Good Check Up

Today Santiago had a post-op check up and Dr. T was very pleased with Santi's progress. Dr. T felt all along the skull where he separated the bone and said that it is still open the way it should be. There is a slight risk that his bones could fuse back together early so we have to monitor that. Santi didn't even flinch when the doctor was running his fingers across the incisions and down the shaved part of his head. I am so glad that Santi is not in pain - or he doesn't act like he is most of the time. He is such a tough boy! He still has a little swelling on his head but the doctor thinks it will be gone soon and that is good because Friday we have our first appointment to get measured for his tiny helmet. We will go back to see Dr. T after Santi gets his helmet on April 14th.

At the doctor's office today we met two other families whose little boys also had to be operated on for craniosynostosis. The only difference is that they both did not have surgery until they were 6 months old. We are very fortunate that we caught it early in Santiago and he was able to have surgery at his young age because the healing process is much faster the younger you are. One of the little boys was 3 years old and he was playing in the waiting room. It was nice to see such a happy little guy who also had this surgery. It is very encouraging to see the results too. We will be under Dr. T's care until Santiago is 7 years old.

I was able to tell the staff at Dr. T's office today some of the things that I wish we would have known before surgery. It seems that they downgraded some of the things they told us prior to surgery. They asked me so they could better prepare other families in the future going into surgery. I wish I would have known that Santiago was going to be so swollen right after surgery and that he was going to be wearing a turbin type bandage on his head. Santiago was almost unrecognizable after surgery and Hector and I wish we would have been better prepared for what we saw when we went back to recovery. They told us that there was going to be minimal swelling and that was not the case at all. I am super thankful that the swelling has been disappearing so fast.

We found out today that Santiago weighs 12 pounds and is 24.5 inches long. He is such a big boy! Tomorrow he will be 8 weeks old and it is amazing how much he has grown. Here is what Santi looked like at the end of our day today - exhausted!