Miss Reagan

The past two weeks have been really crazy, so I have some catching up to do. First things first. This will not be news to everyone, but I haven't posted about it, and for all intents and purposes this is my scrapbook, so I am going to record it all.

Little Miss Reagan, in all of her Swain girl glory, was born with some anomalies. The extra toe, as it turns out, is one of them. Along with a clubbed foot, clubbing in her hands, a very high and miss-shaped pallet and tracheaomalasia (soft trachea). She has also struggled to gain weight. All of these things separately are really not a big deal for the most part. The toe will come off, we are in the process of fixing her foot, her trachea will harden with time (for now it just makes her breathing noisy) and her hands should normalize as she gets older. The roof of her mouth isn't too much of an issue now but it may give her problems with speech later on. And her weight is getting better, after 2 weeks on a higher calorie diet she had gained a whole pound! (She weighed in at 9 lbs. 4 oz.) All in all, nothing too crazy or serious.... separately. But because of the collection of things our doctor is concerned about a heart defect and possible genetic syndromes. So, Miss Reagan has (or will) become acquainted with a few specialists.

The Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon is working with us to straighten her foot and will be taking off her toe. He also confirmed to us after seeing her that her heart is most likely a factor and suggested genetic testing as well.

And after LOTS of dr. visits and consults, we are now waiting to see the Pediatric Cardiologist. Depending on what we find there, we will move on to the Geneticist. Just to be clear so there isn't any undo concern about this, genetic syndromes can be very serious, but not all of them are. They are also not all mental/developmental. (This is her having a conversation with her dad. He is currently her favorite person!)

She is developing right on track, other than being a little on the small side. But she is doing all of the things she should be. And she really is a happy and very sweet little addition to our family! We love her SO much!

There are not words for how I feel about my kids... but I LOVE them, so much more than I could ever say! The past few weeks have been challenging and exhausting and kind of scary. I'd be lying if I said I am not stressing. But I am grateful for this experience. No matter what the outcome may be! It has made me so acutely aware of my kids and their importance to me and how very happy they make me! I am so incredibly grateful for the blessing it is to be their mom!