Kai's chest x-ray picture

We got a picture of Kai's chest x-ray. I thought this was interesting.

Kai's in the hospital

Kai was admitted into the hospital this morning. He is on oxygen and is just being monitored at this point. He has a little cold and cough and has been working a little harder to breathe. Now that Kai has been on oxygen, he is doing better. He is on a low level of oxygen and they are going to be observing him. He has that darn nasty cold...pretty little guy. They tested him for influenza and RSV and those both came back negative--so that's good. They also did a chest x-ray and that looked good. This afternoon they gave him an antibiotic to be on the safe side. It sounds like they are going to observe him for a few days. It sounds like if he stays the way he is then they will probably send him home, but he will probably be on oxygen. If he gets worse then he probably will go up to Children's. On Thursday, Kai had several appointments in the cities. I will post more about those in the days to come. But one appointment was with the genetics doctor. She had two major concerns about Kai right now. One---if he gets sick, it could potentially be life threatening for him. Two---is his breathing. He uses a lot of energy to breathe. He's not gaining enough weight to burn off so many calories. So I'm not sure exactly what the plan is. I believe once he comes home, he will be on oxygen at home. He is a very fragile baby.

Kai is 2 months!

Side view of Kai's head...it is somewhat hard to tell in the pic how flat his head is on this side

Trying to hold Kai up in sitting position

Kai--2 months old

Well today Kai is 2 months old. He now weighs 8lbs 12 ozs. Last Thursday, the home care nurse was here and plotted out his measurements. His head was at 50%. His length and weight were at 5-10 %. So his limbs are not in proportion to the rest of his body. And you can tell this by just looking at him. Tomorrow he goes in for his 2 month check up, so we will see what they have to say. On Friday, Kai saw a doctor from Gillette for the flattening of his head. From what I understand, structurally Kai's head is normal so that is a good thing. The back right side of his head is very flat and is shifting his forehead and nose in the front. The doctor highly recommends a CranioCap for Kai. He has to wait until he is about 4 1/2 months old before he can get this CranioCap. He is too little and his head is too small right now for one. So he will be getting this when the time comes. He also thinks that Kai has torticollis (tightening of this particular neck muscle). So we have to do some specific neck stretches on a daily basis with him. The good thing is that he is starting to look his left. This Thursday we have 3 appointments in the cities. We meet with the eye doctor, neurologist and the genectics doctor. We meet with the orthopedic doctor on the 30th. Hopefully we will get a better idea of what the plan for Kai's hips are. Otherwise Kai is doing good. He is more alert during the day. He is doing the same as far as feedings. We will probably up his feedings soon. He does seem like he may have acid reflux, we will see what his doctor says about it tomorrow.

Gavin and Jace are doing good. They are excited about Christmas. Hopefully we will make it to see Santa this week.

Until next time!

Kai...the day of reaffrimation of baptism

Great Grandpa and Grandma with all 3 boys

Kai on his new positioner. This positioner is awesome...it's like playdough!

Time Flies!

It has been awhile since I last wrote. It has been crazy busy around here. I can't believe how fast time flies! Kai is almost 2 months old already. He is doing good. He now weighs 8 lbs 6.5 ozs. He has been taking about 20-30 mls from the bottle and is at 65 mls for total feeding at each time. He is start to have a little better head control. He has the home care nurse who has been coming weekly. After next week she will be coming monthly. He has OT/PT coming every week. We just got a new positioner for him. It is so nice to have this because there are so many ways we can position him. Kai has his 2nd hearing test in Mankato and needs further testing. He has slight hearing lost in one ear and moderate hearing lost in the other. Kai also has been developing a flat head. It is getting to the point that it is shifting things on the front of his head. He is seeing a doctor from Gillette Hospital on Friday. It sounds like he will have to wear a helmet to shape his head back. On the 18th Kai sees the eye doctor, neurologist and the genetics doctor. Lots of appointments! Last weekend we had a reaffirmation of baptism for Kai. We had a bunch of people over after for lunch and cake. It was a very nice day.

Gavin and Jace are doing good. Gavin is almost done with this round of ECFE. He has been going to practice at church for the Christmas program. They seem to get bigger every day! Jace is learning more words and talking more, although his words still aren't very clear. He is doing such a great job with it. His teacher comes every week and works with him. They are getting excited for Christmas. Hopefully one of these days here we will take them to see Santa.

Levi has been busy working his life away at Unimin. He has been working a lot of 12 hour shifts lately. As far as me...busy, busy, busy as always! This past week one of my daycare families lost their home and belongings in a house fire. We have been trying to help them in any way that we can. We feel for them. As it wasn't that long ago, we were in a similar situation with the whole tornado disaster. God bless them!