Kaleiah's eye surgery on 10/27

Kaleiah was diagnosed with Strabismus at 18, almost 19 months old but we noticed it just as she turned 16 months old.


Strabismus is a disorder in which the eyes do not line up in the same direction when focusing. The condition is more commonly known as "crossed eyes."
Alternative Names
Crossed eyes; Esotropia; Exotropia; Squint; Walleye
Causes
Strabismus is caused by a lack of coordination between the eyes. As a result, the eyes look in different directions and do not focus at the same time on a single point.
In most cases of strabismus in children, the cause is unknown. In more than half of these cases, the problem is present at or shortly after birth (congenital strabismus).
In children, when the two eyes fail to focus on the same image, the brain may learn to ignore the input from one eye. If this is allowed to continue, the eye that the brain ignores will never see well. This loss of vision is called amblyopia, and it is frequently associated with strabismus.


She has been patching the good eye and wearing glasses for 6 months. We met with her opthimologist about every 1-2 months and the last time was last month when he said we would need to schedule surgery to correct it. We were nervous but knew she needed it in order to keep her weak eye from loosing vision.

Yesterday was the big day and let me tell you I was a wreck. It was going to be so hard for me to know she would be put under anesthesia and be cut open. All we could do was pray and trust our God! He has worked miracles in our lives before and I knew His hand would be over Kaleiah with this also. He loves her just as much as I do!
So we woke up at 4:15 in order to get to Beverly Hills by 6:00am. My parents came over and waited for Kaden to wake up and took care of him until we got home.
Poor baby woke up when I put her in her car seat and never fell back asleep, but she was great. We got to the surgical center and filled out some paper work, a nurse came out and explained what would happen next. When they called her name, we headed back to triage where we in a large room w/ a lot of others, only separated by by thing curtains. I am not a fan of hospitals (I wonder why) so it kind of creeped me out. But we both had to be brave for her and not let her see anything but happiness and smiles. She was doing just fine, wanting to climb on the bed and playing with the pillow. Then cam her first round of medicine to help her relax and go under. The nurse suggested that we do it instead of her bc Kaleiah might be more accepting of it that way. It was a liquid mix of Tylenol and versed (Valium). And it was supposedly cherry flavored. At first she didn't think it was too bad and let us give her a good bit but then I think she realized something fishy was going on. So we basically had to force the rest down her which she spat out about half of. But ten min later she was relaxed and getting a little loopy. At which point I started crying. It was just hard for me to know her state was being altered. I ha to pull it together before I completely lost it, which I had been fighting doing for days. Finally the anesthesiologist who we had heard so much about, came in. He was incredibly nice and just is demeanor made us feel comfortable.Dr Wright will only work with Dr Jumper, he specializes in pediatric anesthesiology. Dr. Wright will even cancel all his surgeries if Dr. Jumper is unable to make it. That's how much he trusts him. This information brought so much peace of mind bc actually, my biggest worry was with her going under. He explained what would happen next and what exactly he would be doing. He explained that next we would be going into the operating room where he would give her an oxygen mask with numerous gasses in it which would put her to sleep before he inserted her IV. He explained that there are a few stages one goes through when being put under and stage 2 is excitement meaning she may get bright eyed and look around or try to get the mask off of her face etc and said do not be alarmed if she does. We signed some more paper work and then carried her back to the OR. She was definitely getting more sleepy and out of it.
He sat down, I set her in his lap and as he held her and rocked her he put the mask up to her face. He asked her if she knew the itsy bisy spider and started singing that with her. That was the song that we had just sang with her while we were waiting in the triage room. I knew that was a little nudge from God saying see, it's going to be ok :) He held her and layed his head on hers, singing with her as if he loved her and was her family. It was really, really amazing to see how awesome he was with her and how much he must love kids in general. And his job for that matter. She would smile and chime in every now and then as he sang it, all the while falling more and more asleep. Dr. Wright and the nurses were just standing there waiting, it was sort of intimidating to be in an OR surrounded by nurses and Dr.'s but at the same time it was amazing to see the care she was in. She did go through stage 2 and tried to move the mask once or twice but that was it. In probably 2-3 minutes she was totally out and they layed her little body onto the little operating bed. Then it was time for us to leave. I immediately went into the rest room and cried hysterically for 10 minutes. Not only had it been building up but the whole situation brought back so many emotions from te NICU. The fear, the worry, but the gratefulness that she was in such great hands. But having to leave her was heartbreaking. I just wanted everything to be ok and we fully trusted God that it would be. After I was done crying my eyes out and we were waiting for the 40-45 minutes of the surgery, I must have read over 50 messages of people that were praying.

