chillin at home

We are having a blast at home. Caden was on an awkward schedule at the hospital, so it has been very difficult to get him on a schedule where he sleeps at night. We hope it gets better soon. Justin took off work another few weeks...he will have 10 weeks off total. It has been nice having him here and although I do not want him to go back, it will be nice to get a paycheck again! :)

Caden had his first appointment with the pediatrician the other day...Kaleb came along too. They are doing fine. Both are still on thickener in their milk because they drink too fast and start to choke on it. It also keeps them from spitting up...however, it causes constipation. They do not enjoy this part, which in turn makes us not enjoy this part! We hope to wean them off this soon.

As of Thursday, Kaleb was 19.5 inches long and he weighed 7 lbs 2.5 oz. Caden was 20.5 inches long and he weighed 7 lbs 9.5 oz!!!!!

The picture is of us all as a family as soon as Caden got home for the first time!!

-Brandy

caden is home!!

caden is home!!

more info n pics to come......but for now, we must TRY to sleep!

Still truckin on!!!!

Caden is still doing well on the thinkener. The speech pathologist fed him Thursday and he did great.

Kaleb is getting a little fussier...he misses his brother, but he is doing a ton better on the thickener.

Our boys are one month old today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Brandy

Caden apparently likes flirting with the nurses too much to leave!

Caden

Friday-Monday:
Well, on Friday, Caden was actually put on Simply Thick, a gel thickener. He did great all day Friday, Saturday, Sunday and his first 3 feedings on Monday. When speech pathology came in to feed him at noon on Monday, he had an episode of choking where his heart rate went down as well as his oxygen. This set-back cost him at least another week in the hospital.

Tuesday:
The doctor put him on zantac for reflux, but he has been eating fine. The only problem he had from Friday to today was when the speech pathologist fed him!

Wednesday:
Feedings are still fine, but Caden is sad today because his favorite nurse is going on vacation.


Kaleb
We are trying Kaleb on Simply Thick because he has minor breathing episodes while he eats and he spits up alot. He gulps down bottles and forgets to breathe, but in all fairness he probably gets that from the way I ate when I was preggo!! :)



-Brandy

The light at the end of the tunnel!

Friday- Caden was given Thickit. This product is used to ease aspiration and gasternal issues in feeding. This has been a big success and the Doctor has confirmed that this is Day 1 of 5 and Caden gets to go home!!!

-Justin

tube in, tube out, tube in, tube out!!!!

CADEN:
Monday-Wednesday: The nurses continued to get Caden to take a bottle without his oxygen dipping.

Thursday: Speech pathology gave him a test on to make sure he was not aspirating during his feedings (milk going into his lungs). He passed the test, so that was good, however they can't figure out why his oxygen keeps dipping. They added a thickner to the milk and he took the bottle fine without having one dip in oxygen. Then speech pathology said he was too young for the thickner and that it may cause gastrointestinal problems in preemie babies. Then they put back in his feeding tube.

Friday: They said that since his due date would have been in 2 days, he is no longer a preemie and can now have the thickner. They took out his feeding tube and are now giving him the thickner in his milk and he is eating fine witout his oxygen dropping. They are going to continue to monitor his eating this way...and we shall see......

Caden officially unhooked from the matrix

They removed Caden's feeding tube today! This was due to him taking 2 whole bottles in a row. Each bottle is 55 mL. He is still a little behind little brother as to quantity but he definitely gets a gold star for effort!!

This was his last invasive support tube. He is really coming along!