If you are interested in Kadin's Journey and continuing to read about how he is doing, please submit me your email address so that I can send you an invite to this blog. Soon, it will not be public anymore and I want to make sure those that sincerely care about him and my family can continue to read and follow him.
I will give it a few days ... Thank you very much for your consideration!!!
Leslie
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
ECI
Well, today marked another "milestone" in Kadin's Journey. His therapist Marnie and our program coordinator Cindy came to visit him today to evaluate him. Although he is still considered "delayed" somewhat, we have opted to discontinue our ECI monthly visits. They will come see us quarterly for the remainder of the year.
Kadin has come such a long way and it is so nice to be able to sit across from someone STILL who knows how small he was, how he had difficulties doing "this" or "that" and can see what a remarkable journey he has taken. He is such an awesome little boy ... I still call him my "baby", as he is still small like one.
We are so very excited at his progress and how he continues to improve every single day. I know I don't blog enough about how things are, but for the most part, we have been cleared with all of our specialists and we just grow now. We still have appointments throughout the year, but they aren't monthly like we experienced for the first year of his life.
Kadin is 15 months old today and we couldn't be more proud of him. Our whole world revolves around him ... he is the world to most of those in our family. I look forward to his continuing growth and achievements to come .....
Thank you for continuing to follow us ... it's been quite a ride!
Kadin has come such a long way and it is so nice to be able to sit across from someone STILL who knows how small he was, how he had difficulties doing "this" or "that" and can see what a remarkable journey he has taken. He is such an awesome little boy ... I still call him my "baby", as he is still small like one.
We are so very excited at his progress and how he continues to improve every single day. I know I don't blog enough about how things are, but for the most part, we have been cleared with all of our specialists and we just grow now. We still have appointments throughout the year, but they aren't monthly like we experienced for the first year of his life.
Kadin is 15 months old today and we couldn't be more proud of him. Our whole world revolves around him ... he is the world to most of those in our family. I look forward to his continuing growth and achievements to come .....
Thank you for continuing to follow us ... it's been quite a ride!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Long Overdue!
Well, I tried to post this once earlier in the holidays but it didn't post, not sure what the issue is/was, but I'm trying again...
Kadin has come a long ways in the past few months. It seems that he just started doing everything at once. Once he learned to army crawl, the "normal" crawling was upon us before we knew it ... and though his therapists kept saying that he needed to be sitting up before he crawled, he did both within a few weeks of each other (crawling first) and it didn't seem to make much difference in him. HE IS DETERMINED! He began crawling and then sitting himself up on his side, then he was finally strong enough to sit all the way up and now, today, he is pulling himself up onto everything and cruizing along furniture, walls, doors, ANYTHING he can hold onto, he is GONE! lol He is so precious!
Kadin was sick for a couple of months and we were really concerned. I was having to give him breathing treatments two and three times a day, he rattled, he coughed, he threw up ... it was not easy and definitely not pretty, but we managed our way thru it and today he is just fine ... guess it was mostly allergies because no one has really been sick. We went to the doctor once every week for a couple of months so they could monitor his sats and even had some xrays to check for pneumonia and any other infection that was keeping him stirred up ... glad all of that is over now.
Our little man is even clapping now. He claps when he is happy or when he likes something, especially if you ask him if he wants a bottle and his answer is to clap, that means YES! He also throws his hands and arms up in the air when we say YAY! ha ha It's so precious. He laughs uncontrollably when you growl, and he even growls when he wants something (like food) and needs to get your attention!
I can not believe how much this baby is eating. I have to feed him about six or seven times a day. He eats big people food and really turns his nose up at baby food ... but he just barely has 2 teeth showing so he can't eat much other than soft mushy things. It's still awesome to see him enjoy all of our meals with us. If you are evern chewing anything, even GUM ... he knows it and wants whatever you have.
