You would never know.....

...other than the way her face looks, that this girl had surgery 5 days ago. On Friday, she came home not only with stitches and tissue expanders, but also with attitude! I'll be honest though, I'd rather attitude than a miserable child on my hands.

Saturday was filled with visits from Uncle Pete, Aunt Lynne, Jasper and Kate, as well as Oma and Aunt Jackie. Keziah's face was still a bit swollen at this time and so was her attitude: she had thrown all her toys off the couch and onto the floor. Being the mean mom that I am, she had to clean them up. Well, she didn't like that too much!! I left the room to let her figure it out. After a few minutes I hear her crying "my owie hurts!". I dropped everything and ran to her, cuddling, hugging and wiping her tears away (as well as trying hard not to cry myself for her, thinking it was her face that hurt!). I then asked her where it hurt and the stinker points to a small scratch on her foot!! :o)

She also saw herself in the mirror on Saturday for the first time and she was not impressed, saying "I don't like it. The hosible painted my face!". She was pointing to the pen marks the doctor had made on her face. She never pointed out the expanders, just the pen marks.

Sunday she woke up with her eyes almost swollen shut and yellow bruising around them, and on her forehead. She was quite the sight! But it didn't stop her! And she didn't seem to be in any pain.

Today, the swelling has gone down some more. There is now bruising on her cheek and under her jaw.

Her incisions need to be cared for twice a day, washing with Q-tips and then Polysporin is put on them. The first night she kicked and screamed, which left me and her in tears. The second time went better and it has gotten better ever since, to the point that now I can clean them without daddy even holding her. So there is progress!

We are so thankful to see her running around, playing, singing, and smiling like nothing happened. Despite her attitude (which shows she's like any other 2.5 year old), she is a lot of fun and that sparkle is back in her eyes.

Here are some pictures of the last few days.

She looks like she has a cheek packed full of food, but no, there is nothing in her mouth. This was taken on Saturday.


You can see the cheek expander here. The port for it is right above her ear, under the skin. When they do the fill ups, they will numb the skin and then insert the needle right there. The other port is in her hairline. You can't see either one on the picture, but there are two lumps.


This was taken today. The forehead expander is popping out and it looks like she's has a good-sized goose egg.


Sometimes I have to hold the urge to just give those cheeks a pinch! They look so squishable! That is, until you touch her left cheek, which is rock hard!


Her colourful jawline



See why she has her daddy wrapped? Who could resist that spunky-full-of-life expression?


Her first fill up will be on Wednesday, April 25th at 9 in the morning. Just when we are used to her face this way, it'll change again! But like many pointed out, her bubbly personality is still the same, and that is what counts!