Although the title of this blog is cute and witty, there’s nothing remotely positive about what our little boy has been through over the past couple weeks. It all started when we went in for a few of his follow up appointments 2 1/2 weeks since he was discharged from the NICU. During his head ultrasound Wednesday, 23 July, they identified that his hydrocephalus had gotten worse since he left the hospital a couple weeks prior. We were referred to neurosurgery and AnthonyPaul was immediately readmitted to the hospital. Although he wasn’t showing any external symptoms, the fear with hydrocephalus is the build up of pressure that could cause serious brain damage. They did an MRI the next day on Thursday and identified the cause of the blockage…aqueductal stenosis. They scheduled AnthonyPaul for surgery the next on Friday, 25 July. The procedure (endoscopic third ventriculostomy – ETV) uses a small camera to lead them to the center of the brain where the surgeon makes a small hole in the floor of the ventricle so spinal fluid can bypass the blockage. There were no complications and they let us go home the following day, Saturday. On Sunday, I noticed AnthonyPaul was sleeping a little more than usual. I assumed he was just recovering from surgery and the hospital stay, but I called the doctor just in case. They had us come into the hospital so they could do a quick head ultrasound. Low and behold, his ventricles were still enlarged. They admitted our baby boy AGAIN! We knew going into the ETV surgery past Friday that there is a slightly lower success rate for infants, but we were willing to give it a chance before the alternative shunt placement. Long story short, after a week long stay in the hospital and a repeat MRI and head ultrasounds, we determined it was best to proceed with placing a shunt to drain the fluid. So this past Friday, 1 August, just one week after the ETV surgery, our baby had a SECOND brain surgery. Thankfully there were no complications during surgery and he was again discharged the next day on Saturday, 2 August. His head ultrasound 3 days later on Monday, 5 August, shown that cerebral spinal fluid is being drained. AnthonyPaul will have the shunt in for the rest of his life. There is always a chance that the shunt could fail and need replacement, but for now we pray that this is the last of his hospital stays and he can focus on recovering. Despite everything, our baby boy is doing well and proving to us that he is tougher than anyone should ever have to be. His incisions are healing and he’s showing less signs of discomfort from the surgery itself.
Waiting for radiologists to talk to us about his ultrasound
Picture of his MRI. The green circle shows the blockage and the orange square is where they were going to make the hole for the endoscopic third ventriculostomy.
First hair cut. The surgeon saved his hair clipping for us to put in his baby book.
Holding my boy after surgery
You can see the incision they made at the top of his head, covered with ointment. 
Going home after surgery #1.
Hanging out in the hospital after he was admitted for the 3rd time.
In the Pediatric ICU after his shunt surgery.
Baby’s second hair cut.
Going home…hopefully for good this time.
Daddy giving baby a haircut to even everything out.
Still stinkin cute
During all of this, the girls were able to stay with my aunt (thanks SO, SO much, Tita!). They have been such troopers.
We are blessed.