Sunday, August 3, 2008

Progress Report


It’s been a while. Both our computer at home and my computer at work have had major problems. We finally had to break down and get a new computer at home. Also, work has been crazy but now that I’ve got access to computers, I have fewer excuses not to post.

Brandon has recovered really well from his surgery. He still has a couple of steri-strips on his incision (one has come off and the others should come off soon) but other than adding a new scar to his collection, he’s totally recovered and doing great. I’m glad he’s a boy because I’m hoping that all of the scars on his stomach are cool and not embarrassing when he is a teenager. Brandon has been doing well with his oxygen. He went a couple of nights without needing any. His alarm has been going off tonight so he is on 1/32 (the lowest possible setting). He’s also making progress on other developmental stuff too.

We took both Brandon and Katelyn in for another follow-up clinic the other day. While he is making great progress the neurologist told us about all of the potential problems to watch for because of his hemi-paresis. It was pretty discouraging to hear but I have to remember that we have heard about a lot of terrible possibilities and things have turned out great so far. We will get a MRI done soon so we can better understand why he has the hemi-paresis. We continue to see therapists and work with Brandon with many different exercises and stretches. Progress doesn’t come instantly but it does come and we are very encouraged by this progress? Brandon’s newest favorite thing to do is wave Hi.

Katelyn loves to clap and she is still a ball of energy. She seems to be more on track with her adjusted age and her biggest challenge continues to be her growth. She has been eating fairly well and she loves anything that we are eating. However in the last couple of days she has decided she isn’t interested in nursing. The problem is that she still doesn’t drink from a sippy cup or a bottle so we have to work hard to make sure she gets enough liquid. Brandon is small too. He is just less than 14lbs. but Katelyn is still under 12lbs. and progressing very slowly. The good news is that we are going to try switching what we use to supplement her food. What we are now using is incredibly expensive. 6 cans run $250. We’ve also started a medication that should increase her appetite. I’m pretty hopeful that it will have a very positive effect and help her grow.
Katelyn loves her soft blanket and she will curl up with it and go to sleep almost anywhere. Yes, she's asleep in this picture.
Blake and Derek got toothbrushes with suction cups on the bottom. They thought it would be funny to hook them together.

This is a sketch I did of Katelyn while she was asleep in church. We haven't taken many photos lately.



2 comments:

Jammin' said...

I'm so glad the babies are doing fine. I love to check up on your blog to see their progress. They are doing awesome. You two are astounding, Amy and Brent. You must be pretty special to have been given such special kids. And, as long as we are talking about special, Amy! I didn't know you could sketch! That picture of Katelyn was gorgeous:)

Brent Fox said...

It can get a little confusing because both Amy and I post to this blog but the sketch was done by me.

Brent