He has become so strong willed lately, but I actually think this is a characteristic that was present in him from day one, it is part of the reason that his fiesty little self made it thru all he has been thru, with little to no problems now, but for instance, he wanted my daughter's laptop tonight and had a throw-yourself-backwards-type of fit when she wouldn't let him have it! I missed it, but I heard about it when I got home, and I can so envision it anyway that I'm almost glad that it was Daddy who got to deal with that one and not me! He is very demanding, he requires a lot of attention, loves to be held, and is slowly but surely learning to cuddle with us. Cuddling is not something that he has ever done. I attribute that to him being used to not being held once he was outside of the womb ... yes he was held in the NICU, but for 10 weeks he was on the ventilator and if I got to hold him it was for an hour at a time and not every day, depended on his strength and issues present at the time....
So I guess we move on continuing to see our pediatrician and specialists as the appointments come up and work with him every day as he continues to grow ..... and just love him. He is the greatest blessing I think we have ever had. No matter what he does, he brings tears to my eyes (especially when he tries to rip my lips off, lol) and a smile to my heart. He is so loved and adored with everything that is within us .... THANK GOD for our little SPOILED miracle baby!
Thank you all for your continued prayers, and if you would like to see Kadin dancing to the tunes of my 8 year old playing Rockband, go to www.youtube.com/redlady88 and you can get a good belly laugh! There's a little air guitar in there too, just watch....
Blessings.....
Leslie
Kadin has come a long ways in the past few months. It seems that he just started doing everything at once. Once he learned to army crawl, the "normal" crawling was upon us before we knew it ... and though his therapists kept saying that he needed to be sitting up before he crawled, he did both within a few weeks of each other (crawling first) and it didn't seem to make much difference in him. HE IS DETERMINED! He began crawling and then sitting himself up on his side, then he was finally strong enough to sit all the way up and now, today, he is pulling himself up onto everything and cruizing along furniture, walls, doors, ANYTHING he can hold onto, he is GONE! lol He is so precious!
Kadin was sick for a couple of months and we were really concerned. I was having to give him breathing treatments two and three times a day, he rattled, he coughed, he threw up ... it was not easy and definitely not pretty, but we managed our way thru it and today he is just fine ... guess it was mostly allergies because no one has really been sick. We went to the doctor once every week for a couple of months so they could monitor his sats and even had some xrays to check for pneumonia and any other infection that was keeping him stirred up ... glad all of that is over now.
Our little man is even clapping now. He claps when he is happy or when he likes something, especially if you ask him if he wants a bottle and his answer is to clap, that means YES! He also throws his hands and arms up in the air when we say YAY! ha ha It's so precious. He laughs uncontrollably when you growl, and he even growls when he wants something (like food) and needs to get your attention!
I can not believe how much this baby is eating. I have to feed him about six or seven times a day. He eats big people food and really turns his nose up at baby food ... but he just barely has 2 teeth showing so he can't eat much other than soft mushy things. It's still awesome to see him enjoy all of our meals with us. If you are evern chewing anything, even GUM ... he knows it and wants whatever you have.
He has become so strong willed lately, but I actually think this is a characteristic that was present in him from day one, it is part of the reason that his fiesty little self made it thru all he has been thru, with little to no problems now, but for instance, he wanted my daughter's laptop tonight and had a throw-yourself-backwards-type of fit when she wouldn't let him have it! I missed it, but I heard about it when I got home, and I can so envision it anyway that I'm almost glad that it was Daddy who got to deal with that one and not me! He is very demanding, he requires a lot of attention, loves to be held, and is slowly but surely learning to cuddle with us. Cuddling is not something that he has ever done. I attribute that to him being used to not being held once he was outside of the womb ... yes he was held in the NICU, but for 10 weeks he was on the ventilator and if I got to hold him it was for an hour at a time and not every day, depended on his strength and issues present at the time....
So I guess we move on continuing to see our pediatrician and specialists as the appointments come up and work with him every day as he continues to grow ..... and just love him. He is the greatest blessing I think we have ever had. No matter what he does, he brings tears to my eyes (especially when he tries to rip my lips off, lol) and a smile to my heart. He is so loved and adored with everything that is within us .... THANK GOD for our little SPOILED miracle baby!
Thank you all for your continued prayers, and if you would like to see Kadin dancing to the tunes of my 8 year old playing Rockband, go to www.youtube.com/redlady88 and you can get a good belly laugh! There's a little air guitar in there too, just watch....
