Success!

Surgery went well. Kian's head looks much more proportional to his body. He is having a bit of a difficulting wanting to eat now. He has an upset tummy. Like his mommy after surgery. He is doing great, though, and hopefully will come home tomorrow.

Upcoming surgery

I still haven't figured out how to move these pictures around to the right order, so today you get what you get. Lily can't get enough of her brother. She is meticulous about clean hands (she'll move things with her wrists if she has just washed her hands and is going to touch him.) She's a great helper.

We've got to get him in the preemie size clothes before they don't fit anymore.

Lily's first time holding Kian.

Kate's first time holding Kian.

Look at that noggin. It's huge! Nearly 40 cm around, way above average. We occasionally call him "Heed." Not for long, though:)

Kate in our new playhouse. Her head is in the 95th percentile, so Kian is in good company.

First day home.

Two of our favorite nurses, Katie and Jess.

Right as we came in the door. Kate was so excited. She hadn't seen him in about 6 weeks.

First time strapped in, leaving the hospital.

We have a picture like this with each of the girls as we were leaving the hospital just after they were born. They are both screaming loudly for their pictures. What a good happy boy we have!

We went to see Kian's neurosurgeon at Primary's Thursday to follow-up on his head. It was pretty clear to us and to the doctor that he needs a shunt. His head was still growing pretty quickly, and his eyes were rolling down almost constantly. So we have been scheduled for a VP shunt placement Monday morning. While we were there, he got a head CT and a consult for a circumcision. We figure it'd be nicest for him to have that done while he's asleep. The shunt is a conduit from the ventricles where the cerebrospinal fluid is made, through a tiny tube that runs behind his ear down to his abdomen. In the abdomen the fluid would be absorbed into the body. The shunt will be pressure regulated to keep the pressure in his brain at a normal level. The shunt stays in place until it needs to be replaced, due to infection or blockage or other problems, but in his type of hydrocephalus, those problems are more rare than other types of hydrocephalus. They coil the tube up in his abdomen so it grows with him.


The CT scan. It took about 2 minutes, and he slept through the whole thing.

He's home!

We were able to bring Kian home last night. Lily and Kate were so excited to see him and are loving on him as much as we will allow. We have an appointment with the neurosurgeon this week and Kian will probably have surgery next week to get a shunt. His little head looks so big for him, and we think he will really benefit from having the shunt.

Big progress

Awwww!

Grandma and Papa got to hold Kian for the first time. I think they all enjoyed it. (Aug 14)

Feeding tube and oxygen. (Aug 15)

Oxygen is gone! (Aug 16)

Kate's sunglasses from the NICU.

Lily's most recent visit. She didn't want to leave.

Chris's birthday dinner at Tucanos, a few days early.

Feeding tube gone! (Aug 18)

Cutie! (Aug 19)
Kian is still doing really well. The only thing we are waiting on is the head. Don't ever expect a consult to happen on a Friday afternoon. The neurosurgeons should give us a verdict tomorrow on the shunt/no shunt decision. Then maybe we can bring him home! Current weight: 6-5. His due date is this coming Friday!

Smooth Sailng, for now

In this case no news is good news. Kian has been learning to eat, and growing everyday. He's not quite 6 lbs, and almost 20 inches long. Not a lot has been changing, which is why I haven't updated in over a week. He was taken off oxygen yesterday and has been doing great without it. His little face looks so cute. He only has his feeding tube (which isn't getting much use at this point) and his monitor leads. The doctors are still undecided about his head. He may still need a shunt. That decision should come at the end of this week or next week.

Pictures!

Kian has done really well this week. They are spacing out his reservoir taps, and hopefully will soon be able to stop altogether (keep your fingers crossed). His current weight is 5-4, and they will measure him tonight, but he is too long for his preemie clothes. He's a tall, skinny boy. He is doing great on bottle feeding, and pretty good on breastfeeding. Chris really enjoys being able to give him bottles (and baths).

2 months old

Kian turned 2 months old on Sunday. Such a big boy. His official weight was 4 lbs 15 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. He also got his 2 month immunizations, poor kid. Also over the weekend, Chris's hard drive decided to take a vacation, so he got a new one of those. Our air conditioner decided it was done, so we lived without that for 2 1/2 days (it has now been fixed). Kian continues to make progress eating by mouth, breastfeeding and bottle feeding. He is a good boy and we are pleased with how well he is doing. More pictures coming later (after Chris gets his computer back in running order.)