Princess Quincy B

The beautiful Princess Quincy Bauder was born at the end of February.

Quincy was born with a rare condition called craniosynostosis. While kissing every last inch of her beautiful face, Chelle and Mike (Quincy's parents) noticed that directly above one of her eyes looked just a tad different than the other side. They questioned the doctors about it. Due to their intuition and persistence, it was caught very early. Since the initial doctor appointment, it has been a time of uncertainty.

It has been confirmed that Quincy has a mild form of this "condition in which one or more of the fibrous sutures in an infant skull prematurely fuses by turning into bone, thereby changing the growth pattern of the skull. Because the skull cannot expand perpendicular to the fused suture, it compensates by growing more in the direction parallel to the closed sutures." (Wikipedia)

One out of four of Q's sutures is fused together. In order for her brain to have the room to grow properly, Quincy needs to have surgery. The surgery is a lengthy one that is very involved. The surgeons will make an incision from ear to ear and remove the whole front portion/bone of her skull and reshape it. They will put the skull back together and put in dissolvable plates where it used to be fused together.

This surgery is very involved requires a neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon and two teams of nurses that will huddle around this sweet infant princess. It will require blood transfusions, a breathing tube, iv, etc. The surgery will take place at the Cleveland Clinic. The family will need support of different kinds when Quincy has surgery, but most of all prayers!

On September 17th (after postponing the surgery once), they performed the very involved surgery on Quincy...

They took Quincy back to the OR. They took her back in her jammies and as they were carrying her, she was trying to pull off the glasses and surgical mask of the sweet 32 year old mother who understands our pain (AKA the anesthesiologist). They will put Quincy under using a mask and then do all of the IV's, breathing and feeding tubes. They wait until she is under so that she doesn't even know it's all happening. She will most likely stay under anesthetic the entire night tonight until they are ready to remove the breathing tube tomorrow. (Breathing tubes are foreign and uncomfortable to an adult, but can be explained as necessary...Quincy would not understand the need for the tube and would most likely try to rip it out.)

Everything was going as planned until...

They had a meeting with the neurosurgeon (who they love), and there was a minor complication but it is now under control but that means the surgery is taking a little bit longer than anticipated. We still have a couple more hours to go. (OVER 10 HOURS IN SURGERY)

There was a tear in the Dura around her brain and her brain swelled a little bit. They had to wait for the swelling to go down so they could stitch the Dura back up. The adored and loved Dr. Recinos says not to worry. She just wants to make sure the beautiful Q is perfect. Always best to error on the safe side.

The doctors and staff want to make sure there's no bleeding or not too much bruising in her brain in that spot.

September 18th (Day after surgery)
Quincy had a good night. One little episode where she was "fighting" the breathing tube, but they were able to get her settled down and gave her some additional pain medicine. She has been resting peacefully since this little episode.

HER CT SCAN CAME BACK ALLLLLLLLL CLEAR. She is expected to make a full and complete recovery.

She is connected to a bunch of monitors and everything is reading exactly as it should. Today they plan to *HOPEFULLY* remove the breathing tube. Let's all pray that she is able to breathe on her own.
If they are able to sucessfully remove the breathing tube, they will decrease the pain medicine to let her wake up a little bit at a time. We are hoping that she might even get to eat a little today in some way (might have to be via the ng tube or a bottle, but the hope is to let her eat today if possible).

Because of all the wires, especially the drainage tube in the back of her precious little head, Mommy and Dada probably will not get to hold her yet today...BUT, the kind nurses (Molly in particular) are trying to work out a way to let them co-sleep and lay next to the little princess.

She is so sweet and beautiful, but swollen all over. The swelling was expected and will get worse before it gets better, but it's heartbreaking to see a little one this way.

Thanks to God's work and the vigilant and noisy praying from the hearts of so many, she has made it through the hardest part. Chelle: I had to stop myself from cartwheeling in the hallways last night when the surgery was finally over!!

Angi is taking wonderful care of Quincy's older sisters. They were all bouncing around and smiling as they left for school this morning. Missy is home safe and sound is off to work today.

The surgeons, nurses and staff have been amazing and even though we are only just beginning the recovery process, we are thankful.