Blessings.....
Leslie
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Glad that is behind us now!
Surgery, procedure, operation, whatever you wanna call it, it is behind us now, thank GOD! We were scheduled for hypospadias repair and circumcision on the 14th, but our surgeons couldn't get their schedules to coincide for emergencies so we rescheduled for the 15th and everything went just as planned. Nothing like having to do pre-op and then answer all the same questions over and over to many many people! ha! So, to make a long and boring story short, we were discharged from the hospital around 11:30am and then we went to get a motel because of the exhaustion ...... and here I am, after a nap and a meal and wide awake!
Kadin is doing well, he is sleeping right now. He has been a little fussy, which is to be expected, but otherwise he has been everywhere on the floor and in his bed. He has not eaten well but he is taking his bottle and other fluids so that is good ... the main idea right now is to get him to pee. So, while he is asleep now, I should be getting myself to be also.
I just wanted to again thank all of our family and friends for all their prayers, emails, calls, texts and their prayers and concerns for us and this 3-4 day experience! It is greatly appreciated and we are so thankful for all the encouraging and uplifting words that kept us going when we were ssooooooo tired. I know normally it probably isn't likely to be so tired, but I am not a morning person so having to get up at 4:45am and get to the hospital not one but TWO days in a row just flat knocked me down! lol So THANK YOU for everything ....
I will update more after we get home. For now, I am going to veg and do nothing !!!!!!
Kadin is doing well, he is sleeping right now. He has been a little fussy, which is to be expected, but otherwise he has been everywhere on the floor and in his bed. He has not eaten well but he is taking his bottle and other fluids so that is good ... the main idea right now is to get him to pee. So, while he is asleep now, I should be getting myself to be also.
I just wanted to again thank all of our family and friends for all their prayers, emails, calls, texts and their prayers and concerns for us and this 3-4 day experience! It is greatly appreciated and we are so thankful for all the encouraging and uplifting words that kept us going when we were ssooooooo tired. I know normally it probably isn't likely to be so tired, but I am not a morning person so having to get up at 4:45am and get to the hospital not one but TWO days in a row just flat knocked me down! lol So THANK YOU for everything ....
I will update more after we get home. For now, I am going to veg and do nothing !!!!!!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
So it's here, and oh how I hate it ....
It is 11:37pm and we have to be at the hospital in a little over 6 hours. That means little to no sleep for me tonight. Kadin is still awake, as they wanted us to keep him up for about an hour longer than his regular bed-time but it is way past that already and he is still blowin and goin! I just pray that I hear the alarm in the AM and don't sleep past time to get up and go... I have a real fear for doing that, you know - missing the important things in life because I overslept. I sleep very lightly these days, but on occasionally I will fall into a deep sleep and NOTHING wakes me up. Just can't do that tonight, lol....
We went to Kadin's pre-op appointment and it was quick and painless, unlike tomorrow's scheduled events. They weighed and measured him, we talked in great detail about his past medical history, we visited with the anesthesiologist, and Kadin fell in love! That's right ... he loves Tracey from the anesthesiology department. She came in and he lit up, he leaned over many times trying to get to her, and when she held him, he went right for her beautiful hair and cute stylish glasses!
I have never been as convinced as I am right now that Cook Children's Medical Center has an abundance of angels working there. While we were there, Kadin was passed from nurse to nurse and HE LOVED IT! Oh my, I mean he LOVED being in all those arms today. He NEVER reacts like that to strangers, but today, the nurses were not strangers to him. It was as if he were "home" again. He was comfortable, he was smiling, happy, energetic, and very much in a happy place.
We are the first on the list in the morning. We are scheduled for 7:30am, not sure why we have to be there at 6am! *insert frowny face emoticon here* I know, we do what we have to do for our children but man ... I am just NOT a morning person so the fact that I am not even going to have adequate sleep is a sure sign that Starbucks will be my best friend in the morning and no one else should even attempt to speak to me until around noon. I know ... you are thinking "Then what the heck are you doing on the internet blogging at this hour?" Well, I logically am asking myself the same thing, but I assure you, even if I were to go lay my head on the pillow, as nervous as I am about this entire procedure, I would still not sleep a wink ... and then we go back to the fact that I fear I will not even wake up in the morning on time. This is an extremely vicious cycle, and we have to wake Kadin in the morning and give him a breathing treatment before we get to the hospital.