Something I learned long ago is when times get tough you learn who your true friends are. There are those you know you can count on through anything, big or small. People that will pray for and love you no matter what. Not friends that hold grudges yet claim to be men or women of God. The friends that will ask how they can specifically be praying as you go through whatever it is that your going through. Then after the dust has settled you can actually know who was there for you and who wasn't. Not even reaching one kind word saying, glad everything is ok, or I'll pray for you. I am honestly glad to know who our true friends are!! We had so many church family, friends and of course family praying with and for Kaleiah and us. Without that support and encouragement I don't know how we would have held up so well. Some of the verses that I held onto was
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future
And of course my favorite one and the main one that got me through the whole hospitalization/NICU season:
Joshua 1:9 (New International Version)
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

I thought the time of waiting to see our baby girl would take forever. But I passed the time reading all of the prayers and encouraging comments people were sending. And before I knew it, they called us to head back to the recovery room!!! I literally jumped out of my chair. We were lead back to a little room where I sat in a rocking chair, a sweet nurse explained what she would be/look like when she came in and what we would expect for he next 30 min or so. Dr. Jumper brought her in and layed her in my arms. My heart was bursting with gratefulness bc it was then that I truly knew she was OK, and we made it! God is so good!!! I held my precious, sleeping daughter and just starred at her. Again I was reeling with emotions from the NICU. I remember the first time I held her and they placed her in my arms at 9 days old.
I had been telling her for days before this that God would be with her, knowing she had no idea what I was talking about. But He was and He will always be! I was so thankful that it was all over. Randy and I were so relieved. She still had a part of the intubator in and an oxygen mask. She was so peaceful and I was just amazed at all this little girl has been through in her 2 short years. But I will always praise God bc I know just how bad it could actually be. I know some people go through way harder stuff. But it's never easy to see your baby in pain or to have anything wrong. The nurse explained what the after care would be, what to expect in the next few days. Then Dr. Wright came in and the first thing he said was that the surgery just went "text book" and it went as good as it possibly could have. Pretty much the best thing to hear! He explained to us just how he did it and I have so much respect for him. It is not easy what he does!! But he has been doing this for 25 years, averaging 300 surgeries for this per year. You do the math. He is also One of America's Leading Experts on:
Lazy Eye (Strabismus)
Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)
Castle Connolly America's Top Doctors, 2009
So basically what he did was, a speculum held her eyes open and then he wet through the bottom of her eyes, clipped the muscles, straightened the eye, reattached the muscles to the lining of the wall which he said is thinner than tissue paper, and cut off the excess muscle. So there are no scars at all and you honestly would never know she just had surgery expect for the blood covering the inside corners of the white in her eyes. Basically they are bruised but they just look bloody. But her eyes look absolutely amazing, I was blown away to see the difference just 5 hours after surgery. Blown away I tell you. And they will just keep getting better as they heal.
Rewind to recovery. After Dr. Wright was done talking with us, he shook our hands and I'll never forget he said, "Thank you for trusting me." It was a blessing that we were able to go with the same Dr. she has been seeing all along and that he is one of the best in this field. He is not in our network so we almost had to start looking for a different doctor but God provided a way and were able to keep our daughter in the best care! Then the nurse explained that in a few minutes she would give one more dose of meds through her IV and that she would need to breath room air for 15 minutes and then we could go. Kaleiah started to move around and cry and accidentally ripped the IV right out of her hand. Blood flew but the bad part was, now