Coburn Kids

Daniel and I went to see Caden tonight and the little guy was a wiggle-worm. Proud mommy moment here, I got to change his diaper for the first time. I remember being very intimidated when Genevieve was first born and in the NICU about changing the diaper around all the wires (not to mention that I had never changed a diaper on a baby before). This time around, after 2 kids and a million diapers, it seemed really normal despite all the medical equipment he’s on. I always have to joke with Daniel about all the monitors and equipment that is around Caden. More than any other baby in the NICU. He’s got his oxygen/heartrate/respiratory monitor over his isolette, his nitrous oxide tanks, his oscillator machine and then a laptop that monitors and records all his desats and more.

His nurse tonight, Jeannette, was very sweet and gave me all sorts of Caden stuff. Like the little eye covers he wears when he’s under the bili lights, his lead lines, his little tape measure that they use. Just some great stuff to save for him. On to the update though, if Caden doesn’t have any problems where they have to up his vent settings then they’ll start to try to wean him off the oscillator. So fingers crossed there. They are going to try to increase his feedings since right now he gets about 1 oz. total for the entire day. He’s still getting 2 x-rays a day to check his lungs and he’s still a bit swollen with fluid. He was having some problems digesting food last night but that’s resolved. He’s a tough little guy and continues to just make his mommy and daddy’s heart melt whenever we get the chance to see him.

The good news first. Adessa is a cutie pie. She’s fully potty-trained, and almost night trained even! Besides the occassional accident she’s a pro. She got a shot today for her 3 year old checkup and didn’t even cry. Such a brave little girl. She’s 37 lb.s and almost 40″ in heigth.

And in the continued saga of the Coburn’s medical problems, we have to schedule an echocardiogram for Adessa up at Primary Children’s Medical Center. She’s had a heart murmur since she was born, they hear it on about every other doctor’s visit and it hasn’t closed up yet. It’s probably an innocent one but because it hasn’t closed yet and it’s so audible they want to get it checked out. So updates on that when the appointment comes.

On to the Caden update. Well they did yet another echo on Caden and found that the right ventricle from his heart is showing up a bit large so they are now saying pulmonary hypertension again.  So they’ve upped the nitrous oxide. His white blood cell counts continue to improve, they gave him a bit more insulin today as his glucose levels are still a bit low. His blood pressures are good, he’s taking 2 cc’s every 2 hours at his feedings and tolerating them well.  He still has a bit of edema but is doing much better. He’s still not at the level that they would like or expect overall but he’s a tough little guy and hanging in there.

While Mommy was visiting Caden in the hospital, I was able to take Gena and Adessa up to Park City. My company had a softball game and bbq. My girls sat right behind the dug out and were jumping around cheering the team on no matter what. If the ball were hit they’d jump, caught they’d shout, but often they’d look at me and ask if something were good and once I gave them the nod they would cheer. Adessa loved the shrimp cooked by our CEO and CFO, while Genevieve loved the ribs (which she thought was chicken).

*Note: Park City is NOT a city sized park no matter what my girls believe

Caden is 1 week old now! He currently weighs in at 2 lb. 3 oz. but most of this is because of edema (swelling/fluid retention). His glucose levels are up so they are giving him another shot of insulin to try to manage his levels. His echo came back negative for pulmonary hypertension so they are weaning him off the nitrous oxide. His white blood cell count is slowly rising and though he had a hard night last night he’s doing really well tonight. I spent about 2 hours at his beside, so I’m going to blame his great progress on him just knowing his mommy was visiting him.

Just wanted to give everyone an update on our little baby boy. Caden is weighing in at 1 lb. 13 oz. now. He had a hole in his heart called a PDA that is normally used when the baby is still a fetus to pass oxygen to their blood and that has closed up. His white blood cell count is still very low and they are running urine and spinal tests to find out if he might have an infection. They are doing another echo on his heart to check for pulmonary hypertension.

He’s under the bili lights again for jaundice so is stylin’ with sunglasses. He’s a tiny little guy but his daddy and I just adore him all ready. His mommy thinks he has big feet and he only opens his eyes when he’s annoyed. Next week we meet with Caden’s cleft team at Primary Children’s Medical Center so we’ll let you all know how that goes.

In the meantime, Genevieve adores Kindergarten. She’s all ready made friends and is so excited to go every morning. Adessa had her first official day of Preschool today and made a butterfly. She’s the happiest little girl in the world because she gets to wear a backpack just like her big sister now to school. The girls will get to meet Caden next Monday when I go in for my check up at the hospital with their High Risk Ob’s. They are very excited about their baby brother and ask questions constantly about him. They are happy to have mommy home again with them.