9.13.2007

ANDY'S TURN

Meet Andy (actually Andrea Carolina)... She's our baby who is TOTALLY daddy's girl... Daddy even takes her to school ... not me ...

Andy was born with craniosynostosis which is a birth defect ... thank God, she was detected early on (DH was the first one to notice it at 2 weeks old)... and was operated on at 5 months old... Here's what she'd look like if she hadn't been operated:

http://www.safebryo.cz/images/oblicej/craniosynostosis.jpg

And the following shows the cuts that she has on her head/skull...
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/vol100/issue1/images/large/pe0772829002.jpeg

Basically, craniosynostosis is a condition (or actually Andy's condition/case) in which only one side of the face would grow .... but look at her now... all grown up and aside from one eye being slightly smaller, no other facial features are evident...

Andy is a sweetheart and the last pic is absolutely HER!!!! Simply adorable... but what else can I say huh? She melts my heart that little one...



18 comments:

Debra said...

she is a beautiful little girl.... i'm sure you are very proud of her... glad to see you on 2ps.. been missing ya!!!

Mom2Drew said...

I don't even see one eye being smaller than the other, she looks PERFECT! What a miracle!

Cindi Koceich said...

She is adorable and you captured the perfect expression on her face!

amazing grace said...

beautiful girl!!! love her smile and hearing her story....:)

blessings,
leah

Lauren Hartman said...

She is just beautiful Cristina! You'd never know she was born with a birth defect. Kudos to your DH for catching on to it right away, what a great father!

Erika said...

Wow! Great story and beautiful girl. I couldn't see anything different with her eyes either. I'm glad DH caught it!

Jen said...

That last one is gorgeous! You definitely can't tell that anything was ever up.

Michelle said...

she is beautiful! how fortunate you were to catch that early on. kudos to you both! and i can't see an eye problem at all. all i see is one gorgeous little girl who looks ready to take on the world! you go, girl!

Trisha said...

She's gorgeous! I can't notice a difference in her eyes...even with it being pointed out!

Lorrie said...

wow! I would've NEVER guessed. She is absolutely adorable, and omg -- that shot of her in the blue is breathtaking. I mean, she is seriously beautiful Cristina! I can't even see that one eye is smaller...
Thank God for medical advances huh?

Sara said...

Love these pics, they capture your little one as the perfect miracle she is.

Sue said...

She's a beautiful and inspiring little girl!

Kathy King Photographer said...

Beautiful pictures of a beautiful little girl. Thank you for sharing your story. We sometimes forget the things that are really most important in life. By the way that is one of the cutest outfits I have ever seen.

Heather Taylor Photography said...

She is adorable, and I'm so glad she's okay! LOVE that last photo!

Tera Fraley said...

too adorable!! What a cutie and looks like shes doing great!!

Deb said...

I would have never known there was a problem if you hadn't said anything. I am trying to figure out which eye is smaller. She looks THAT good. Yay dh on catching that...

My first thought was, they shaved her beautiful hair, but look how lovely it grew back :)

Beautiful pics.

Melissa said...

She is just gorgeous! Never would have known and I see nothing different about her. . . she's perfect! She truly is beautiful and love the last shot!

Anonymous said...

I would like to say thank you for posting this story. I am goign through this with my daughter right now and it is so emotional and hard to go through. She is my first child and I'm 22 having to go through this without ever even knowing about what craniosynostosis is. But your daughter's pictures really showed me that after the surgery she will look normal like your daughter and people that haven't met her will never know unless I said anything about it. Thank you so much.