the nurse couldn't administer the last dose of pain meds :( Poor baby girl . She calmed down and the nurse said it had 15 min and we could go. I carried my little baby girl all the way to the car and then when I put her in her car seat, it all went down hill. She FREAKED OUT. It was all to be expected but it was till very, very hard to watch her in such pain and confusion and so uncomfortable. SO unhappy. She cried and screamed like I've never heard and there was NOTHING that would make her stop or feel better. I know what it feels like coming off of anesthesia and it sucks. I felt for her. I just wanted to take it all away. But she finally calmed down when we got on the freeway and that was a relief. The nurse explained that her eyes would feel like there is sand in them. So that along wit the soreness along with coming off of anesthesia, along with being up at 4:30 on 6 hours of sleep, along with no food or drink in over 12 hours...she would have to be miserable.
But you know what? She was pleasantly surprisingly a doll considering everything. She woke up right before we got home, smiled a groggy, sweet, little smile and said yes when I offered her a drink. I took her inside while Randy went to get food (FINALLY) and she seemed normal! She asked what the kitty was doing and even laughed. Then all of a sudden, she slid off the couch and layed on the floor and started crying and was super irritable. I knew she was still coming off anthesia. I rocked her and she fell asleep for about an hour.
Randy brought food home and went to pick up Kaden who had been with Grandma and Grandpa al morning. By the time they got back, she was up again and in a much better mood! She ate a good lunch and had lots to drink which I was happy about.
Then I decided if she felt up for it, she needed a bath. She had medicine all over and smelled like a hospital, yuck. She said she wanted to so we did and I was just beside myself that here she is, playing in the bath tub, doing remarkable and just had surgery hours prior. Amazing. But this little angel had a really rough start in life so she knows a thing ot 2 about hangin in there. Man, I love her.
After baths, Daddy put Kaden down for a nap and took one as well (again waking up at 4:15am is not fun). So Kaleiah and I got dressed and I gave her a surprise I had gotten her the day before. Just a little something to make her happy bc she had been through a lot. It was her first pony and she loves it. She named it Sparkles. We lounged on the couch with Sparkles and watched Snow White and about 5 minutes later I could tell she was sleepy. I asked her if she was and she said yes. So once again I rocked her, not passing up any opportunity to comfort and hold my little treasure. A little bit after she was down, Randy came out and then I went and took a nap as well. A much needed one at that. Not only was I physically tired, but emotionally as well.
After I woke up, I came out to find my two peanuts playing like normal. What a beautiful sight :) Again, we were just in awe that she was up and around and playing, not even 12 hours after having a surgery! Randy took Kaden to the store while I made some dinner for Kaleiah and then a little while later she went to bed. I expected a really rough night, seems pain and being uncomfortable is alwys worse at night. But she slept all the way til 5:30 when she woke up crying. Daddy got up with her and let me sleep, something he often does and I love him to pieces for.
Today was just wonderful. She was literally 100% back o her little, happy go lucky self!! I tell you, besides the bloody eyes you would never know what tis girl just went through. I am such a baby, I would have been in bed for days after such an ordeal. But she loves life and hates to miss out! I planned on keeping her at home for 3-4 days to rest and recoup but when it was obvious ow well she was feeling I knew it would be more than fine if I took her on a walk for soms fresh air and sunshine. And its just the greates thing that by going on a 7 min walk we can go to Grandma's :) They played as usual and Kaleiah even helped cousin Crystal carve a pumpkin.
God is love. He is faithful to our prayers and I am constantly humbled by his love for us. We are so thankful for everyone who prayed for our baby!


On our way to get the surgery

right before her medicine

In recovery

Driving home

Her surprise :)

Just 11 hours post surgery! Looking amazing.

ONE day post surgery. Recovering well :)

sleeping arrangements

Here is some back ground before I explain the new sleeping arrangements :)

