Quick Update...

For those of you that have not heard....... the quarter passed! Hip Hip Hooray! I was never so happy to see a quarter in my entire life. If I hadn't just pulled it out of the toilet I would have kissed it. We did rinse it thoroughly and put it in a zippy bag that is being stored very high and away. The picture of Jenna in the bathtub taking a soak was the night she passed the quarter. Guess she needed to relax after all that hard work:)

Also wanted to post a few new pictures of sweet Caden. He is just so happy lately. He kicks his legs like crazy whenever someone gives him a big smile. He is doing pretty well right now. He had a recent evaluation at UCLA for cochlear implants. As of right now they are not sure if he is a candidate for them. He was fitted for ear molds that will hold hearing aides and will start wearing them in about 2 weeks. They are not sure if the hearing aides will help, but it is a mandated part of the process towards implants to wear hearing aides for at least 4 months. He will also need an MRI and CT scan to evaluate his ear structures and auditory nerves. This will have to be done under general anesthesia so I am not looking forward to this at all.

In other Caden news, he is now rolling from his back to his tummy and his tummy to his back. We are working on the sitting. He is still on continuous feeds and that seems to be his toughest area. We tried to up his food intake from 40cc's an hour to 41 and he started vomiting continuously. I really did not anticipate upping his intake by 1cc would have such a terrible affect on him, but it did. We took him to the GI doctor and she would like to go back to 40 for awhile and then work on consolidating his feeds over shorter periods of time. I am not convinced we can do this right now since he could not handle 1 more cc an hour, but we shall see.

Our life is even more crazy right now if that was at all possible. Natalie is now playing All Stars for softball and Chad is one of the coaches. They practice for two and a half hours every day of the week and in another week will have a game every night of the weekend (Fri., Sat., Sun.). I am not thrilled about all this, but she really wanted to play and Chad was excited to be asked as one of the coaches. This will go on for the next 6 weeks. Hopefully I will still have my sanity by the end of all this.

Mary

Better Days, Thank You's....and Another Scare

Since my last post things have seemed easier to handle. Caden has just been the sweetest little guy full of smiles and love. We were, also, able to take a family trip up to Big Bear to celebrate Natalie's 9th birthday, and it was a much needed getaway. It was great to do something we have always loved to do and realize it is possible to load our crazy family of 6 and head up to the mountains just as we used to do. Caden was the best traveler sleeping the whole way up and the whole way back home. We got to enjoy the beautiful weather and spend time relaxing as a family. It went better than I had expected. I can't wait for our next trip up!

I also wanted to thank so many wonderful people for their kind comments, emails, letters and phone calls. It helped me get through a rough time more than you can ever know. I wish I could get back to each and every one of you to personally thank you; I will try. I can't tell you how your inspiring and caring words gives me the strength to continue on this uncertain journey. Every message is read over and over and I go back to these notes when I need a little boost. You are all amazing and keep me afloat in these turbulent waters. I can never express enough how much your words mean to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your messages are like hands catching me before I hit the ground.

Caden has continued to grow and flourish. Although his future is very uncertain, he continues to amaze me with his endearing personality and strength. He face just lights up when we smile and talk with him. I know he can't hear us, but I think he loves all of our expressions. We took him to see a geneticists that saw him in the NICU and she was very impressed with how far he has come. She reminded me of all he has been through with surgeries, intubation, extubation, tests, and more. She said it was tough to see us going through all of that. In those moments I truly realize how far we have come and feel blessed to be where we are now; together as a family.

Just as things seemed to be turning a nice corner we had quite a scare. Tuesday night while getting ready for bed Jenna choked on a quarter she was playing with. I had just told her to put the quarter away and moments later she was completely choking. I started giving her the Heimlich maneuver and Chad called 911. She managed to pass it through her esophagus and into her stomach. We spent 4 hours at the E.R. taking x-rays and are now waiting for the quarter to "pass." If this doesn't occur soon she may need to have it removed. We are praying it passes because I really am not in the mood for any more surgeries!

Mary

P.S. I just had to add that we found it funny that the picture of Caden holding a little beverage is actually a picture of C.L. holding C.L. holding a C.L.(Chad Lukkes holding Caden Lukkes holding a Coors Lite.) Please do not worry, Caden never had a sip!