More Updates

Melody had her first post-operative appointment with the surgeon yesterday. Some of you know that Larry and I already noticed a hole opening in her palate, which caused us great disappointment and dismay. The surgeon, however, was able to offer some encouragement in his assessment. The whole back part of Melody's palate looks really good at this point and the grafted tissue is doing well. There is, indeed, a little hole up front, but the doctor says it should be much easier to fix than the ones he just dealt with. He said that if her palate stays just like it is we will have made good progress. That was very nice to hear. As a parent, I guess I was hoping for the perfect outcome all at once. It's only natural not to want to go through another surgery if it can be avoided. We go back to see the doctor in another month. He said that whatever Melody's mouth looks like then is what it will stay like. Her next surgery will be about a year from the last one.

As for me and "Baby Brother," we're going well! I just got off the phone scheduling all the rest of my OB appointments for the entire pregnancy. I only have six more!! Oh my! I'm feeling really well, other than an annoying case of carpel tunnel in my wrists which causes numbness and pain overnight. The doctor told me to wear a brace and it seems to be helping, especially with the pain aspect. I will have Larry take another belly photo this weekend when I hit 32 weeks. I'm happy not to feel too huge yet!

Larry is now halfway through his first semester of graduate classes toward a second master's degree. He is incredibly busy with a full-time job, full-time classes and a full-time family. In fact, his final exams coincide "nicely" with our baby's due date! I think he is enjoying the classes, which is great, and we both hope it will help open doors for him (and our family) in the future.

I didn't write about it at the time, but our family traveled to NY to visit my mom this past August (yay for frequent flier miles!). It had been 3 years since we'd been there...too long. We stayed for a week and had a good time. The girls especially liked all the fun things that Oma had prepared for them to play with. Here are just a couple of pictures.

Mother and Daughter

Blueberry Picking (my favorite activity of the whole trip)

Oma and Granddaughters (blurry but very cute!)