The twins moved from the bassinets in our room to a crib after 2 weeks (they were 6 weeks old at that time). They both slept in Kaden's crib until they were 4 months old, until they started to wake each other up. Then they slept in their own cribs and all was great! We were never the type that was insanely against having our children sleep in our bed, but of course that woulnd't be our first choice...obviously so, since we have twins. But last summer, in August of '09, both babies got very sick. This was their first sickness of any kind and I am pretty pleased that they lasted 10 1/2 months w/o even a cold! But they got some sort of flu and threw up all day for 10 days. Can you even imagine have TWO sick infants? We were constantly cleaning up vomit but besides the mess and pure exhaustion, it was absolutely heart wrenching seeing them so miserable. Miserable is an understatement. The night they got sick, I did as well. Actually, Kaleiah and I randomly started vomiting at the same time at about 1:30 am. I was hanging over the toilet when she started crying in her room and when Randy went to check on her he realized she was sick too. I ended up having to go to the ER (and waking up my mom at 2am to come over and stay with the babies) bc I was in so much pain. I was on an IV and was there (still vomiting and feeling horrible) until 6am. They said it was probably food poisoning. My guess is the babies got sick bc they were still being breast fed and I passed it to them. So, here we were, two extremely sick babies and one very sick mommy. So thankful for such a great husband and my amazing parents who helped out. The next 10 days were pretty much hell, like I said, taking care of 2 sick 10 months old is no easy feat. We were exhausted and so stressed out bc they refused to eat or drink. They would only nurse which was great bc it provided them nutrients and comfort but it was still hard. But they lost so much weight during the 2 weeks they were sick (KW 1.5 lbs and KH 2 lbs). So heartbreaking. Another tough part was they wanted to be held every single moment of the day an night. It was so great to have my parents and Randy's mom here almost everyday, all day to help comfort and hold them. But at night, it was rough. They just would not let us put them down. They would cry and cry and they were still so sick and just wanted comfort. Thus began a new sleeping arrangement. For the first time in their life (besides a few naps as newborns), they slept with us in our bed. It was all we could do to make sure all 4 of us got some much needed sleep and rest. We need to rest or we'd never get well. So for a week we had 2 babies in our bed. It was pretty cramped and we hoped it wouldn't last for long. But it was great that we did find something that worked.
As soon as they got better, we tried getting them back to sleep in their own room. Kaleiah went back with pretty much no problem. Kaden was a different story. He would NOT. We tried for weeks and then our of exhaustion and frustration we let him continue sleeping with us. Again, it worked to keep the whole family sleeping. I know some people do not agree with co sleeping and I know many poeple frowned upon us for doing that. But to those people I say mind our own and don' worry about it! You aren't the ones doing it and again, it simply worked. We would say, ok, this can't go on for more than a month or so. But months went by and then a year went by and our little buddy was still w/ Mommy and Daddy! I'll let you in on a little secret, we both kind of love it. Kaden is so sweet and cuddly and just craves being close and next to us :) And even though sometimes we wished we could get him sleeping back in his room, I said he in only a baby ONCE. He is only this small once. He won't need us forever and he won't be in here forever. So I just soak it up bc I know in just a short time he'll be grown.
We have tried so many times in the past year to get him back in his crib but one of the hardest parts about having twins that share a room is having one wake the other up. By keeping him in our room, we have gotten such great sleep the past year bc even when one would wake up crying, it wouldn't disturb the other. Another big reason why we stuck with that arrangement.
Well, we decided that since they twins just turned 2, that we try again and that it's time for Kaden to be back in his room.
We decided to try first with naps and once we get that down, move on to bed time. Well, I am SO HAPPY to say that this is the 3rd day in a row that he has gone down for naps in his own room! I am so proud of him and he's pretty proud of himself, too :)
Kaleiah, like I said, has always slept in her crib except for that one week last summer. But until she was 16 months she had to either be nursed or rocked to sleep (usually both). At 16 months she started to be go to sleep on her own when I put her in her crib awake. She is a great sleeper. Kaden had to be nursed to sleep until 14 months and then rocked to sleep until about 20 months (again, such sweet moments I cherished). For the last 4 months we would often lay in our bed w/ him until he drifted off to sleep, even for naps. I often fell asleep with him which was nice :)
On Saturday I decided to just try to get him to nap in therwith out ANY assistance from me it and it was pretty easy. I was a little nervous about how Kaleiah would react, since she was used to having the room to herself. Now she had her buddy and I thought they bot might be too excited to sleep! Well, I put Kaden in his crib with some of his favorite things and just explained that this is where he sleeps and that sissy always sleeps in her crib too. He barley whined. That is one of the good things I think about waiting until now bc at 2, I know he understands what I am telling him. So I told him that sister would be right there sleeping in her crib and that he's a big boy so he needs to sleep in his crib. A few min later I heard them talking to each other and playing :) I only had to go in twice and tell them to lay down and go ni-night and after 30 min both of them were sound asleep! So not only did he go to sleep in his own crib and own room but he did it him self w/o any help from me! I was sooo happy and so proud of him. Yesterday he fought it a little but I promised him that if he slept in his crib we'd go to Dinseyland we he woke up :) When he did wake up I praised him and told him what a good job he did and like the first day, he smiled and said "yeah!" and you could see how proud he was :) I know this might all sound funny bc this is not a big deal to most people bc most babies always sleep in their crib/room. But it was a big step after having him in our bed for 14 months!
Today was 3rd day in a row and I am confidant that this is the new sleeping arranging, for good :) Next week we are going to start doing it with bed time. I just wanted to blog about it since this blog is basically their baby book :)