The beautiful princess has opened her eyes for Mom and dada (HOW DARE SHE SAY DADA FIRST WHEN MOM FEEDS HER DAY AND NIGHT!!). The doctors and staff have reassured Mom and Dad that Quinnie is aware that they are there with her.

THANKFUL AND BLESSED, We ask for continued prayers of healing and strength. 

September 18th PM:

The worst is over, but the Bauders still need us praying...Tonight, I want you to invite your child(ren) to join you.

Why, you ask?

Because all Quincy's Mommy and Dada want to do is cuddle their sweet baby up and hold her close, kiss her sweet cheeks and love on her, but they can't. Quincy is waking up periodically and crying for her parents, but they can't do anything. Completely helpless, they have to sing and talk to her in an attempt to calm her down. Quincy is used to Chelle and Mike jumping at her first cry and I'm sure she's confused as to why they can't just pick her up and she's looking at them with her swollen little eyes...

And it's breaking Mommy and Dada's heart.

Good news: They were able to take out the breathing tube and Q is breathing on her own with a little oxygen in her nasal cannula. This is the progress we are all praying for.

Quincy, Mommy and Dada are all staying the night in the ICU again tonight with hopes of being moved to step down tomorrow. The swelling in Quincy's face is getting worse, but the rest of her body is improving. This is what the doctors expected, but it does NOT make Mommy and Dada feel any better seeing their little angel this way. Both of them can't wait to see her beautiful face without the swelling.

Chelle is hoping and PRAYING that she will get to feed her late this evening and lay in bed with her.

In case she doesn't get to, please lay in bed with your monsters and say a prayer for Quinnie, Chelle, Mike, Greta, Macey and Zoey  

September 19th:

Some good news this am! It's been a busy nite and am. I fed Quinnie a bottle around 10 last nite and she sucked it down so they let me nurse her laying next to her and she's doing so well with it. ❤️

This morning they helped me hold her in my arms and feed her--the best ever. I'm still in her bed holding her and it's heaven to have her in my arms so close.

She's going to get rid of some of the tubes this am--her catheter, another iv (so she'll just have 1left on each foot), the monitors and blood pressure cuff, and the oxygen tubing. So all she'll have is the 2 ivs and the drainage tube in the back of her head, which is great improvement.

Her left eye is swollen shut now too, and she keeps trying to rub at them as if to clean them out so she can see. It's so sad. She's rather fussy, but her cry sounds better and it's good for her to squirm around and make some noise. She's had morphine and Tylenol within the last hour but slept pretty well for not having had any since 2 am.

We are moving to the step down unit once all her tubes are off, so that too is good.

It's going to be a couple rough days because it's hard for her to understand why she can't open her eyes, and now that she's becoming more alert I think she's feeling more uncomfortable. But hopefully by Sunday enough of the swelling will be down that she'll be able to open those pretty blue eyes again. ❤️

The sun is shining and the healing is happening. Thanks so much for the continued love and support

 

September 20:

 

Last night wasn't a great night for Quincy. The monsters tried to come out. When they transferred her from the PICU to step down, they decided to stop the pain meds or at least start to wean her off of them. They wanted to wait until Q was showing signs of discomfort before they gave her the pain medicine...but they weren't thinking about the monsters that like to come out at night. By 11pm the poor baby would not eat and was not feeling well...at all. She wouldn't even take Tylenol at this point and they had to give her a Tylenol suppository around 5am this morning. TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE. The monsters didn't go back under the bed until sunrise (and a new nurse who agreed that Q needed a little morphine in her IV to take the edge off).

Quincy did not get much rest...and neither did Mommy and Daddy.

BUT, the sun is shining now. They have ordered alternating Tylenol and oxycodone to prevent this from happening again. If Quincy is feeling better, they have the option to skip a dose here and there, but at least they have the option if her pain starts to get out of control again. KEEP THE MONSTERS AWAY TONIGHT!

Quinnie has a new doctor on this floor and the neoro and plastics team are checking in less and less. She finally ate well in Mommy's arms after refusing most of the night. HER SWEET BLUE EYES ARE PEEKING OUT EVEN MORE WITH THE FRESH SUNSHINE OF THE DAY.

From Chelle: Thanks to everyone for the unbelievable volume of support and prayers. It gives us such courage, strength and peace of heart to know Quincy is being lifted up by so many in prayer. We are truly blessed!! 

So, that's the story...quick and unedited, but available to read!