BAHA ~ Bone Anchored Hearing Aid

I met with the new ENT yesterday, and was very impressed by his plan for Carter.  He thinks that it would be a good idea to get Carter started on a BAHA implantation during his next surgery.  The doc thinks that even if Carter has perfect hearing in the left side, it would be an advantage to him to have this placed as well.  So far, Carter would be the perfect candidate for this procedure, but we won't know for sure until after the big hearing test next week.  Here is a link to the information about the surgery: Bone Anchored Hearing Aid .  If you scroll to the bottom, there are pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like.  There is one little negative to this which would be that Carter will have to wear a very soft headband to hold it in place until he turns 5 years old. It's not as bad as it sounds, and I wish that I could find a picture online, but I can't seem to find one.

I also talked with Carter's Pulmonologist today.  He's been doing much better since the steroids, but still struggles at times.  I explained to her what he was doing, and she's decided to put him on an inhaled steroid.  It's a type that they typically give to Asthma patients and will be administered through a puffer with a spacer.  Hopefully this will help him.

Not much more going on.  Carter's been giving his Daddy smiles all night which Michael is just loving.  He's also increased his feedings from 80 ccs to 140 ccs (which is a little over 4 ounces). Holy cow!  He's really starting to pack on the pounds now!

Nothing New

There really hasn't been anything new going on.  Carter's still working on trying to get his hands to move where he wants them.  He has an appointment with the ENT tomorrow.  It's a basic appointment just to check the tube they placed in his ear during the surgery.  I'll try to update afterward.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  We know that they are helping!

Progress

Today Carter is switching from this:

To this:

Now, what does that mean exactly?  It means that he's been weaned down on his Oxygen so much that he no longer needs a compresser.  He's sitting happily at 1/8 liter of Oxygen.  Only two more steps to go baby!  It also means that our house is a lot quieter now.  No more of the rrrrrrrrrr shhhhhhhh  rrrrrrrrrrrrr shhhhhhhhh sound.  Wahoo!

Carter's Little Room

Carter's Occupational Therapist thought that a "little room" would be beneficial to Carter developmentally.  It is literally a "little room" that makes Carter feel safe in his environment while giving him a lot more feedback because every movement he makes will echo throughout it.  One of these can cost over $1000, but my very handy husband built him one and the best part is that it only cost $50!  We've been trying it out a lot the last few days, and I must say that it truly does work.  Typically, you would hang toys from the top for a baby with vision impairment, but for Carter we've been putting toys near him that he can hit.  Sometimes we put it over his play place as well.  It is sitting on top of a resonance board that his vision specialist brought which creates even more noise. The idea is to get him to start realizing that he can make things happen when he moves those little arms and legs. Here's a link to a website that gives detailed instructions on how to build one: http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/play-area.html#how-make , but for the record.... Michael made up his own plans.  I just have to give him props where they are due :)

Welcome To Our New Blog

Thanks for checking out Carter's new blog!  We wanted to shine his little light throughout the world and this seemed like the easiest way.

Carter's had a good couple of days. I weighed him today and he's up to 11 lbs! He had an appointment with his Occupational Therapist who was pleased with his progress. He wants us to concentrate on strengthening Carter's tummy muscles so he can roll onto his belly. We're also still working on getting him to bat at toys. Later in the day we had an appointment with Audiology. Unfortunately, we didn't learn anything new. We just scheduled an appointment to get another thorough hearing test called an ABR done on October 6th.

Teeth?! Really?

OK, so I've been terrible about Blogging lately.  Sorry. Here's the update on what our little man is doing.

First, Carter was on steroids for five days to try and strengthen his airway.  They have seemed to work and he's doing much better although he still has an occasional bout with it tightening up.  Those moments are really scary so we're glad that they are declining although we would be happier if he didn't do it at all. We're just going to give him more time to heal.  The weaning of his Oxygen is going pretty well.  He's comfortable at a 1/4 liter which is about where he was way back before the Heart Cath.

