How's Hudsyn??

Baby girl is 4 months old! She keeps us hoppin' and never lets us forget she's the princess! She has had a rough week - in the hospital with RSV, but she's a trooper and still has a smile on her sweet little face (as long as she is being held of course). ;)

I've said it lots of times before.... but we truly do have the best people in our lives! Although the first several months of Hudsyn's life have been eventful, they will be memorable! We have received tremendous amounts of support through sweet Facebook and text messages, phone calls, visitors, monetary help, encouraging cards, and yummy home-cooked meals. Many of these are things I used to take for granted, but mean so much to me now. As a mother, hearing and reading encouraging words and being told I am doing a good job is one of the most impactful things for me. Over the last several weeks I have heard these words from several people - just when I needed them! I have come to realize that God's timing is perfect - whether I realize it or not. He knew just when I was feeling defeated as a mother and sent these sweet people to encourage and support me. I am so grateful for each and every person who has encouraged and/or helped us in ANY way. We are SO blessed.

Just like many young couples starting their lives and raising children, Isaac and I were not financially prepared for the medical bills we have and will continue to incur in order to ensure we get the best care for our sweet Hudsyn. God, however, has a plan! The last month has been a roller coaster dealing with insurance, bills, copays, deductibles, in and out of network services, and so on.... We were unsure how things would work out for a short period of time, but later received great news - in more than one form - assuring us that Hudsyn will continue to receive the best care and we won't even have to eat ramen noodles for the rest of our lives ;). Kidding. We would do whatever it took to provide the very best care for either one of our babies, but not having to stress about it so much definitely makes things easier! :)









































Recently, Isaac and a friend hosted a coyote hunt which paid out more than 90% to the winners. The day after the contest, a member of the first place team - someone we've known for years, but expected nothing from - came by our house and donated his part of the winnings to our family to help with medical bills and expenses. These are the kinds of people I cannot imagine this world without. I am so grateful for people like him!




Our sweet babies are SO loved!! I have never been more thankful for our small community and the wonderful caring people who live here!

This little lady has RSV and spent Friday, Friday night, and Saturday in the hospital trying to get well. Luckily, the breathing treatments every 2 hours were effective and we got to come home Saturday evening. We will continue to do treatments at home to ensure she makes a full recovery. We need her to be 100% healthy by surgery time!






We spent most of our time in the "croup tent" while we were at the hospital. Sissy was a trooper though, and didn't fuss much at all.


























Because she was in isolation and Barrett is so young, he was not allowed to come in and see her at the hospital. He was heart broken. He kept saying "but, my sis is missin' me!" He is the sweetest big brother and he was SO excited to see her when we got home.








Although it has been a pretty crazy week, I wouldn't change this precious family for the world! We are so very blessed!

We finally have a date for this doll baby to have her second lip surgery.





Wednesday, February 15th Dr. Smith and his team will work their magic on Hudsyn's lip/nose again to (most likely) complete the cleft lip repair.

At the follow-up appointment from the first procedure, Dr. Smith compared a cleft lip to an empty room. If he asked me to paint all four walls of the room the same color, it would be no big deal... you would paint the edges and then roll the paint on the walls. But, if he asked you to paint all of the walls of a room with two additional walls in it, it would require additional paint and supplies. A cleft lip is like "extra walls." When we think of a cleft lip we tend to think there isn't enough skin or tissue... thus the "hole" - however, there is actually extra.

During her first surgery, Dr. Smith removed and discarded some tissue to begin smoothing out the top lip. He will open the same incisions and remove additional skin and/or tissue to finish that process. She will also have nasal stents for approximately 7-10 days again to help shape her sweet little nose.

When he placed the stitches during the first surgery he used fairly "tough" material to make sure it would hold while her skin healed and stretched. This time he will use quick dissolving stitches which will help her lip to heal with little scarring.

We are eager to have this second surgery out of the way so we can have a break before the palate repair when she is 1-ish. We were told to expect basically the same thing as the first surgery. The procedure and recovery will both be very similar. Although we of course wish she didn't have to be put under anesthesia and endure the stress and pain of another surgery, we know God still has a plan and is making this little lady one tough cookie!!

Her adorable smile and bright eyes have the ability to turn bad days to good ones and those smiles are contagious :).