Meet the Cousins!

My oldest Cousin Kiley held me like a pro!

Leah & Kiley

Cousin Ben...Shortly after this pic Kaden sneezed on Ben's  jersey and Ben said, "Alright,  I'm done holding him"!!

My new ride!!!

Kaden passed the car seat test today!!! 

7 pounder :-)

Tummy time ......Forrest makes sure to get in most of the pics too :-)

Chunky cheeks!!

Today the Visiting Nurse came to give Kaden his December Synagis shot which he will get every 30 days through the winter season. It lessens the severity if he was to get RSV with him being a preemie. She also weighed him and he is now 7 lbs!! We are off to St. Luke's tomorrow to repeat and hopefully pass the car seat test so we can get rid of the crappy car bed for GOOD!!!

Today was my due date!!

Concerned Forrest checking on Kaden!! He sure has been a good kitty! 

I've DOUBLED!!

Today we went back to the Pediatrician for a check up and Kaden now weighs 6 lbs 9 oz! His Pediatrician said he is right on target with the amt of formula he is taking in a day and the amt of weight he is gaining related to his gestation at birth. We go back again in two weeks and at that time he will start his routine immunization shots...(poor guy doesn't know whats coming :-(  He is to continue taking Zantac and they re-calculated his dose again taking his current weight into account. While in town we also went back to the eye Dr. for an appointment and everything checked out good there, so he doesn't have to go back again until he is 6 months old. Thankfully no more apts until next Wednesday when we go back to St. Lukes for the 90 min car seat test again to see if we can get rid of the ridiculous Car Bed.....which we will WILLINGLY return!!!!!! I wouldn't wish that car bed on anyone!!! It is so non-user-friendly!!!

I'm 8 weeks old today!!!

Nothing new....just a picture!

Yesterday we went to the Urologist for consultation and it was decided that we will go back next December 2011 for the decision on how his circumcision will be performed related to the hypospadias. Poor guy :-(  As for next week, we go back to the Pediatrician and Eye Dr. for routine follow up appointments. It seems he is right between sizes in clothes right now... preemie stuff is getting snug but newborn sizes are still just a tiny bit too big! As for diapers though....we have made the switch to newborn ones!!! He almost consistently will take 3 oz in a bottle and sometimes almost 4 oz! Today he would have been 39 weeks gestation if still in the womb where he is supposed to be! 

Tummy time in my preemie moose outfit that is almost too small for me now!! 

Wrapped up like a little burrito in my Halo Sack! 

Perfect Little Feet :-)

Tuesday Pics

I'm getting eyebrows!! 

Trying out my swing!

ER Visit

Well last evening when I went to change Kaden's wet diaper about 3pm I noticed a quarter size absorbed area adjacent to his rectal area which looked like fresh blood. So I looked around to make sure he didn't have a scrape or something..which he didn't.  He didn't have a fever and was eating and acting normally. So I called the Pediatrician and they said to bring him in to the ER anyway since there was no bowel movement in the diaper with the bloody spot. So to our surprise we actually got in and out of the ER in less than 3 hours. They did a abdominal xray and some more blood work and everything checked out normal. No real diagnosis was decided upon, just to follow up with his Pediatrician. Thankfully we were able to make it home before the blizzard conditions started in! I told Shawn we really need to start taking more exciting family trips instead of just going to Dr's apts and the hospital!!! Today Kaden has had a normal BM with no signs of any blood and continues to eat and act like his normal self. His weight on Friday was 5 lbs 7 oz.

Nothing new....just some pictures :-)

Burping for Dad!

Wide awake!

Forrest compared to Kaden!

Tummy time

Forrest jumped up and thought he needed to be held like a baby too!

First Pediatrician Visit

 Today we took Kaden for his first check up. He is now up to 5 lbs 4 oz and is 19 inches long! We go back in two weeks for another weigh-in. His Pediatrician also set up an appointment for a consult with a pediatric cardiologist in January in regards to his slight, very faint heart murmur. Wednesday he goes for another routine preemie eye exam and next week we visit with the Urologist. Who knew one little person could have so many appointments!

We now have a 5 pounder!!

The visiting nurse came out tonight for a check up and weigh in and Kaden was 5lbs even! His first pediatrician visit will be on Monday so that will be the next weigh in date! 

Shawn needed a gas mask for #2 diaper changing...he devised a mask himself quick by using a paper towel and a magnet clip! 

Hanging out with Mom :-)

Trying out his crib....it must not have been warm enough of a surface for him.... so he got upset! 

First night home!

Our first family picture before leaving the hospital! His discharge weight was 4 lbs 12.4 oz 

Forrest had no clue how his life was going to change! He was like....what in the world is that thing!?!  Kaden is in his "car bed" since he didn't pass his car seat test.  So we will have to go back the end of December and they will put a oximeter on him to monitor his oxygen levels while he sits in his regular car seat for 90 minutes then hopefully we can get rid of this "car bed"!

Forrest got closed out of our bedroom last night due to his curiousness. He kept standing on his two hind legs and peeking over the side of the bassinet to check out the new family member. The whole night I heard him outside our bedroom door pawing at it and standing up on his hind legs to try to open the door handle...poor guy! Hopefully this will get better with time! 

Kaden all tucked in his bassinet at HOME finally!


* A few of you were asking how you leave comments on here..... I figured it out and you may now post comments! 

I'm going home today :-)

After 36 days in the NICU....Kaden was discharged this morning!! We are just waiting for Shawn to get off of work and we get to finally ALL go home together!! More pics later! 

