Initial Diagnosis

Initially, Taylor began seeing a pediatric opthamologist when she was 2 months old for a "wandering eye" - a fairly common occurrence in babies that often resolves itself. We saw the doctor monthly and at Taylor's 7 month appt., he said that her eyes were normal now, but he was concerned about her development and recommended a MRI scan on her brain as a precaution. We consulted with our pediatrician and decided to do the MRI (even though she had to be under anesthetic) to rule out tumors/fluid on the brain/or other scary scenarios. We were very concerned about the test, but really believed it would be normal.

On Friday morning, Taylor had the MRI and it went smoothly. It's never easy to be at Children's Hospital and we're always reminded how blessed we are. The test took about 30 minutes and she woke up about 20 minutes later. The worst part was seeing her after the procedure with tubes in her nose and throat, a little tiny IV, and knocked out. She recovered quickly though and after a little hustling on Friday afternoon - we were told that the full report wasn't available yet, but the initial read was no major issues. We took comfort in this and enjoyed the week-end.

On Monday morning, after calling our pediatrician to request the final report, a doctor at his practice called me back (our pediatrician was out of town). I was expecting the nurse I'd been speaking with to call me back and knew it wasn't a good sign when it was the doctor. It was an even worse sign when he asked me if I could sit down and made sure I wasn't driving. My heart literally sank. Thankfully, Julie (our new nanny) had taken Jake to the park and Lauren was at school, so I was alone with Taylor.

He described that Taylor was born without 2 parts of her brain - the corpus callosum and the septum pellucidum. Essentially, these are the parts that connect the right and left lobes of the brain together. He said some people live normal lives with this condition and others have a range of severe problems. He couldn't provide much more info, other than to recommend that we see a neurologist and to be positive. I was devastated and David came home immediately from work. We spent the day with Taylor and gave her lots of hugs and cuddles. Last night, as I was struggling to sleep, I went back to my tried and true system of when the chips are down, count your blessings.

For Taylor, there are so many things I'm thankful for, but here is a short list:
1. every moment of her life - every cuddle, every sparkle in her eye, every big grin
2. her healthy and happy big brother and sister, who love her so much
3. her amazing dad, who is so strong and wonderful
4. our wonderful family and friends - she will always be surrounded by love
5. our top-ranked doctors and medical facilities - literally blocks from our house that can help her
6. our resources and excellent medical insurance that will allow us to give her every opportunity
7. that we have endless love, faith, and support

Julie reminded me of this verse, which I love:
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."