Just a quick note that Caden’s g-tube surgery will be on April 25th at 9 am up at Primary Children’s Hospital. We’ll have to stay overnight but the entire surgery will last about an hour. My little baby’s 3rd surgery and he’s just 8 months old!
First, Caden’s eye test was today at Primary Children’s. He was fussy, not sure why… he’s been a bit fussy the last 2 days. But he passed and doesn’t need glasses! The doctor said that if he had the laser surgery done on his eyes (which Caden didn’t) he would almost for sure by now need glasses. The next risk factor is Stage 3 ROP (which Caden had in both eyes) so we’ll be going back every 6 months to check. The next risk factor after that is prematurity in general (introduce Gena here and her near-sightedness) and then genetics. So that was interesting.
Gena’s also been having a lot of problems with her ears lately. From random pain to feeling like she can’t hear out of them. Gena has had problems with her ears since she was a baby. Starting at 4 weeks old when she got her first double ear infection. As a baby she would go through 3 rounds of antibiotics each time for it. I can’t even count how many ear infections she’s had. Even last year we had to take her to a Kid’s after hours clinic because her ear was hurting so bad. The Doctor at that time stated her eardrum was about to burst from the infection. I don’t know why none of Gena’s pediatricians over the years haven’t suggested an ENT for her but with the random ear pain and trouble hearing I’m thinking I need to ask for an ENT appointment for her just to be safe.
On to Karate. GENA GOT HER YELLOW STRIPE BELT! I put emphasis on that because Gena is so proud of herself and she worked so hard. Adessa also had a good day at Karate and got her first black bit of tape on her white belt for leadership. Their Master puts different colored electrical tape on their belts so that the kids can see how they are progressing.
So tomorrow Caden has his appointment with the OT in the morning and then all the kids are having a sleep over at Grandma’s house that night. (Well Caden is just a 1/2 sleep over). So Mommy and Daddy are very excited to be able to go out ALONE for the first time in… I can’t even remember. 
Today was crazy. First off, Daniel had to take off work because I had a 10 AM appointment up at Primary Children’s with Dr. Jackson who is a GI specialist. So Daniel took the girl’s out for breakfast, the mall and then a visit to Grandma’s work while I took Caden. The appointment went well, they believe he needs a G-tube and we are going to schedule his surgery in the next couple of days. Dr. Jackson took the time to draw me a good detailed picture of what they do and what’s involved so that was especially nice.
I met Daniel and the girls for lunch then we headed home. Genevieve had her eye doctor appointment at 4:00 so Daniel took both girls to that. Genevieve is near-sighted and because they closed at 5pm we then headed to another mall to LensCrafters. We found Genevieve a cute pair of Barbie glasses. She loves the black case they come in, it’s like a purse with a wrist strap and she’s very excited about it all. She must have tried on 2 dozen eyeglasses before settling on the pair she got. Nothing was off limits to her. 
While this was happening Daniel took Caden and Adessa through the mall. They passed a window outside a jewelery shop and Adessa saw the tall chair just inside. She asked Daddy what it was for and Daddy replied “it’s where you sit to get your ear’s pierced.” That’s all it took. The rest of the time was Adessa BEGGING to get her ear’s pierced. We tried to talk her out of it, told her point blank it’s like “shoving a nail through your ear, it’s going to hurt.” Her response? “I promise I’ll be extra brave.” It was heart breaking. We even had the store employees come over and explain to her how it was done and what was involved. She was persistent. I always said that I would get my girl’s ear’s pierced when they asked for it but c’mon… SHE’S 3!
And…. Adessa now has pierced ears. I can’t believe I let my 3 year old pierce her ears. I’m still shaking my head over it. She wanted it even after every explanation and she didn’t even cry when they did it. She didn’t even flinch!! She picked out pretty pink flowers and she is just in love with them. She was so proud she went around telling every single person who would even glance at her how brave she was and that she got her ear’s pierced. I was about to have a heart attack when they did it and she just sat there and was the bravest little girl. We asked Gena if she wanted her’s pierced and her response “No Way!” Do I even need to mention that Adessa is very independent? She’ll be ready to move out by 12 at this rate. But we are teaching her how to take good care of them, that she can’t take them out for 6-8 weeks and how to twist them. She’s on board with everything.
Just a quick picture of the girls with the Easter Bunny before their Easter Egg hunt! Grandma went with us to help out. The girls had a blast and Caden slept in his carseat until the cold woke him up.
