Catherine's updates

I just realized it has been a while since I posted anything and that my blog is in DESPERATE need of a makeover. So, I think I might blog....it just might take some time for the makeover.

Catherine, Jason, & me - Christian was with G. G. Peggy

Let's see....over the past 3 months lots has happened. Today Catherine turned 8 months old!!! I can't believe it! She has cut her first 2 teeth. She got her bottom 2 in at the same time. That happened over the 4th of July weekend. We went on our first family vacation with Catherine over the 4th of July. We first went to visit my Aunt Carol in Shelbyville, TN for a couple days. Then we went up to Gallatin, TN to visit with Peggy (Jason's grandma). We had such a wonderful time with the family. Here are a couple pictures:

Catherine's new earrings

Catherine's first horseback ride.

Chillin at the 4th of July BBQ

Taking a break from the pool.

Aunt Carol and Catherine at the park.

Catherine crawling.

She is crawling and pulling to stand. She wants to walk so bad! She can stand unassisted for a few seconds at a time and has attempted her first step. She claps and waves bye-bye. She is a very curious and happy baby. She LOVES to play with Christian. She just cracks up laughing at him all the time and he loves to entertain her. We are so fortunate with Catherine. She is a wonderful eater and just so content all the time. I got her ears pierced 2 weeks ago and she didn't even cry. She doesn't seem to mind her earrings because I never see her messing with them.

Surgery Complete!

Christian was admitted to Shands at UF in Gainesville on April 8th. Bless his heart! He DID NOT want to go, but was cooperating because he knew he would get to take a ride on his bed and eat lots of chicken nuggets when his surgery was done and the doctor gave him the ok. We were admitted at 10am and taken to the room. He bounced around asking to ride the bed. Finally they came in to put in his IV and feeding tube. He went by himself because I had Catherine with me and Jason was getting our stuff settled at the RMH. They brought him back and he was sobbing and crying for mommy. I ended up just hugging and rocking him until he eventually cried himself to sleep. He was given some "GoLytely" a few hours later. After that was completed Jason and I slept with him at the hospital awaiting our surgery time. They took him down to pre-op at 6am and he slept through the "bed ride" that he had been waiting for. I let him sleep because I knew he would fight with us about the surgery. They took him in for surgery around 8:30am (April 9th). We received a call about 10:30am that the surgery went well. When they opened him up they found that the back of the patch had come away from the diaphram (a section about 3-4inches). The Dr said that there was about 3/4 of the patch still attached and had some muscle tissue growing over it, so instead of replacing the patch he just stitched up the loose part. Only a little bit of the bowel was found in the chest, which they just pushed back down into place. Christian was taken to the PICU for the first 24 hours. He slept for half of the time. They eventually moved him back down to the pediatric floor Friday morning. Because he was not getting good bowel sounds they didn't let him eat anything except a clear liquid diet until Easter Sunday. It wasn't until Sunday morning that he was able to get out of his bed and walk around. Once he found the playroom he didn't want to go back to the bed and since he was allowed to have "real" food ,finally, we took the wagon downstairs to the Wendy's and got him some chicken nuggets and mandarin oranges. He did wonderful and by Sunday the only pain medication he was taking was just a little bit of Tylenol. We were discharged on Monday the 13th. The first few days home he wanted to play of course, but was still taking breaks to rest. We were having problems with frequent loose bowel movements (sometimes as often as every 10 minutes for an hour then an hour break and then again every 10 minutes). Since he had been on an antibiotic for 48 hrs following the surgery we were away that this could be a side effect for up to 10 days. I ended up taking him to the pediatrician because it was continuing. All test results came back negative for E.Coli, Salmonella, and C. Diff, but positive for blood. He had 2 firm movements on Thursday morning and now we are back to the loose, just not as frequent. Poor guy is once again having to wear diapers and waking up at 3-5am with soiled pants. He is so devastated because he was doing so well with his potty training. I can't wait for his system to get back to normal. We went this past Monday to our follow up appt and were told that everything looks good. We don't have to go back to see the doctor for another year, but do have to have a chest X-ray done and mailed in August. Thank you to everyone for you thoughts and prayers!! He is now back to his happy wild self.

