Thankful

This week we had an eye opening experience that made us realize how lucky we are to have a happy, healthy baby boy.  We spent several hours at the hospital on Monday with Riley because his pediatrician thought that his head plates may have fused together too early, and that he may require head surgery.  He has a ridge that goes across the top of his head that was cause for concern, so we started the day with x-rays (which… I have to add… he was SO good for. The x-ray technicians explained that the babies always cry during the entire experience, but Riley just loved looking at the bright lights!).  Then we headed to the opposite end of the hospital campus to meet with a Caniofacial Surgeon.  The office was full of young children with clef pallets, major facial deformities, tracheotomies, ports in their heads…etc…and it just broke our hearts to see what these kids have to deal with everyday.  We could hear the doctor through the wall of our exam room talking to another family about the numerous surgeries their children (yes, they have two children with this particular disorder!) would have to endure over their lifetime.  The doctor then spent a total of 30 seconds with us, and said that Riley is perfectly fine (thank goodness!) and I felt guilty for being annoyed that our appointment was on the opposite side of the campus, not covered by insurance, and ended at rush hour.  In the scheme of things, these things are trivial and we are so incredibly blessed.  We spent the ride home talking about how lucky we are to have our healthy baby, and we both will never forget this experience or those resilient children.