Life Lately......

So, I haven’t blogged in awhile as life has just taken over. It has been crazy busy for The Swain’s over the last several weeks. But, Myah is in bed and Willie is watching football so I thought this was the perfect time to catch everyone up. Well, I guess I should be honest and say that Willie is actually no longer watching football but sulking since his team was showed up pretty bad this evening. Needless to say I would much rather be downstairs on the computer then next to him on the couch right now.

So, we went to Atlanta over Labor Day weekend to see the Surgeon regarding Myah’s Torticollis. He did recommend surgery and we have since scheduled the surgery for Thursday, October 27th. We will be going to Atlanta on Monday the 24th and returning on Saturday the 29th. The Tuesday before surgery we will go for a BOTOX injection into Myah’s neck muscle per the surgeon’s instructions, and a pre-op visit with our Surgeon. My Mom is making the trip with us. It will be nice to have some additional help and support. Lord knows I’m going to need it. The surgery will take approximately 1-2 hours. We will have to stay overnight at the hospital on Thursday, but should be released on Friday.

I will say that I am so glad that Myah will soon be all better, and also that I am confident that surgery is the best, and now the only choice for her situation. However, I am super anxious about the whole thing. The trip, the surgery, the days after the surgery, missing work, the physical therapy after the surgery….I could go on and on. If I really sit and think about my child going “under the knife” so to speak, it makes me crazy and ill! Every day the surgery gets closer my anxiety grows. I hate to be a whiner, but this is really going to be hard for me and my sweet Myah. I know everything will be ok and we will soon be done with all of this, but in the meantime, stress, stress, and more stress!

Myah and I went to see my parents for the day and on the way home I really got to thinking about things. I have been so busy worrying about everything going on I feel like life is just passing me by. I mean people tell me things and I just completely and totally forget. It’s like it goes in and right back out. I know that’s terrible, but I feel like the stress of life has just taken over. I couldn’t relax even if I wanted to, and my mind is just constantly running.

So that’s what has been going on for the last several weeks, a whole lot of work, Myah, and worrying. I know deep breaths, positive thoughts, and lots of prayer will get me through this! I’m so thankful for my sweet girl and my wonderful husband! Words just can’t express how much they mean to me.

I am going to make a point to relax more and try to limit the worrying. Also I’m going to try and pay more attention to what’s going on with the world, and the people around me! Nighty, night!

My Sweet, but Always Sickly Myah :-)

So it has been awhile since I blogged. I set a goal to blog once a week, but looks like I failed. Anyway, it has been a crazy, hectic, stress-filled, and exhausting few weeks!

In the last few weeks I have been from OKC to the East Coast, back to OKC, to the West Coast, and back to OKC. I will be back to the West Coast in a week. I'm a traveling fool! Seattle and Boston are both wonderful places to have to travel to for work, but I sure missed my little family. It is hard being away from them. So I am enjoying being home for a few weeks before my next trip.

I swear I have the absolute best husband EVER! Willie is the best Dad! He loves Myah so much and takes the best care of her. This man helps me around the house, helps tons with Myah, I truly think that Willie is one-of-a-kind! I did tell Mom today that I like him 50% of the time and the other 50% of the time I would like to strangle him. Mom preceded to tell me that is normal...LOL! All joking aside, he is GREAT and I am so thankful for him.

So as I said it has really been a rough few weeks. Myah has been sick off and on for the last three weeks. She has been waking up vomiting and having diarrhea randomly. We cant figure out what is causing her to be sick one day and then fine the following few days to then get sick in the night again. We are waiting on blood tests to come back as I type. I'm just ready for my girl to be better! Willie took good care of her when I was gone but I hate being away especially when she is sick. Sooo... we are playing the waiting game now to see what might be wrong.

We also saw the specialist a week ago for Myahs torticollis. We were exploring Botox injections in her muscle as the next course of treatment. He evaluated Myah and recommended we see a specialist out of state to determine our next step. So looks like we will be making a trip to Atlanta's Children's Hospital in the coming months to discuss surgery. Myah is not making much progress in PT or from wearing the collar. We have been going at it for almost 4 months. If this is not corrected it could cause some significant issues for Myah as she gets older. We will do whatever, and travel wherever to get Myah all better!

