Germany-The Health Stuff

At the end of May we took a quick family visit to Germany.  We had been planning on tagging along with Josh, who had a medical appointment, but ended up there for reasons of our own.  Maddy has always had a bit of a different head shape.  I'm sure in the grand scheme of things the shape is completely normal.  It just caught our attention because frankly Mara's head was perfect.  We brought this up to our pediatrician here and took pictures for our health insurance.  It was enough evidence to warrant a trip to Landstuhl for some additional testing.

Maddy's first flight...wearing the same outfit as Mara did on hers!

The girls did great on the plane rides.  We flew through Istanbul and then onto Frankfurt.  Maddy slept through most of her first plane ride while Mara kept entertained by the in flight shows and looking out the window.  I was really impressed by Turkish Airlines and we'll likely fly them again in the future.

You got to do what you got to do

As soon as we arrived we grabbed our bags....of course Maddy's stroller was the absolute last thing to come off the plane...and made our way to the rental car place.  Getting the car was simple it was getting the seats installed that was a real headache.  What is it about European cars?  I couldn't find the anchor clip for Mara's seat ending up wrapping it around something else and then the seat belt didn't lock for Maddy's!  I hate having to worry about this when we travel.  I mean the seats should just work!!

She's all like I'm a pro with this flying thing

Anyways after about 45 minutes of wrestling them I was somewhat satisfied with their safety and it was off to the base.  Thankfully after a bit of playing around with the GPS we got it switched to English and our destination plugged in.  That night we laid low, ate at Chili's and enjoyed a slice of America ;)

Maddy's appointment was early so she had to stop feeding at 3 that morning.  This made me so nervous.  I went in about 15 till and fed her really trying to completely empty myself and get her super full.  It must have worked because she was a happy girl for the morning!  We headed in and got her pre-test paperwork filled out.

This was the longest part of the whole day.  We had the pediatrician come in then the anesthesiologist.  Finally at about 9:15 they were able to administer the sedative.  I was so nervous about this as I couldn't imagine my 4 month old being put under.  Thankfully it was just a nasal spray and no iv's had to be put in.  They let me carry her down to the CT scan and place her in the brace.

I was a Mama Bear mess this day

The test itself was so quick I barely had time to go to the restroom before they were calling me back to pick her up again.  I was so thankful that Josh was also there to watch Mara as I got to go into the recovery room with Maddy and feed/hold her.  Once they established her oxygen levels and temperature they let us take her home.  The rest of the day she slept a lot but overall did great!

Mara was such a trooper.  We may have broken the no eating rule...

Our second day in Germany was spent back at the hospital.  We first went to Maddy's consultation with the pediatrician to get the results.  He said her fontanels were still pretty open and he wasn't super concerned with the shape of her head.  He went on to mention that the helmets we thought we may have to get really haven't been shown to do much.  They are costly and Tricare doesn't even cover it! In fact he imagines the shape of her head will get better and rounder with time as she learns to sit up on her own. I am thankful to spare her that.  It would have been hard to coordinate that living in Georgia.

After Maddy's clean bill of health, Josh had his follow-up appointment too.  He got the all clear too and we spent the rest of the night relaxing at our apartment on base.  I am so thankful that we were able to travel together to Germany.  I wouldn't have wanted to face Maddy's appointment alone and was so thankful to have Josh alongside.  I am grateful that we don't have to wonder anymore and have confidence that her head is okay.