Sweet Baby Girl

Some of you may have noticed the "bald" spot on the top of Makenzie's head. When she was born, we thought she had a run in with my pelvic bone resulting in her hair being removed and scratches on her head. At her 1 month check up the doctor wanted to wait and see if the hair would start to grow (there was hair growing around the veins on the top of her head). But her 4 month check up it was evident that the hair was not growing - nor would it. Our doctor (whom we LOVE) but in a Pediatric specialist just to confirm what he had thought (I will explain a little later). The specialist wasn't exactly sure what it was, she had never seen this before. Our doctor didn't want to send us all over Bellingham for a diagnosis so he asked if he could refer us to Children's Hospital. I went in for a routine 4 month check up and now am being told that I need to take our daughter to Children's. Shane wasn't with me, I didn't know what to do, but cry. Dr. Werner (the best doctor ever) told me he understood my fears (both of our kids are about the same age) but Children's Hospital is not only for "sick" children, it is where the top specialists are and they can diagnose this issue. After I calmed down I told him to go ahead and get the process started.

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Within a week we were scheduling an appointment at the Dermatology clinic at the Bellevue wing of Children's (my immediate response was "alright - Cheesecake Factory!"). Shane and I took the day off work and proceeded to the hospital for our appointment. We met with the Head of the Dermatology department and he was extremely nice. He explained to us that he would like to bring in a few other experts because he had never really seen this magnitude of Makenzie's "situation." Come to find out - our Dr. Werner was correct! Makenzie has Aplasia Cutis. This is a defect in the skin from gestation that means her final layer of skin was never formed when she was in the womb. When your skin forms it "seals" at the top of your head -- exactly the spot that she is bald! With that being said the doctor said this was the "prettiest form of Aplasia Cutis he had ever seen." That is why he wanted to bring in the other experts. A lot of times, Aplasia Cutis will form leasions or open sores on your head. Not with our sweet baby girl! Oh no, she is just bald. If you look at her head you will notice that she has hair growing on her protruding veins (they protrude because they don't have the protection of the skin).

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I was pretty excited to find out what it was. Alright, just be patient and we will eventually see hair, right doc?! Not exactly! In this case, Makenzie will never grow hair in that spot (that is the size of a silver dollar mind you - on the top of her head!). I looked at Shane and he could see I was devastated. I think the doctor sensed it too because he said "the first thing I want to do is get her in for a MRI to ensure that her veins are ok and not in any danger because they are so exposed. The second thing I want to do is schedule an appointment with a plastic surgeon." My baby has to see a plastic surgeon? I asked if they would simply do a skin graff over her bald spot and he said there were a couple of options but more than likely they will surgically implant saline bags into her scalp and slowly release saline to stretch the skin. They would then cut out the bald spot (like removing a mole) and seal it with the stretched skin. Gross?! Yes! And, does that mean you will see these saline bags? Yep!

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So, we left that appointment with a mixed blessing. We know that our sweet baby girl is safe, healthy and beautiful. But, we also know that we have an appointment for a MRI scheduled in 3 weeks. But, this time, she couldn't eat past 5am and would be put under. Now, you try to tell a mother that. I was a basket case for the weeks leading up to it. I was so afraid. But luckily I have an amazing husband, son and daughter to get me thru. Shane and I didn't talk to a lot of people about this. We just wanted to cherish our time, the 4 of us. Now, am I overreacting? Yes, but it is my baby and going under is going under. I know that Makenzie's issue doesn't compare to the hundreds of brave little ones at Children's but she is our daughter and we want our children to always be safe.

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Baker stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa's which made him thrilled. In fact, he was so thrilled that he decided to go to their room and cuddle at 3am. Ah, how can you say no to that? :) We drove to Seattle, giving Makenzie as much food as possible and topping her off by 5am. When we left the house, she fell asleep in the car. I was hopeful she would sleep until right before she went in for her MRI at 9:30. No such luck. She basically woke up when we got to the hospital. Man, she was a trooper. She was so excited to look around and see everything the grumbling in her stomach couldn't distract her. We arrived at the hospital early and they were able to get her in early. My parents met us at the hospital to be there for support and hang out with Makenzie.

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When we got to the recovery room we had to strip Makenzie down into a hospital gown. Can you say CUTE!?! Seriously, I wanted to take it home, but Shane told me how silly I was. Whatever! The doctor came in and told us what she was going to do. The MRI would take about 25 minutes and they would administer the "sleepy meds" now and then add the IV's to her. She did have to explain "this is not without risk, especially at her age." Yep, that's what I needed to hear. The doctor left us alone with her for a few minutes and I was able to get in my last few snuggles. I kissed Makenzie and told her that i would see her soon. The doctor came in and said "I promise to bring her back just as perfect as when I take her."
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The next 25 minutes were hell. Shane and my dad were talking, my mom was reading US Weekly and I was trying to make conversation. At that time, our sweet baby girl was wheeled back into the room in her crib. She had tubes in her nose (for breathing), she had IV's all over her and she was out. The doctor said she did fabulous. She anticipated that because of Makenzie's small size that she would wake up in about 30-40 minutes and take a couple of hours to "come out of it." I instantly went to my daughter and stroked her face and told her how much we loved her and how proud of her we were. About 10 minutes later she woke up. My mom went to get the nurse and she came in to check on her. Sure enough, she was awake. The nurse told me to go ahead and feed her and let her know when I was finished so she could check out her vitals, etc.

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I fed Makenzie and the only sound she made was when I moved her from one side to the other. I set her back in the crib and within seconds she was laughing, cooing, and banging her rattle on the crib. The nurse came in a little while later and said "I have never seen a baby bounce back as quickly as she has." Yep, that made Daddy proud :) We played, talked, and just hung out until we were ready to be released. Our sweet baby girl pulled thru with honors.

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We got the results back and the MRI came back just fine. Our next step is to meet with the plastic surgeon next Monday to go over our options of surgery. We are so blessed for our family and our healthy children.

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These are pictures at the first appointment at Children's in Bellevue

the top of Kenz's head

listening to the doctor

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The MRI appointment...

She is perfect!