I also have my own health issues. My doctor thinks I have high blood pressure. I may be starting meds soon. I have been having circulation issues and other symptoms. I had HBP when I was pregnant with Myah. My doctor said that it will sometimes stay around after delivery. I will manage though. Hopefully being on Weight Watchers and continuing to lose weight will help this issue too.

So, I have now caught everyone up on our recent chaos. Praying we get everything worked out with Myah very soon. It has been rough the last few weeks emotionally and physically, but Willie, Myah, and I are incredibly blessed to have each other. I am so thankful for my little family. We can and will get through anything!

Another Fabulous Weekend....

Well it was another fabulous weekend. Spent some quality time with Willie and Myah. We went to dinner on Friday, our normal routine. It was nice. Saturday, Myah and I went to lunch with Mom and Natalie. Myah and I then went to one of my favorite kids boutiques where I got Myah a few new hairbows. We then shared a Jamba Juice! It was wonderful spending the afternoon with her.

Today, we went to lunch with Mom and Dad and then to Lowes where Willie got a new grill. It's AWESOME!!! Cant wait to try it out tomorrow. Went to Kohls as well and found Myah some new Nike water shoes and me a new swimsuit top. I'm loving my swimsuit top especially since it was 50% off, it is flattering, cute, colorful, and comfortable. It is very rare that I find a swimsuit I am this excited about. My chunky butt HATES squeezing into swimsuits. But I was super pumped to put it on this evening for an evening swim.

Speaking of chunky butt, LOL, I have been on Weight Watchers for 4 weeks. I have lost 14 lbs. YIPPEE!! I'm super excited and feel great. I have a long way to go to meet my goal, but 14 lbs in a month is a good start. Now that I have gotten comfortable with my diet, time to get comfortable with exercise. I'm going to join the gym next week. I'm feeling so good about my new healthy lifestyle and cant wait to see what I can get accomplished in the next 4 weeks!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Gotta Love Those 3 Day Weekends...

So what a nice 4th of July holiday it was spending time with my adorable, beautiful, and precious Myah, did I say beautiful already? Im a proud Momma that's for sure. She is growing up too fast. This kid is such a talker and she is just getting into everything. It's hard to keep up with her. Needless to say I think she wore everyone out over the course of the weekend.

Pawpaw got Myah a swing while we were visitng and also her first car! The car is Lightning McQueen from Cars. She pushes the horn and it says "Oh Yeah, Lightning McQueen is ready". So Myahs new phrase is "Oh Yeah". She loves that annoying little car! :-) Myah is definitely spoiled.

We had a nice relaxing day at home on the 4th. We grilled for lunch and then just lounged around the rest of the day. It was FABULOUS!

Of course I was super excited to go back to work Tuesday...NOT...but off we went, gotta pay for this expensive, spoiled little girl of mine. We had Myahs weekly PT session today which she screamed through, which is always great fun, but necessary fun.

OH and I will admit that I am totally obsessed with the Casey Anthony case. I spent the weekend watching the trial and all of the media coverage. I was on pins and needles waiting for the verdict. Of course the verdict would come out when I was in a meeting at work, unable to watch live, but I received the alert on my phone....not guilty. Im not going to soundoff here about my feelings regarding the decision, because I really see it both ways. I will say that it sickens me to think about someone dumping Myahs sweet little self in a trashy swamp and being left to decompose. That poor little beautiful Caylee, I can't stop thinking about her. It hurts my heart so much and can't even begin to understand something so awful.

Looks like July will be a busy month for us. It looks like there are a few business trips on the horizon, Willie's birthday, Myahs 18month well check, repairs to my poor hail damaged car, Myahs 18 month pictures, PT sessions, and I'm pretty sure there are things that will be added to the list.

Hope everyone has a great week! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my bestest friend in the whole wide world this Friday! Love you!

New Opportunities.....

This is a picture from last year on Myah's first 4th of July. My little firecracker!

So it has been another rough week for me. Lets just say I am definitely looking forward to the 3 day weekend! Work has been busy this week and it seems like we have had things to do after work every night this week.

This week I was assigned additional responsibilities at work. It will bring great learning opportunities for me for which I am very thankful. But as a co-worker said, "the words more experience and great opportunities is code for more work". The additional workload I'm taking on will require several business trips in the next few months. This means time away from my sweet Myah and Willie which I'm not going to enjoy. However, I am grateful for the opportunity to travel, and I plan to make the best of it.

