Sitting in the last row of the airplane as we arrived in Bismarck, might have been the most antagonizing wait of all times. I all but ran off the jet way. She was the first smiling face I saw that day and will never forget the feeling of being so complete. I was carrying Libby in a wrap and Layken just pried her out of there so fast. She just couldn’t wait to hold her little sister in her arms. Then there was me that couldn’t wait to hold Layken in my arms again as well. Finally the two sisters were together. No more face timing. A big thanks to all the friends and family that met at the airport and to those who greeted us at home. It’s so nice to have those memories captured. The picture of the four of us together as a family of four is so priceless to me and will forever be cherished. I still have it on my refrigerator and it may never come down.
The first week we made an appointment with our family Dr. She followed up with the pediatricians in Alabama and their thought that her head size was measuring on the smaller size. She ordered a CT scan right away, just to help us rule out anything. CT scan was completed and super easy. Libby was a champ for that. Results come back from that and they saw some abnormal results and would like to do an MRI. Let the whirl wind begin. Mike’s work had just switched over to new owners. So we needed to make sure all insurance was taken care of and not stuck with huge medical bills. So the MRI was scheduled for July 18th.
July 18th is yet another day I will never forget. I still have flash backs to that day whenever I drive to St. Alexius and park in the parking lot near the Emergency entrance. The pain is so strong it will bring tears flooding down my checks. I have to arrive early for any appointments there now, just to pull myself together before I enter the hospital. I am not sure when the pain of this day will every end??? Once we have Libby all checked in and ready for her MRI we are told it’s a required overnight stay for any child under the age of 6 months old. This was news to us, but oh well rearrange a few things with Layken and get all settled in. They then take us up to the room where the MRI will be performed. I thought this would be a, ok we will call you when it’s done procedure. No Mom you need to stay and hold her in your arms until she is out. Yikes yet another moment feeling your child go completely limp in your arms. I know I keep saying I won’t forget these moments. I am sure over time I will, because they will be filled we new memories of pain and also many memories of joy. For now they are deeply instilled in my memory.
Mike and I are finally able to see Missy Libby and she is crying like I have never seen her before. I tried everything to get her to calm, but she was one very unhappy baby. After about ½ hour of her screaming at the top of her lungs we are all settled in and she is eating a bottle. Later that afternoon the doctor called with the news. She felt horrible to have to deliver this news, but Miss Libby is missing her corpus callosum (medical term Agenisis of the corpus callosum). Basically she is missing the white matter of neural fibers that connect the left and right cerebral hemispheres (the right side to the left side). This came as a bit of a shock to us, but the doctor assured us that this may cause some delays, but in a lot of cases they can overcome this. Ok so this really sucks right??? But we can get through this is what we thought.
The doctor recommended that we see a pediatric neurologist. So off to Fargo we went on August 5th. From July 18th to August 5th we were feeling hopeful and finding some comfort in knowing that Libby was just missing her corpus callosum………
Loving Miss Libby 