CT scheduled

Well, let's hope Christian doesn't get sick before....but his CT is scheduled for Feb. 24th. With cold and flu season upon us it is SO hard to keep him from getting sick. I don't want to keep him in a bubble. LOL

Catherine is 2 months!

We went today for the well baby check up. She got all her shots and is now sleeping peacefully. She is 10 pounds 6 ounces already! Getting big fast. At the rate she is going she is going to be bigger than her brother pretty soon (he is only 28 pounds).

Christian had his 3 year old birthday party on Sunday. He had a blast! My dinosaur cake was a hit. :) Still no word back about his CT appt. I will let everyone know as soon as I find out. I have already called them, but they said they would have to get back with me still.

Reherniation....ugh!

So, we went today for our annual follow up with the pediatric surgeon for Christian's congential diaphragmatic hernia. Unfortunately we will have to have another surgery because it appears that he is reherniating (which only happens in about 5-10% of CDH survivors). I was told that life should not have to change for him just because of the reherniation. It is just something that sometimes happens as the body grows and may outgrow the diaphram patch. It is not something that needs to be fixed immediately, but it will need to be repaired. The chest x-ray showed some of the colon pushing up into his left lung. Dr. Kays wants us to get a CT scan and echocardiogram within the next couple months, so I am going to wait for Jason to get home before we do that appt. Once we get that done the doctor will know more about when we should do surgery. Besides the reherniation, the doctor said that Christian seems to be doing well developmentally and that his weight is still a little on the low side, but common for CDH patients. We knew that reherniation was a possiblilty and leave it to our little man to be in that 5-10%. I have to chuckle. When I was still pregant with him, all the ultrasounds showed that his diaphragmatic hernia was not as severe as most. The doctor was guessing we would only have to be in the hospital for a few weeks (we were there for 59 days and the hole was a large hole). The doctor also said that his right lung was looking pretty good and doubted he would require life support(ECMO) and he was on ECMO for 10 days. The surgery was supposed to go smooth (he had internal bleeding afterward and was rushed back to surgery). Now there is this reherniation. Guess we just gotta keep our heads up and know that our strong little man will pull through as usual. I suppose he just likes to be one of a kind.

Our baby girl is one month old!

What an exciting month we have had! Catherine is now one month old. Over the course of this past month we have celebrated her first Christmas and now brought in a new year! She is now tracking better. She stays awake for longer periods to "play" and look around. She is also holding her head up a lot better. Christian loves her so much! He is constantly giving her hugs and kisses.

So, just a brief reflection on 2008. Jason and I had a wonderful year. With each passing day we get closer and closer. We have been together now for 5 years and married for 3. The most exciting news was the arrival of our little girl. Jason had a huge accomplishment. He got his Captain's license. :) I am so proud of him!! I am now fortunate enough to stay home with the kids. I love it! Our pet family has changed. We took in a dog named Biscuit, but lost him. Our cat, Dora, gave birth to 2 litters of kittens this year. (a total of 8 cats) She recently passed, but the kitten's daddy has taken to living here in her place. (Go figure!) Overall, a great year! Hope we have an even better one this year!

One and a half days left!!!!!

It is official. Our C-section date is December 3rd. We go in at 9am and will have the baby around noon. We are so ready to meet our little girl. Everything is done that I wanted to have done before she arrived, so now I can just relax and enjoy my family and friends for this Christmas. I will try to get pictures posted up as soon as we make it home. Some of you will probably get a text message picture before I get some posted on here. I am not putting too much on Jason. I want him to enjoy his time with our new little one. He will hopefully remember to make his calls on his list, but if he doesn't get to you understand it is just because he is preoccupied with his new little one and helping me. We love you all!