We are going to Weatherford for the weekend to spend time with family. I'm looking forward to lounging in the pool and just relaxing with those that I love. I only dread packing for the trip. I swear since Myah has come along I feel like I have to pack everything we own when we go out of town. It takes me at least an hour just to get all of her stuff gathered up. We usually wind up with three or four different bags for only a weekend visit. CRAZY!

Well....I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July. I am grateful I get to live in this great country and enjoy the many freedoms that come with that. Thank you to those that serve or have served our country for we owe our freedom to you.

Myah's New "Necklace"....

Myah has a new "necklace", at least that is what we call it. It is really a TOT Collar to help treat her Torticollis. Myah will wear this collar as much as possible for the next month and attend Physical Therapy once a week. Our Therapist said that just wearing the collar can be more beneficial than the actual stretches we do each session. We are still planning on meeting with a doctor regarding Botox injections within the next month.

See Myah wear this contraption really bothers me. It just makes me sad that she has to go through this. Don't get me wrong, I know we are very blessed that we only have this to deal with, but it is still hard. The first night Myah wore the collar I was a complete wreck. I questioned whether we put it on her properly, was it to tight, was it hurting, I could go on and on. I kept running to the other room to cry so she wouldn't see me upset. Of course the next day my eyes were so swollen, and I was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. I am feeling better now since I've had a few days to get used to seeing her in it, and we have gotten better and faster at putting it on her.

I know the collar will help which is wonderful. For now, we just keep telling Myah how cool her new necklace is.I tell her that Momma wishes she had a necklace to wear that was as cool as hers. Myah will sometimes point at her "necklace" and says "so cool Momma"! It is ADORABLE!

Torticollis

So as many know Myah was diagnosed with Torticollis when she was around 15 months old. Torticollis is the shortening or excessive contraction of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, often causing limited range of motion in both rotation and lateral bending. The head is typically tilted in lateral bending toward the affected muscle and rotated toward the opposite side. The reported incidence of congenital torticollis is 0.3-2.0 %. Basically Myah’s head is tilted to the left side.

When Myah was around 6 months old our Pediatrician noticed that her head was flat on one side, which is fairly common in infants. However, she noticed that one of Myah’s eyes appeared to be smaller than the other. Her face was not completely symmetrical. So we went to see an Ophthalmologist to have her vision checked. Her vision was fine. We went back to the pediatrician for another wellness check and it appeared that Myah’s head was starting to round out. The flatness of her head was improving, most likely due to her becoming more mobile. So, we assumed that everything was well.

When Myah started walking we noticed that her head would tilt slightly to the left. We also noticed it in some of her pictures, but we thought it was a cutesy thing. Our Pediatrician noticed it as well and thought it warranted a visit to an Orthopedic Specialist. We went to OU Children’s Hospital where she was examined and X-Rays were taken. The Specialist advised that Myah’s bone structure looked normal, however, he determined that she has a muscular issue which is diagnosed as Torticollis.

He ordered 2-3 months of Physical Therapy, at home therapy, and a return visit in 6 months. We started PT immediately. Myah completely and totally hates it. She pretty much screams and cries the entire 30-45 minute session. It is so hard to sit with your child and listen to them scream for 45 minutes straight knowing there is nothing that you can do. I take comfort in knowing that we are doing the therapy to help her, but some days even knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. I just want to scoop her up, give her hugs and kisses, run out of that place, and comfort her. God Bless our Physical Therapist, she is amazing.

We have been doing the therapy for 2 months now. Next week, Myah will start wearing a collar that has a stint on one side. Hopefully this will help her posture by keeping her from leaning to one side. We are also going to have a consult with a Specialist about Botox treatments in the next few weeks. Apparently Botox injections into the muscle can help tremendously. It is the next treatment option before surgery is recommended. First, the specialist will have to determine if Myah is a good candidate for the procedure. If she is, we will have to weigh the risks and benefits of the procedure before deciding how to proceed. Physical therapy would be continued after the Botox treatment for another 3-4 months. If the Botox procedure doesn’t help or isn’t an option I believe that surgery will be recommended.

We will do whatever we can to help our little sweetheart. Please keep Myah in your prayers. Momma and Daddy need prayers as well. I will keep everyone updated.