Dr. Lacey and Dr. Song. Dr. Song was the neuro surgeon and she did such a good job explaining things to me that when I saw Dr. Lacey, craniofacial surgeon, we couldn’t think of anything to ask. Liam had a CT scan and was such a good boy he didn’t need to be sedated (They try not to do that unless necessary). Dr. Lacey met with us after the scan and he had a very prominent ridge and would need surgery. We scheduled the surgery for the end of October. We went to the pre-op appointment and found out he had an ear infection. Dr. Lacey decided it would be best to wait on the surgery. We rescheduled it for November 28th but it was not until the afternoon.
Surgery day I was extremely calm until I had to hand him off to the nurse. They actually let us walk him down to the room and I about lost it and started to cry. That was the hardest thing I have ever done and hope I never had to do that again. I felt like it was all a bad dream. Dr. Lacey and Dr. Song came out and told us everything went great and he was in the recovery room. He did have a blood transfusion but that was expected as he was only 6 months old. Dr. Song said that the Dura (the protective coating around the brain) was really squished where the ridge was and that it was a good thing that we had the surgery.
We stayed at Gillette for 3 nights and they were amazing. He had a lot of fluids coming out of his drain but he did not need another transfusion because all the labs came back great (even though the Dr. didn’t think it would). We stayed in the PICU one night and the “floor” two nights.  Liam always was able to see out of both of his eyes even though they swelled. He had a hard time taking all the medications and fought them by the last day. His pain was not bad after he was able to keep his bottles down.  He was getting back to himself on the last day and was completely normal the second day at home.
Liam had become the happiest boy (he does have his cranky moments), even at daycare everyone says how they just adore him. He has exceeded all milestones and has become a climber. He laughs at everything, smiles all the time and loves being outside. 
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Liam