Caden is doing great at home. It has been almost a week now since Caden came home. He is eating good through his G-tube and gaining weight. He went to his pediatrician this week and weighed in at 7lb 2oz at 22 inches long. Caden also had follow up visits with his cardiologist and general surgeon. All the doctors and nurses that saw Caden this week said that he looked great. We already have in-home nursing care started where a nurse stops by at least once per week and are on call 24/7 if we need assistance. We expect to have occupational and physical therapy started within the next week.
The biggest news of the week is that Caden has been cleared to take breast milk through his feeding tube. The doctors want us to fortify it with a little bit of powdered formula to make sure it has all the nutrients that Caden needs. We are going to make the switch from his current formula to breast milk over the weekend. We will be visiting the cardiologist again in a couple of weeks to verify that Caden’s thoracic duct area has not sprung any leaks as a result of the switch from the special formula that he is on now. You can read the 11-16-04 notes to get the reason for the special formula if you are not aware of why Caden was put on it in the first place. Caden is eating on a modified compressed schedule right now. He gets fed continuous between 8pm and 8am. He gets compressed feedings during the day. He is sleeping through the night for the most part, but does require his secretions to be suctioned out a few times during the night. He has only set his apnea monitor off about a half dozen times total since we brought him home. He is still recovering fine on his own from the apnea spells.
We are slowly getting more comfortable with Caden. We are getting a little more sleep each night. The first few nights we were both sitting straight up in the bed at the least little sound that was out of the ordinary. Caden is sleeping in his own room and the sounds that he makes are much different sounding over the baby monitor. Caden is responding more every day to our voices and touch. He loves to be held.
Riley is so excited to have Caden home. He wants to hold Caden so bad. We are having to keep them separated right now due to Riley having a pretty nasty cold earlier in the week. Riley saw the doctor on Monday and the medicine that the doctor gave him is clearing him up pretty fast. We hope Riley will be well enough to hold and hung Caden by the end of the weekend.
Sherry and I are doing pretty good. We are making this week a family bonding week. We do not have anyone else staying with us. Thank God the Mom’s Club is providing meals for us this week. We are a little disorganized at this point and trying to get a grip on having our house and or family back together for the first time in 2 1/2 months. Up until Sunday, we have had someone staying with us to help with Riley since October 16th. We have been coming and going so much that we have not had a chance to declutter or clean the areas under the clutter. Sherry is working on getting the house back in order. I am working from home as well as showing my face more at work this week and next week. I plan to be back to a normal work schedule within the next two weeks.
Our New Year is starting of just about as good as we could have ever imagined. We are truly blessed to have our family under one roof. Thanks again for all of the prayers and support.