We are looking at Wednesday as now potential discharge day for Kaden. This morning they checked his hemoglobin and hematocrit which they routinely do every Monday and it was a bit lower than it had been the previous week. They then did another blood test and decided he didn't need a transfusion or need any additional iron at this time since his formula is highly fortified with it, so on Wednesday we will check another H/H, see what happens, and go from there. He has still been taking bottles like a champ since Friday night and they discontinued his NG tube since he is eating so well. At one point today took almost 2 whole oz in one feeding! Weight tonight was 4 lbs 11 oz.

So they are now thinking possibly he could be home as early as Monday or Tuesday!! Sunday night he took as much as almost 2 oz orally with one bottle! Current weight is now 4 lbs 10 oz. They repeated his hearing screen which both ears passed this time! He failed his car seat test however.....which means he will have to have a temporary special car seat that he lays down in. Even though we have been preparing for his discharge over these past 5 LONG weeks.....holy cow the exciting yet terrifying reality of taking this little person home with us is setting in!

They have now switched Kaden over to Neosure a preemie similac formula in anticipation of his discharge! Since Friday night he has continued to wake up on his own for feedings and take bottles orally. His brady spells now usually only occur in relation to him eating or burping, which they say is typical of preemies and he self recovers himself very quickly from the spell and in time he should grow out of those spells. Depending on the pattern and how many brady spells he has in the next few days will determine if he will go home with monitors or not. Now they have changed his feeding routine to him calling the shots, meaning instead of us just routinely feeding him every three hours either orally or through his NG, we feed him when he wants to be fed! Their goal for him is to take at least 143 mL or almost 5oz orally in a 12 hour shift and continue to gain weight with that. The nurse practitioner told me  she anticipates that if he continues at his current rate he would be home potentially by next weekend or so! 

Friday was another "growing day"...meaning they don't change any orders for him, just wait on him to grow! Kaden had his last of three brain ultrasounds that he was to have which was again normal. We gave him a bath, which he still seems to like and when Shawn held him in the dry blanket to dry him off Kaden peed on him! Of course Shawn had a white shirt on so a big yellow puddle on his shirt couldn't be hidden! Thank goodness they have a washer/dryer up there for NICU families to use and Shawn had a sweatshirt he could wear in the meantime! After his bath he was pretty tired out so he got the majority of his feedings through his NG tube and he didn't take a bottle till last evening, which he took almost the whole thing! At last nights weigh-in he was 4 lbs 9 oz.  He is starting to get a little roll under his chin!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kaden has had a busy few days! He took entire bottles orally for 24 hours on Tuesday then Wed morning he decided to take the morning off, so he had to get some feedings through his NG tube. He had his first vision screening and he passed. Then he had his hearing screening which he didn't pass, so they will try it again before he is discharged and if he doesn't pass then he will have to come back to St. Luke's a few weeks later to try it again. They think he is having some reflux and started him on Zantac to try to help with that. At last nights weigh-in he was up to 4 lbs 5.8 oz!

No changes. Current weight 4 lbs 1.8 oz. 

We have a 4 pounder!!

Tonight Kaden topped the scale at 4 lbs 0.6 oz!! It's been 24 hours since they stopped his caffeine and they say it takes 7 days to fully clear his system and see if he is functioning ok on his own without it. The little guy has still been able to maintain his temp on his own while out in the crib, take (almost) 2 bottles a shift orally and gain weight at the same time..... What an impressive young man he sure is!!

Since the NICU is expecting lots of admits today, Kaden was one of the lucky stable kiddos to get to move out to the Peds area to free up A NICU room. He is now in room 1251.......such a big room for such a little guy :-) ( more below)

No more incubator!! Since he has proven to maintain his own body temp they moved him over to a crib yesterday and throughout the day he proved so far that he could maintain his own temp in the outside world!  The Halo sack that he is swaddled in makes him look bigger than he truly is....although last night when weighed he is up to a whopping 3 lbs 14 oz! Ever since Monday night he hasn't had anymore brady spells and he wasn't super interested in bottles yesterday so they are thinking he just wore himself out and needed a couple days to recover!

On Sunday they allowed Kaden to take 2 bottles orally every shift if he wakes up on his own and shows signs of wanting a bottle. He did very good with his bottles on Sunday. Today was a rough day for him. Shawn went back to work and Kaden had quite a few bradycardia spells this afternoon where it seemed like the monitor was constantly beeping!! They checked him over and are not concerned with him having an infection or anything at this time and are not for sure why this happened today. It could be reflux too, we just have to wait and see how he does. They had said from the beginning that starting bottles can be a roller coaster and possibly he has just worn himself out temporarily since his body is still premature and takes longer to get accustomed to all the things he needs to learn how to do! By the time we left tonight he was resting comfortably in his incubator and the bradycardia spells had gotten back to what they are normally like. Last night when they weighed him he was up to 3 lbs and 11.6 oz. What a trooper he is :-)

Kaden hasn't needed any supplemental oxygen for the past couple days now and one more HUGE step he started....he is getting one of his feedings orally every shift now! They have kept it at the same amount.....just shy of an ounce every 3 hrs. He has done good with the three oral feedings he has gotten so far and eats almost all of it if not the whole amount! They tell us when preemies start oral feedings it can sometimes be a roller coaster while they get it all figured out. He is also maintaining his own body temperature and the incubator isn't having to do the work for him so that means in the next week if he keeps it up, he could be out of an incubator and into a crib. Tonight when they weighed him he was up to 3 lbs and 9.7 oz. It amazes me how strong and determined this little guy is!!!