Wow, whoever the "they" are that claims time flies, wasn't joking. I feel like there is no possible way that so much time has gone by since the last time I updated. The last post was how we managed to get Cam his three fingers, it took us awhile, and several cancelled surgeries, but he finally had his first finger separation surgery back in May, and in June we saw the end result of this journey with getting him some fingers...well separated fingers! Since then his hands have been serving him well. He was cautious at first, he didn't want to use his fingers separately and had no intentions on acting as if they were separated. The only big thing at first was that he didn't want to walk for fear of falling, and he was very careful not to hit his hands on anything. I will say that I am so impressed with his surgeon and the team in Boston. Cam's fingers look amazing, and the best part was that after the casts came off, besides having to put splints on his hands at night, there were no dressing changes, which I hear is very common with alot of other kiddos when they have their surgery. Not that it's a bad thing to have to have dressing changes, I'm just grateful that I didn't have to do that with Cam, because it looks painful and with a toddler I'm not sure that it's the most feasible. The splints lasted about 6 weeks, and then we were done. Now Cameron will use his fingers or at least his pointer with some activities, and is doing very well with his OT on the skills she works with him on. I'm always so humbled by his strength and courage. He doesn't know how amazing he is. None of the kiddos that face things like this realize the impact they make on others. Their ability to handle such hard circumstances is awe inspiring. Cameron is awe inspiring. He is so wonderful and brave. And now he is a crazy, funny, independent two year old!!!
Cameron turned two on August 15th. He celebrated with his friends and family at his very cool Elmo party. He even dressed up as Elmo. He was showered with lots of gifts and toys to last him until his next birthday. One of his very best friends, Stella, gave him an Elmo drum set, and because her mom is so creative they gave Cameron a fish. Dorthy in a tank to be exact, since Elmo has a fish, Cameron needed one too.....I couldn't have thanked Stella's mommy enough...(Ashley if you read this, that is sarcasm :) ). We still have Dorthy...somehow she is still alive and kicking...or swimming. Paul's parents even came in from Florida to be here to celebrate Cam's big day. It was alot of fun, and we felt very blessed to have so many people that love Cam come together to celebrate our sweet boy's big day.
Also in big news, we added the newest member of our family on August 23rd. That's right, Max Mclaurin Elliott came into the world weighing a whopping 7 lbs 12 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long. He was a big boy for being 3 weeks early. I had a scheduled c-section because of me being diagnosed with pre-eclampisa around 32 weeks. I was able to manage it fairly well, but around 37 weeks it can start getting worse more quickly so they decided it would be safest to do the c-section at 37 weeks. So that morning as I prayed for God to protect us, I was wheeled into the operating room and about 20 minutes later Max was here. He was doing great at first. He was given agar's of 9 and 10, but when they took him to the nursery to weigh him and clean him up he started having some trouble breathing. They put him under an oxygen hood, but later realized that he had something called RDS. It stands for respiratory distress syndrome. Something not too uncommon for c-section babies and babies born a little early. So Max had to be transferred to a hospital we were all to familiar with in Winston Salem called Brenners. This is the place that Cam was born and where we spent most of his first year. Not a place we were to excited about returning too. But Max needed something more than what our small town hospital could provide, so off we went. Max did very well there and after 6 days he was ready to come home. We left the hospital on August 31st. Paul's birthday and the day after Max had turned 1 week. It was a very good day all around. I was so excited to get home to see Cam who had been with my in-laws for the past four days, the longest I had ever been without him, and It was a happy reunion...for me at least. He seemed happy as could be playing with his YaYa and Grandaddy. Cameron meeting Max was a sweet sight, even though he wasn't too fond at first. He has slowly started to come around, and will even give Max a kiss now. I love looking at my two boys. My family is complete, and I feel so blessed to have Cameron and Max in my life. Just me and my three boys!
So what's coming up? Well at the end of October we will be heading back up to Boston to give Cam the rest of his fingers. October 30th Cam will go back for surgery again in what will hopefully be an uneventful but successful surgery to complete his finger separation. I would like to think that by now this would be routine. But it's not. It's surgery. It's traveling for surgery. It's keeping Cameron well so we don't have to cancel. It's travelling with two kids this time instead of just Cam. It's knowing that he will be in pain, and having my heart break when I have to hand him over to the surgeons. It's unfair. It's just unfair. But I know that God is in this. He is with us and will be with us even when I'm yelling at him because I'm scared and afraid. I know that God loves us, and as much as I'd like to blame God sometimes for the scary times in my life I've come to realize that those scary times have molded me. They have made me who I am now, and who I am grateful to be. Not that I was a bad person before, but the gift of Cameron is truly something that I am blessed to have and that I needed. What Paul and I both needed. I often think I could quite possibly be the most unlucky person in the world, because of the events that sometimes occur in my life. But then I am reminded that there is no way I can consider myself unlucky when I look around. Cameron and Max are two of the most amazing blessings. I just need to be reminded of that sometimes. This surgery does scare me. Surgery always scares me. I would do it for Cam a thousand times before having him go through this, but I can't. So I sit by his bed, I hold him, and I pray for him while he goes through it, and while he triumphs. But we do appreciate everyone prayers as we enter into this next month. Prayers for health, and positivity, and safety.
I promise I will try to do better on my updates. This two kid thing is going to take some getting used to but I'm sure things will be great and I will be able to make Cam's blog more of a priority for those of you that keep up with us this way. Thanks so much for reading and loving us. We are more appreciative than you will ever know.
