We rocked Iowa City

Last week we took the babes for checkups. Report: they are incredibly cute. Oh, and P's palate looks good so far and L does not need a palate expander. We will meet with the surgeon in December for our consult on his tooth extraction and bone graft. It was a fun day to be together and go on a " date" as Levi called it. We were all tuckered out.

Phoebe's palate repair surgery

On September 18th Phoebe had her palate repair surgery.  Here she is with Dad before they took her back. The procedure took place in Iowa City since she is under the care of the cleft team there.  We have a wonderful surgeon.  They said that she would probably be in the OR for 3-4 hours but it ended up being closer to 6 hours.  Everything went well and We are praying that everything looks good when we go back on Monday. 

Here is P after surgery.  Recovery was much more rough than I had anticipated, but I am so thankful for the great care of the hospital staff and that the Lord brought her through healthy.

After 1 week she began to turn a corner and she perked up a little.  She stopped needing as much pain medication, she noticed her toys again, and gave us more smiles.  Nights have been rough since she has trouble getting comfortable with her "arm accessories" :).  I found that leg warmers come in handy for keeping these things clean and secure.  It seems that we have collected enough to coordinate with outfits thanks to friends who have dropped of unused sets of them.

Two weeks post surgery she is feeling much better!  Getting back to her self but still wanting Mom and Dad close by.  She is still not a fan of the all liquid diet and certainly not the arm restriction, but only 5 more days to go until hopefully we are free from all of that!

Thanks to my Mom and John who came for 3 weeks and to Micah's mom who is coming later this week.  Also friends who have showed up with food and offers to help.  It has been harder than I expected in some ways but the precious time that we have spent sitting and snuggling is a treasure.  All of the kids have been troopers and it is such a blessing to parent them all.  To God be the glory!