Riley's Farm/Oak Glen

We have a Fall tradition in our house and I love it. This was the 3rd year in a row that we have gone to Riley's and the 2nd year that we've gone with Kaden and Kaleiah :)
It's about an hour and a half drive but we love getting out of our Orange County bubble and being in a new town for the day!
Last year when we took the babies for the first time, they were about about 12 months old and while it was delightful and fun, they didn't really "get" everything. This year was so different than last year because they are such a wonderful age of wanting know what EVERYTHING is, and also knowing what many things are. They were excited to see the pumpkin patch because they are really in to pumpkins right now. Kaleiah saw a little one (she's like me and adores all things "little") and ran for it saying "I want the little one!" She was so proud of her find and that she could carry the pumpkin around with her. But we just couldn't let her keep it bc it was gross and rotting :) It was also different because the weather was the complete opposite from last year. While we always go at the same tim (mid October), we were surprised by how different this years weather was. Last year it was so hot and humid and we were sticky and sweaty and it was kind of a drag. This year was awesome. It was really cold, a little drizzly and socked in by low, heavy fog. Perfect Fall weather! We all dressed warm and the fog made for great photos. The pumpkin patch was so eerie looking bc of the fog. On our way out of the farm, we spotted some horses and I had Randy pull over so I could go pet them and let the babies watch from the car. What a great move :) They LOVED watching me pet them and I even fed them some of our strawberries. I opened he door to the van so they could have a clear view. The look on their faces was adorable. Like "wow, what is Mommy doing?" Then, we set the camera up on self timer so Randy and I could take our usual picture of us on the fence. We forgot to take it last year but did take it the first year we went. This year the leaves were so beautiful red and Fall looking. Loved it.
Then it was off to Oak Glen village, an adorable little place that we also always go to. It has a few tiny little shops, a mom and pop restaurant, an old little convenient store where we HAVE TO get pumpkin fudge (I crave it all year and so I love when this time rolls around)! They also have a little petting zoo. Last year when we took K&K, they enjoyed seeing the animals but weren't super in to it. This year was much different. They are big animal lovers (although Kaden gets a little nervous around most animals, especially big ones). Kaleiah couldn't wait to help feed them. She fed piglets and goats. She was fearless and she loved it! Kaden did pet sheep but was just way too scared to feed anything! I love his sensitive, tender nature :)
After the zoo we went to the mom and pop place and had fried chicken and home made vegetable soup! Last stop was to get my pumpkin fudge and then we headed home. We left right at nap time and they napped all the way home so it was perfect!
I love our tradition and I get so excited when I think about all the years we will do this. It's so special and I am so thankful for our little family!






























This picture by the way, is one of my very favorites of Kaden, to date. I entered it into the Baby Gap casting call! Could you not just see this hanging up in the Baby Gap stores? :)

Out first pumpkin patch of Fall :)

Today was so fun. The twins LOVED running around free at the patch, rolling pumpkins, chasing bubbles, riding a choo choo, throwing hay and even riding a real pony!!! Well, Kaleiah rode the pony :) Kaden is more reserved and I was going to be thoroughly surprised if he actually got on the horse and rode it, all by himself! As soon as I got close, he tightened up and squeezed his legs around me. And then started bawling! Kaleiah, meanwhile, let a worker carry her over to one and put her on it smiling all the while. She was so excited to ride a real pony (first time)!!! It was sooooo darn cute watching her go round and round. She loved it and it always makes me proud to see her that independent! What a big girl!
We had so much fun and will probably go back to that particular pumpkin patch few more times bc it's close to home :)
I LOVE FALL! :)
















We love pumpkin patches and have 2 more in mind that we will be going to this Fall, can't wait! :)