"Can I caff my baby?"

The girls have been rather fixated on catheterizing their baby dolls lately (Anara in particular). It seems that all the dolls have stomas and are sporting nice bandages on their abdomens. I think it's good processing for Anara and it helps normalize things a bit. However, sometimes we have to move her on to the next activity because it seems to go on forever. Below are some pictures of the girls cathing their babies.


I missed the 1 year anniversary of her major surgery - October 19th. It was a long surgery and a longer recovery but she is perfect now. I would love to post before and after pictures but I think that might be something for her to share when she is older. If you remember, Anara was born with her bladder outside her body and her genitalia was part of the mass of organ tissue on her abdomen. Dr. Kaefer did a phenomenal job and we aren't anticipating another surgery for a few years. She will have a small procedure to create a cosmetic belly button (her umbilical cord came through the same opening as her bladder). She will have another procedure around puberty to make sure that she can function normally.

And, for those of you who aren't as familiar with Anara's cathing, here is a picture of her showing off her stoma for the camera. Anara doesn't have any remaining bladder or urethra and therefore cannot void urine through any other means. She will always catheterize herself through this little red tube in her abdomen. The red sticking out is a "Mitrofanoff Appendicovesicostomy" made from her Appendix. It connects her reservoir (her bladder is made from bowel) to the outside of her body. It is pretty amazing in the way it was made to not leak. Every three hours during the day and every 5 hours at night we stick a lubricated catheter through this channel and empty her bladder.

The redness around the stoma is irritation from bandages. It is a little puffier than usual because it was rubbing against her pajamas. Dr. Kaefer wants it to stick up the way that it does, and pink and moist indicates healthy tissue. We keep a band aid on it to keep it moist and protected - this causes minor skin irritation. The purple dot higher on her stomach is the g-tube scar. And, if you notice she currently does not have a belly button but Dr. Kaefer will fix this before she wears midriff shirts and bikinis - as if we would allow that.