We’re all going out to church for the first time tomorrow together! Have a cute lil’ outfit for Caden then over to Grandma’s for dinner.
Happy Easter!
Busy week for us! First off, Daniel is out of town from Thursday to Saturday. Daddy is very sad that he has to miss the girls going out easter egg hunting. 
Then on Wednesday of next week Caden has a GI appointment up at Primary Children’s with Dr. Jackson. The next day we have an appointment up there with Dr. Larson for his eyes. Then his OT appointment on Friday with Vicky. For Genevieve I still need to make her eye doctor appointment.
Good news though, Caden isn’t throwing up as much anymore. Some feedings he’ll do really well with the bottle, other feedings won’t touch it. He pulled out his NG tube twice yesterday. Which was really funny the last time because we didn’t even know and he was being soooo quiet in his swing. Usually when he’s awake in his swing he’ll make some noises or fuss to get out… but he was just sitting there quietly. Daniel and I theorized this was because he didn’t want us to KNOW his NG tube was out. He always gets real quiet when he pulls that sucker out.
Today we had Vicky his OT over and we worked on eating. Which he refused to do by bottle, sippy cup and cup. It’s sometimes a relief for me when other people try to feed Caden and he doesn’t cooperate with them either. Call it insecurity, but there’s a part of me that wonders if other people just think I can’t get the whole feeding the baby with the bottle concept. I mean, eating is a basic life function. It’s an old standby that if a kid is hungry they’ll eventually eat. As a Mommy it’s hard to see your kid refuse to eat completely and not wonder if you’re doing something to cause it.
After lunch today we decided to go outside for some fresh air. Caden lasted a whole 10 minutes before he decided that it just wasn’t for him. The girls were outside for 2 hours just running around and swinging. I attached some pics for everyone. The one with Caden holding the teddy bear, it’s his favorite toy.
I had to get Caden to his Dr.’s appointment today by 10:50 AM for a check up and synagis shot. So I’m all set, Adessa is ready, Caden is dressed and ready. I feed Caden only 3 oz.’s instead of the 4 as he’s been throwing up a lot lately. We have plenty of time to spare. Put him in his car seat… he throws up. I take him out, go into his bedroom and get him changed. Come back out to clean up the car seat and I hear Adessa “Mommy he threw up again.” I go back into his room and he’s soaked his clothes and thrown up literally his entire feeding and his NG tube. I change him again, and now we’re late and I don’t have time to put back in his feeding tube.
Caden weighs 14 lb. 4 oz. now. No, not on the growth chart for a 7 month old yet and his weight is starting to slow wayyy down (could be the fact that he throws up so much now!) But if you go by his adjusted age he’s at about the 25th percentile for what a 4 month old is. He’s a tiny guy. Looks big to me though.
This is our last time seeing his pediatrician as well, Dr. Good. He’s going down to Cambodia to help out kids down there, how great is that! So we’ll now see another Doctor in the practice. We are still waiting for word from the Feeding Clinic and trying to get an appointment there. He cried a bit for his Synagis shot but all-in-all, a good appointment.
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!
So last night I went to see my cousin Sara’s new baby. Adorable little thing born at 6 lb.’s and 17 inches long. Her mommy was in an accident that caused her to go into pre-term labor 4 1/2 weeks early. She cracked 6 of her vertebrae and still went through 22 hours of labor (I can’t even IMAGINE the pain!).
So she’s recovering but can’t lift a thing of course. I brought Caden over and left my girls with my mom. Caden was his cute lil’ self, happy and just content to watch everyone. I got to feed their little girl MaKaylee and she took an ounce in 3-4 minutes. Then I got to feed Caden…. (you can all see where this is going right?) He took an ounce in 20 minutes. So I gavaged him the rest and he promptly began to throw up everywhere. All over the couch, the floor, the diaper bag, himself, me. I, being a mom, of course tried to catch it with my hand. I swear he threw up the entire feeding, it was just pouring out his mouth and nose. He didn’t cry. Just had these watery little eyes and was looking around. They were amazed. I can’t say I was really embarrassed about the whole thing, I just didn’t have a clue what to say! Poor little guy. The throwing up is getting worse though, it’s happening more and more. Not really sure what that means. Daniel jokes that Caden is now anorexic and bulimic. You have to laugh because there’s really nothing else to do!