Developmentally Carter has been doing some VERY exciting things.  He's started to focus on objects and turn his head to follow them.  He's also taken a liking to the TV (especially Football....not sure where he got that from lol!). As I type this, he's playing on the floor and looks like he's so close to rolling onto his tummy. His eating has been going well, and he weighs about 10 lbs. 10 ounces now.  The last week I've actually felt like I've had a "normal" baby for the first time.  He seems to be like a 3 month old which is about where he should be for his adjusted age.  Our next feat is to get him to start batting at objects.  He seems to be so close to doing it.

Today while I was playing with him I noticed a little white slit on the top of his gum.  I can't believe it, but our little guy has actually gotten his first tooth!  It is on his upper right.  I'm not sure which tooth it is because of the way his gum is shaped on that side, but I'm guessing it's his front right.  He's growing up quickly now!

On Monday he has an appointment with an Audiologist to find out how his hearing is now that the tube in his left ear has been placed. We're hoping for good news.  It would be nice if his hearing was excellent because it would mean that we might not have to do anything for the right ear.  We can only pray!

Mikey and Jovie have been enjoying school.  Life is certainly a lot busier once your kids are old enough to have activities.

The Memo

Carter had the big appointment with his Pulmonologist today. It was supposed to be the one where we got him started on BiPap. Well, evidentally the doc got the memo that Carter's a Rock Star because she was "Very Impressed" with how "wonderfully" he's doing. She couldn't be happier with his labwork from his last hospital stay. We now have a new plan in place. Hooray!!

First, she wants to put him on a steroid for the next five days. He's been having some struggles with his breathing whenever he gets really upset. It typically results in him passing out which is always a lot of fun for Mommy and Daddy. The doc thinks that his airway is really vulnerable, and the steroids will help to strengthen it a little more. From everything she described, we think that she's right....at least we're praying she is lol! The next plan is to start weaning him down on his Oxygen. The doc thinks that keeping him on a 1/2 liter is actually making him retain more CO2, so our new guideline is to keep him weaned to the smallest amount of O2 that we can get away with. We're supposed to call her in a month to schedule a sleep study where we'll decide if he really does need a CPAP or BiPap machine. We're going to just keep on keepin' on until then.

Side By Side

His New Face

The final scab fell off of Carter's lip today, so we get to see the complete results of the surgery. He is pretty darn cute, but I still find myself missing the cleft at times especially when he makes a certain pouty face. I managed to sneak the Oxygen off for another pic so you could see his new face.

Healing

He seems to be back into the groove of things. After his strike on sleep (that lasted 48 hours) he finally crashed last night at 8:00 and didn't really wake up until this afternoon except for his meals. Part of the glue they used on his lip fell off today, so now we can get a better look at the repair and for only being 8 days I think that it looks awesome! Carter has also been feeding really well all day, so that hurdle may have already been overcome.

I Promised My Grandma...

That I would get some pics up of Carter with his daddy. It was no easy feat getting these two to take a picture, but I'm happy with the results. Here are two of my hotties!

Jovie's First Day Of School

Our baby girl went to her first day of preschool today. She had a great day, and was very excited to be "big" enough to go. She is going to the preschool that Mikey went to last year, so I think that it seemed somewhat familiar. It was weird to not have my little sidekick with me this morning, but I know that it was time for her to take the big step. She's already finished her homework and can't wait to go again next week. Soon she'll be starting dance class as well, so her schedule is filling up already!

First Smile

Evidentally nobody informed Carter that he needs to sleep. He was up all.night.long and most of the day today. I think that part of the problem was a little trouble with his tummy. He still seemed to not feel well throughout the day, but perked up this evening when I fed him with the original bottle he started on in the NICU. He hadn't been doing very well with the other bottle, so I decided to give the first one a shot and I'm glad that I did. He downed it without much effort. I think that feeding could be a lot easier for him now...it's just a matter of getting used to it again. I'm so happy to see him feeding himself because I hated using the G Tube. He's now hanging out in his swing and smiling at his toys. His new smile is simply adorable. It tried to catch it on camera, but of course he got camera shy. Here's a half-smile anyhow.