Phi Mu Alumni Lunch

This is to all the Phi Mu alums that are not on facebook... UNA's Homecoming is Saturday, Oct. 3 with the parade at 11 on Court Street. At 12 noon, we are all getting together for lunch at Rosie's to catch up with one another. We would love for you all to come! Also, we are tailgating before the game. We will have a Phi Mu table under the HUGE Alumni tent (look for pink balloons). Hope to see you there!

Fall Makeover

With the changing of seasons, I thought I should update my blog as well... so here's my new fall look! I LOVE this time of year, Alabama football, my birthday (Sept. 10), cooler weather (which equals fall clothes), and all the fun holidays that will be here before we know it! (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc) One thing I also used to love about this time of year is that it marked the beginning of a new school year and it meant a new beginning to me... it was always so exciting to enter a new grade in school, to have new teachers and classes, make new friends, and to wonder what that upcoming school year had in store for you. I'm no longer in school, obviously, but I still get that sense of nostalgia around this time of year. My 28th birthday was this past Thursday, and I'll be honest, I'm like a kid when it comes to birthdays. For some reason, I get so excited about my birthday... I kind of think it's because I've always been younger than everyone (started kindergarten at 4, graduated high school at 17, graduated college at 21, married at 21, had a baby at 25) and all my friends are older than me, so I like getting older because I don't feel like the baby anymore. I know, I know, goofy because they're getting older at the same rate I am, but at any rate, I like "sounding" one year older. However, I'm sure I'll change my mind about that once I turn 30 or even worse, 40! (no offense to any of you 40 year olds!) One thing I've realized, birthdays aren't as fun once you get older... its not like the world stops to allow you to celebrate. Noah had not one, but TWO appointments on my birthday, pre-op for his surgery at the hospital that morning, then almost immediately after that, he had an appointment at Children's Rehab Services, where we waited for 3 1/2 hours!!! Talk about a crappy way to spend your birthday. Jamie made it up to me by taking me to Dale's on Wednesday night while mom & dad kept Noah. Then Thursday night, we ate at Olive Garden with my whole family (mom, dad, Lindsay, Derrick, me, Jamie, and Noah) and came back to our house for cake from Victorian Tea Room and presents. So overall, I had a good time with my family and I can now say I'm 28 rather than 27... see, doesn't that sound so much older?! ;)

Noah's Circle of Trust, Surgery Update, and Doc Appt's

I just wanted to update you all on Noah's frenulectomy procedure... it went great and he was only fussy for that morning. By mid-afternoon, you would have never even known that he had surgery. The next morning, he was wiggling his tongue around and seeing what all he could do with it! Dr. Long told us that Noah's was literally stitched down into his mouth it was so bad. He did need 2 stitches but the surgery lasted, at the most, 10 minutes. One thing I've noticed, is that he eats better now and doesn't get choked so much.

Saturday, during the Bama game, my dad taught Noah how to rub noses and Noah had a blast performing his new "trick"... he would smush his nose to ours and just hold it there while we rub back and forth, he did this over and over and over... and got the biggest kick out of it! Also, during the past couple of weeks, he has pulled up to standing a few times on his own! He has been doing it with the tiniest bit of assistance but a couple of times now, I've seen him do it by himself. For some reason, he will only do it at my parents house, on their ottoman and their coffee table. I guess those two pieces of furniture are the right height for him. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before he begins doing it more consistently.

Also, Noah, my child who won't even let other family members hold him (outside his tight inner circle of me, Jamie, mom, dad, and Lindsay) has decided that its OK for other people to hold him! It all started with Derrick (Lindsay's boyfriend) trying really hard to become buddies with him... Derrick's been working on him for awhile and will carry him and play with him to win over his affection. Well a couple of weeks ago, Noah decided that Derrick was allowed into the circle and now they're buddies. Well, with this, he's decided to branch out some and is holding his arms up (to be picked up) by anyone and everyone! We were at the hospital doing his pre-op stuff on Thursday and he had the anesthesiologist and the nurse carrying him up and down the hall and then at my grandmother's house on Sunday, he was letting all my aunts and uncles hold him... which is a first! He normally cries when they try to take him for one of us. I'm giving all the credit to the crawling, I think it's allowing him to become more independent and more trusting of others! (Thank goodness!!!)

Jamie, Noah, and I headed down to Birmingham yesterday because Noah had 2 doctor's appointments at Children's. The first one, on Monday, was with the Geneticist, Dr. Robbin. He told us that their are really only 2 more blood tests that he recommended because we've tested everything else that is applicable to Noah's situation. Noah's head is a little above average (around 95%) for his age (which we've always been told is normal in kids that have had craniosynostosis). These two tests are for syndromes that involve large heads and developmental delays. They are P-Ten and Sotos Syndrome and it'll take about 6 - 8 weeks to get the results. If they come back negative, then we won't go back to the Geneticist for 2 years b/c there's nothing else for them to test at this time. Then today, we had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Davis, the Orthopedic Rehabilitation doc and the Physical Therapist, Andrea. They were so pleased to hear about his crawling and beginning to pull up. But nothing new to report with them. After that appointment, we went to the lab so they could draw the blood for the genetics tests and then we hit the road to head home. We actually don't have to go back to Children's until November, for a recheck on Noah's incision site from the cranio. surgery that he had almost 2 years ago.

Frenulectomy

... a what? My blog just helps improve your medical terminology almost monthly, doesn't it?! :) Noah is having a frenulectomy next Friday, 9/11. He has anklyoglossia or is "tongue tied". Basically, the little piece of tissue that is underneath the tongue comes almost to the tip of his tongue and limits mobility (he can't stick his tongue out)... I noticed this when he was a baby and mentioned it to our pediatrician (who we don't use anymore), who dismissed it. I pointed it out to our Speech Therapist this summer and she said it was bad enough that it would definitely hinder the pronunciation of sounds that he makes and we should definitely have the procedure done. Of course, I did online research which told me that it doesn't necessarily prevent one from speaking but it does hinder the way a sound comes out. I kind of disagree because babies practice making sounds and then they figure out what they can say (da-da-da), well if you can't practice those sounds, how can you learn to say them? We had the consult with Dr. Long on Monday and Noah's frenulum is so tight that he couldn't even get underneath Noah's tongue with a tongue depressor (of course Noah's was fighting us). The procedure is very simple (he compared it to getting tubes in your ears), takes about 10 minutes, sometimes require a stitch or two, and there will be some discomfort for a couple of days. So say a little prayer for Noah, even though its not a major surgery, that things go well and that he has minimal pain.