Part 2

I had always thought the birth of a baby was a miracle but after Kambri was born I caught a glimpse of the magnitude of the miracle.  Although it was one of the most stressful times in our lives, the blessings poured in and we recognized God's hand in our lives, something that we had sort of lost sight of in the years previously.  The first few months of her life played a crucial role in our journey back to finding God.  God works in mysterious ways.

The first year of her life was busy.  She cried.all.the.time.  Her feet were blue and she was stiff as a board most of the time.  She would arch her back and scream.  We saw more doctors & specialists than I care to count.  We were sure something serious must be going on.  It seemed like with every appointment, more questions came.

When she was 2 1/2 months old, we thought that the eardrum in her good ear had ruptured.  The doctor insisted that because she only had one ear that we do surgery because this ear needed to function to the best of it's ability.  So on August 19, 2009 she had her first surgery.  When the doctor got in there he was in awe at what he found.  The ear drum hadn't ruptured but there was "drainage that had thickened" and he removed almost a foot of nasty gunk from her ear.  The pressure from the buildup had made her miserable and she was a different baby immediately after surgery.  The constant tears nearly ceased & she started to smile.  She relaxed and was no longer stiff.  We were able to rule out almost all of our concerns shortly after.

Just a short time later she went under anesthesia for the second time, this time for an ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) test.  The test proved that she does have an auditory nerve which meant that she could potentially gain some hearing and we were thrilled.

These results led us to Primary Children's Hospital where we met with Dr. Muntz (her surgeon) for the very first time.  I remember that appointment vividly.  We learned a little bit more about Microtia-Atresia & what our options were.  He introduced us to the possibility of surgeries but told us we just needed to let her grow up first as they can't do anything before the age of 5.

I had struggled to know if I had done something during pregnancy to cause this and he confirmed that it was simply a birth defect.  He told us that it is usually on the right side (true in her case) but is more common in boys.  Most cases look very similar and it can affect the entire face and neck.  He confirmed that the skin tag on her cheek was probably connected to the Microtia.  

He sent us to an Ophthalmologist, a Dentist and an Occupational Therapist.  The Ophthalmologist confirmed that her eyes were developed & functioning normally.  The dentist confirmed that she did have teeth, although they didn't come in until she was 14 months old.  With the whole right side of her face being affected, her little tongue hung out of her mouth all the time so the Occupational Therapist worked with her to gain muscle control so she could learn to eat & eventually speak.

The best advice we were ever given came from a doctor who said, "if you don't want her to be self-conscious then you don't be".  We took that to heart and it changed everything for this little girl.