an update on baby Ruby

Category: everyday | September 27th, 2013

ruby's pre op
This is a post I never thought I would be writing….but here we are. If I had written this 8 days ago I am pretty sure it would have been a hot mess. But in those 8 days I have gained so much peace within me. God is good.

I don’t really know where to start but I will say that baby Ruby is one of the sweetest babies I know. She is a mama’s girl for sure…times 10. But I love it. When she was born we noticed she had a more narrow head shape compared to Penelope’s but we just thought that was how her head was shaped. Well fast forward to her 9 month well check (she’s a little over 10 months now) and her pediatrician was a little concerned about her head shape and had me take her to get a cat scan. Y’all, I was so nervous about this, but of course Ruby did amazing and the staff were awesome.

But then the next day I got “the phone call” from her ped. Good news first: her brain is perfect (praise God!)…but she has something called sagittal craniosynostosis. With tears filling my eyes I listened to her explain it to me. You can look it up for more details but basically part of her skull (the sagittal suture) had fused together prematurely. This is why her head is shaped the way it is and if not treated then there could be issues with her brain down the road. Sagittal Craniosynostosis is the most common type of craniosynostosis (40-58%) and is a lot more common than I thought with it occurring 1 in every 2000 births. Towards the end she told me the only treatment for her would be surgery (cranial vault remodeling). I held back the tears as much as I could until I got off the phone and then looked at my husband. Man, that was rough.

So a few weeks go by (seemed like a lot longer) and we finally had our consultation with the neurosurgeon and craniofacial/plastic surgeon at Dell Children’s Medical Center last Thursday. The appointment went great. I didn’t cry so that’s always a good sign. Ha. They said they would like to get her in for by her 1st birthday so I kind of had that in my head…by her first birthday. But they called us on our way home and asked if October 1st worked. That was in 12 days. So soon. I’m not ready! But clearly we said yes.

I had my moments…where I just had tears, but I know that this is what God had planned for Ruby. He knew this day would come before she was even born. I know God will take care of her and us. I am sooo thankful for my husband and his amazing faith. That’s the number one thing I love about him. We have also had so much love and prayers from family and friends. I can feel it. It’s an amazing and soothing feeling. I think that’s why I am not freaking out as much as I thought I would be. (I have come a long way in my faith).

It’s going to be an interesting journey. I know it’ll be rough for awhile but then we will get on the other side and come out stronger and with a perfectly shaped head! I wrote all this out mainly for myself and for Ruby but I also did it for all those other parents out there who might be going through the same thing. I found great comfort in reading other people’s blogs and stories of their tiny babies going through similar surgeries. So maybe all the posts of Ruby’s journey will be comforting to those in need too.

I can’t wait to tell Ruby about this time in our lives and how many people prayed/are praying for her. She is loved by so many! We are so thankful for everyone and we appreciate all the words of encouragement and prayers!

So a few more phone calls, some lab work, lots of driving (the hospital is about an hour away), and lots of prayers over here…and then October 1st. Sigh. I’ll be posting more about our days when the time comes….but in the meantime I’ll probably be filling up your instagram feed with photos of our last few days with her cute little narrow head. :)

it’s a food post

Category: everyday | September 9th, 2013

zucchini tots
zucchini tots. yum.

i am not the type to take photos of the meals i make. 1) they usually don’t look that pretty and 2) i don’t have time for that. hah. but i do want to give a little shout out to all those awesome and talented food bloggers out there who actually take the time to post photos and recipes for everyone else to enjoy! the mister and i have been eating vegetarian for awhile now and i am so thankful for pinterest and all the yummy and new (and interesting) recipes out there. i knew i liked vegetables but after some of these recipes i realized i love them…even all the ones i turned my nose up to. oooh my close minded younger self. it’s funny how we change. but i sure am glad i did! i know my parents are proud….i might have given them a (very) hard time when it came to healthy food back in the day. haha.

i spend quite a bit of my time in the kitchen, but i love it. and thankfully i don’t mind cleaning up the (big) messes that the girls make while i am cooking. penelope has been helping me out when she can too….again, i don’t mind cleaning up the messes. ;) i know they probably get more out of the experience than i do. since i have been cooking with more and more vegetables i have found some pretty neat and time saving methods on how to cut/slice/chop them the proper way. i kind of just went with it before and managed to get what i needed, but then i youtubed a few (like bell pepperspepperstomatoes, etc.) and realized i was pretty much butchering the poor things. so yay for learning new things. ;)

if you follow me on pinterest then you’ll see my vegan/vegetarian board. i’ve probably made at least half of the recipes i pinned. there are some amazing recipes! but then again i love food so we might have a few different opinions. ALTHOUGH the mister has loved them (except for one, haha) and that says a lot because he’s not as open minded as me. ;) but i am very proud of him for trying them and eating them…and more importantly loving them. penelope actually eats most of the vegetarian meals too. sometimes if i know they are spicy or reaaaally flavorful then i will set aside a little bit of it without all the spices. can’t go wrong with some black beans. even some of the recipes are ruby approved. ;)

here are some of my favs at the moment. try them out! i bet you’ll be surprised….or maybe not. haha. but i’ll give you a high five for trying.
hummus and grilled vegetables pizza
1. hummus & grilled vegetable pizza (my fav at the moment! hummus instead of pizza sauce?? genius.)

cornbread salad
2. southwest cornbread salad

lentil rice cakes
3. lentil rice cakes

southwestern black bean burgers
4. southwestern black bean burgers

pasta primavera
5. pasta primavera + vegan pesto

slow cooker brown rice mexican bowl
6. slow cooker brown rice mexican bowl

cauliflower sauce
7. creamy cauliflower sauce (great with fettuccine and broccoli!)

oh and i love how almost all of the recipes have leftovers. i seriously try to only make meals that will have leftovers! hah. have any fun/new/not-so-time-consuming vegan/vegetarian recipes?? send them my way! :)