We don't know how long the surgery is going to be ... the Dr. we spoke to this afternoon said anywhere between 30 minutes to 2.5 hours. He also said he hopes we are prepared to stay as you never know how things will go with little ones who have CLD (chronic lung disease). We are prepared ... well, ok, not really, we don't want him to have any setbacks and it would be somewhat devestating, but we can handle it. I am unable for some strange reason to get on Facebook while we are here. I can only access it from my phone in the mobile version so I will just have to write my blogs here on blogspot and let it automatically feed it to Facebook ... so if any of you have any questions or concerns, go ahead and post them on Facebook as I will get the notifications that you have left me something. I will have my laptop in the hospital and will update as soon as I can. Recovery is supposed to be a few hours if everything is looking good .....
So now that I have pushed the limits and it is almost midnight (I have always told myself if I can go to bed at least before midnight, I will get a full night's sleep! lol) I should be going. Thank you for your prayers and concern for Kadin. Please pray for us to have strength tomorrow as I am sure we will be exhausted. And on top of all that ... we are missing the kids back home.
More updates tomorrow . . .
We went to Kadin's pre-op appointment and it was quick and painless, unlike tomorrow's scheduled events. They weighed and measured him, we talked in great detail about his past medical history, we visited with the anesthesiologist, and Kadin fell in love! That's right ... he loves Tracey from the anesthesiology department. She came in and he lit up, he leaned over many times trying to get to her, and when she held him, he went right for her beautiful hair and cute stylish glasses!
I have never been as convinced as I am right now that Cook Children's Medical Center has an abundance of angels working there. While we were there, Kadin was passed from nurse to nurse and HE LOVED IT! Oh my, I mean he LOVED being in all those arms today. He NEVER reacts like that to strangers, but today, the nurses were not strangers to him. It was as if he were "home" again. He was comfortable, he was smiling, happy, energetic, and very much in a happy place.
We are the first on the list in the morning. We are scheduled for 7:30am, not sure why we have to be there at 6am! *insert frowny face emoticon here* I know, we do what we have to do for our children but man ... I am just NOT a morning person so the fact that I am not even going to have adequate sleep is a sure sign that Starbucks will be my best friend in the morning and no one else should even attempt to speak to me until around noon. I know ... you are thinking "Then what the heck are you doing on the internet blogging at this hour?" Well, I logically am asking myself the same thing, but I assure you, even if I were to go lay my head on the pillow, as nervous as I am about this entire procedure, I would still not sleep a wink ... and then we go back to the fact that I fear I will not even wake up in the morning on time. This is an extremely vicious cycle, and we have to wake Kadin in the morning and give him a breathing treatment before we get to the hospital.
We don't know how long the surgery is going to be ... the Dr. we spoke to this afternoon said anywhere between 30 minutes to 2.5 hours. He also said he hopes we are prepared to stay as you never know how things will go with little ones who have CLD (chronic lung disease). We are prepared ... well, ok, not really, we don't want him to have any setbacks and it would be somewhat devestating, but we can handle it. I am unable for some strange reason to get on Facebook while we are here. I can only access it from my phone in the mobile version so I will just have to write my blogs here on blogspot and let it automatically feed it to Facebook ... so if any of you have any questions or concerns, go ahead and post them on Facebook as I will get the notifications that you have left me something. I will have my laptop in the hospital and will update as soon as I can. Recovery is supposed to be a few hours if everything is looking good .....
So now that I have pushed the limits and it is almost midnight (I have always told myself if I can go to bed at least before midnight, I will get a full night's sleep! lol) I should be going. Thank you for your prayers and concern for Kadin. Please pray for us to have strength tomorrow as I am sure we will be exhausted. And on top of all that ... we are missing the kids back home.
More updates tomorrow . . .
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