Owen's Special Thumb

Just before Owen turned two, I noticed that his right thumb was in a bent position all of the time. I tried to straighten it, but it would not budge.  My first panicked thoughts were that he had somehow broken his thumb without me knowing it and it had healed wrong or something.  Luckily his two year check-up was a week later, so I brought it up to his pediatrician.  She said he probably has a condition called a congenital trigger thumb.  It is very rare but is easily fixed with a minor surgery.  She gave me the name of a hand specialist and said that it could be fixed at any time.

Over the past year, his thumb has looked like this for about 98% of the time. 

Occasionally he will come to me and say, "Hey, mom! My thumb's working today!" and sure enough, he can completely straighten it.  However, when it straightens, there is a "clicking" noise/feeling when you touch it.  It will usually work for a few minutes and then go back to being stuck.

I had put his trigger thumb on hold because Owen had his two other surgeries this past year.  I wanted to give him a break from doctors and surgeries for awhile.  However, with the baby coming soon, I figured it would be good to get it done before my life gets crazy again.  Also I was getting concerned that with his thumb being stuck it wouldn't grow properly, so I finally took him in to the hand specialist. 

He made a quick diagnosis and Owen is scheduled for surgery on September 12th.  Owen told me that he will be happy to have his thumb fixed.  It doesn't seem to cause him pain, so that is good.  I am curious as to what hand he will use after his thumb is fixed.  He has been using his left hand for everything - eating, drawing, throwing, etc. - because it's hard for him to hold things with his right hand.  I am excited that he can get taken care of and have full use of both of his hands soon.  I will miss his crooked thumbs up, though.  It sure is cute!

Baby Girl

I got to have a 3D ultrasound of my little girl last week! It was so much fun to see her face!  I think she looks similar to Owen, but maybe a little less like Rick and more like me. :)  We can't wait to meet our baby girl!

Pirate Birthday Party

Over the weekend we celebrated Owen's 3rd birthday with a party at the park beside our house. It was mostly family with a few friends.  Owen had been looking forward to his pirate party and was so excited that the time was finally here! I was afraid that he might get overwhelmed when everyone sang to him because he has a tendency to be shy, but he loved it! He had the biggest grin on his face and enjoyed every minute. Here are some pictures to document the occasion.

 Rick and I can't believe that our little Owen is going to be three! The time sure has flown by so fast. More birthday celebrating to come next Sunday (his real birthday).

Pregnancy Update

I realized that I haven't been doing a very good job of documenting this pregnancy on the blog so it's time for an update. I had a check-up last week. I was 25 weeks but measured 27.  I remember always measuring about 2 weeks ahead with Owen, too. When they took my blood pressure, it was higher than it had been in the past so they told me to try to rest this week and come in again today to re-check it.  Well, apparently I didn't do a good job of resting because it was still high. So...............I have to rest as much as possible for the remainder of the pregnancy. Also I have to get some blood work done just to make sure everything else looks okay. So far there are no other signs of pre-eclampsia, so that is a good thing.  It looks like I'm starting bed rest a little bit earlier than last time. It's going to be a lot harder with an almost 3 year old to take care of.  I also have to take the gestational diabetes test this week. I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to deal with that issue.