Thursdays are the worst for me. I am pulled in 10 different directions and the day is just non-stop. You would think this would be the first clue that I should STOP scheduling everything for Thursday…
Thursday was Caden’s upper GI at Primary Children’s. He couldn’t eat for 3 hours beforehand, that didn’t bother him at all. He doesn’t like to eat anyway! So they started off by giving him some barium to eat, chalky stuff that he didn’t seem to mind actually. Took a few swallows of that, watched it come up once or twice. Then they feed 3 ounces of it through his NG tube to fill up his belly. He refluxed only once they could see, which we all ready knew he has a mild case of reflux. No aspirating though so that was good. They then took out 1 ounce of the barium (just pulled some up through his NG tube) and told me it was okay to feed him now. So the whole thing took only about 15 minutes and I went to the car to feed Caden. Here’s where I deserve the “bad mom” award. Caden is 7 months old, most babies this age and younger can take 6 ounces in their tummies. Caden can’t, of course, because his meals are only 4 ounces and his stomach is little… I gave him a full feeding. Not thinking that his tummy was all ready 1/2 full with 2 ounces of barium. He promptly and repeatedly threw up everywhere in the carseat.
So we headed home to rescue my mom from my 2 girls. Genevieve had to be in Murray an hour after I got home with Caden so we hurried and got everyone ready. She had her yellow stripe belt test for Karate. By the way, Gena was adorably cute. She’s only 6 and she has been practicing like crazy the last several days for this test. She’s been practicing her forms, her punches, her kicks and blocks. I think she did really well. She did her punches and forms excellent. She lost it a bit with her blocks and attacks but I was so proud of her the entire time as she had worked so hard. That’s her in the picture, put an orange box around her so you can tell where she’s at.
Caden had his OT over on Friday as well, he’s starting to roll and use his left side more so that’s good. He’s such a cutey but was so tired during his therapy. Also, Caden’s been throwing up a lot more lately. Every time I have the doctor ask if it’s just spit up… I can tell you, having 2 other kids, the difference between spit up and having the front of your shirt soaked. With Caden’s cleft (you may want to stop reading if this grosses you out) he also throws up out his nose. Because his soft palate in the back is still open it comes out everywhere… poor little guy.
Caden’s blessing on Sunday went excellent. We had my family along with some friends and some people Daniel works with at church. Caden was a little doll, didn’t make a peep. He fell asleep when Daniel was blessing him too! Daniel gave the most beautiful blessing though, he really did a spectacular job. Afterwards we headed over to our house for a light lunch and it was wonderful chaos.
I got plenty of adult time in there (thank you Andrea!) and it was great to just be able to visit, mingle, and make some new friends. I think at one point we had just as many kids as adults at the house, 12 kids and 12 adults. So it was a wonderful Sunday and I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.
We went to the Grizzlies hockey game last night and the girls had a blast. That’s a pic of them to the left with Daniel, sorry about the quality. It was taken with Daniel’s cell phone and I have no idea why Adessa looks sad in here as she was having fun.
We found out how badly Genevieve needs glasses. She couldn’t see the scoreboard… I had no idea her vision might be that bad. She’s only 6!! We had her try on Daniel’s glasses and she could suddenly see the score that much better. So optometrist appointment will be made this week for her. I feel really bad for some reason. I remember getting glasses at 8, and Gena is worried she’ll look ugly. I told her we’ll get her the prettiest and cutest glasses we could. A 6 year old should not feel that she’s going to look ugly!
Adessa was cute at the game, she insisted we were supporting the “Lambs” and every time the grizzlies got the puck she would call out “Go Lambs!” Gena was making up cheers for the teams the entire time. We didn’t get to stay the entire game, we left about a 1/2 hour before the game was supposed to be over because they were just getting too tired.
Grandma and Grandpa had a blast babysitting Caden though. Caden was his proper smiley self and fell asleep in Grandma’s arms while she was feeding him. I love that lil’ smile of his.
And the girls had a Primary Activity today for Easter, Adessa’s first primary activity so she was quite excited. Tomorrow, Sunday the 9th, is Caden’s blessing. I’ll put down the address for those that are coming.
11685 S. Kestrel Rise Rd (4510 W.)
South Jordan UT
Sacrament Meeting starts at 11:00 am
Afterwards we’ll have those that came over for lunch. Hope to see you there!