| |
 |
Stories |
MARCH 6TH 2009
Hello guys. We ended up having to take Josh to the ER the other night. He developed severe constipation because of the anesthesia combined with the medications he was sent home on. This caused the pain he was already experiencing from the surgery to magnify tremendously. He has been having horrible bouts of pain and bladder spasms similar to labor contractions. These episodes are terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time. They are still occurring on and off, but less than before thank goodness. Anyway, because of the severe constipation he began refusing any liquids and food was only accepted if it was pretty much forced on him. We think this is because it induced such severe pain after every feeding time. He finally caught on and would not eat or drink anything at all. This went on so long that we began noticing signs of dehydration and we were very worried. After he pretty much screamed uncontrollably for two straight hours in pain we found ourselves back in the emergency room in the middle of the night. Because of his sensory issues too, we couldn't even get his medicines into his mouth without him vomiting. It has been a two man job at all times. Thank God for Nick! We found a good description of the sensory issues he deals with... I am posting it at the end of this update in case anyone wants to read it. It really explains it in a way that I can't. Pray to God that his new therapist is the right person to help him get through this extremely difficult and exhausting issue, and pray that he is freed from his current pain immediately!
Sensory Integration Problems in Preemies
By Lindsey Biel, co-author of Raising a Sensory Smart Child
Mickey is a 18-month-old who was born at 29 weeks, weighing 2 lbs., 12 oz.. He's getting early intervention for developmental delays in gross motor and fine motor skills, visual perceptual skills, and speech-language skills. He's come a long way already. But what concerns his parents most is that Mickey doesn't like to be cuddled, cries inconsolably whenever they change his diaper, and never, ever seems to sit still. He's on the go from the minute he wakes up, running on his tippy toes from toy to toy, crashing into the sofa, banging into the wall, and leaving a mess wherever he goes. He's a whirlwind of activity all day long, and his parents are simply exhausted.
What is going on with Mickey? He shows signs of sensory integration issues.
What is Sensory Integration?
All of us learn about and comprehend the world through our senses. We see things, we hear things, we touch things, we experience gravity, and we use our bodies to move around in it. All of the sensory input from the environment and from inside our bodies works together seamlessly so we know what's going on and what to do.
Sensory integration is something most of us do automatically. Usually, sensory input registers well, gets processed in the central nervous system and then hooks up seamlessly with all of the other senses. This lets us think and behave appropriately in response to what's going on.
Kids with sensory integration (SI) dysfunction experience the world differently. They don't take in and use sensory information the same way. Their central nervous system responds to sensory input differently, so they're not always getting an accurate, reliable picture of their bodies and the environment.
Think of sensory integration like an orchestra. You need the woodwinds section, the strings section, the percussion, the piano to all be in tune, playing in key at the right volume, all perfectly coordinated with each other. With SI dysfunction, the conductor isn't controlling the music well. Different sections in the orchestra are out of tune and out of sync so it doesn't sound right.
For a child with severe sensory issues, walking into the supermarket can feel like walking into a rock and roll concert. Such a child may be able to see and hear the fluorescent lighting flicker, a squeaky shopping cart may sound like thunder, the meat department may smell like a garbage dump, and navigating the aisles and other shoppers may feel like being on a bumper car ride. What seems normal to us can easily overwhelm a child with sensory problems.
Common Signs of Sensory Integration Dysfunction
Out of proportion reactions: over or undersensitivity to touch, sounds, sights,
movement, tastes, or smells
Problems with vestibular (movement) and proprioceptive senses (body awareness)
Bothered by particular clothing fabrics, labels, waistbands, etc.
Avoids or excessively craves intense movement - slides, swings, bouncing, jumping
Resists grooming activities such as brushing teeth and washing hair
Avoids foods most children enjoy
Gets dizzy easily-or never at all
Seems clumsy or careless
Often "tunes out" or "acts up"
Poor attention and focus
Uncomfortable in group settings
Very high or very low pain threshold
Squints, blinks, or rubs eyes frequently (may have an undiagnosed vision problem)
What causes sensory integration problems?
Sensory problems result from neurological differences, and new research is being done to confirm this. It's a difference in how the brain and nervous system are wired. Sensory problems are quite often seen in children born prematurely (especially the smallest and the youngest), those adopted from overseas, children who have experienced birth trauma or prolonged hospitalization, and those exposed to heavy metals. Sensory problems are a common symptom of other diagnoses including autism, attention deficit disorders, Down Syndrome, fragile X, anxiety and depression and others. A child may have such a disorder AND SI dysfunction. A child can just have sensory problems and nothing else. It's estimated that there's one child with sensory issues in every regular classroom, and somewhere between 50-80% of children have some degree of sensory problems in a classoom of children with autism spectrum disorders.
Why preemies are at increased risk for sensory integration problems?
In the womb, a baby spends her time curled up, cozy and warm in the dark, listening to her mother's heartbeat and muted sounds from the outside world. Meanwhile, her nervous system is developing at astonishing speed, forming thousands upon thousands of essential nerve cell connections. When a baby is born prematurely, her immature, disorganized nervous system isn't ready to handle all of the sensory messages bombarding her.
Most NICUs do their best to minimize overstimulation, but the inevitable beeping and buzzing equipment, room lighting, and busy atmosphere can agitate sensitive preemies. The NICU primary care team-including neonatal nurses, occupational and physical therapists-work with parents to facilitate development. Usually, moms and dads are sent home with warnings to look out for signs of sensory issues and developmental delays in their babies.
Each baby is, of course, totally unique, but in general preemies tend to:
be highly sensitive to noise, light, touch, and movement-even beyond the second birthday
retain startle reflexes longer than usual
have muscles that tend to be either stiff or floppy, or a mix of both. (Abnormal muscle tone in preemies often resolves itself by 12-18 months.)
be very distractible and highly active-or extremely quiet and sleep more than expected
have increased risk for vision problems
often develop oral defensiveness because of negative oral experiences with feeding tubes, respirators and suctioning. This can interfere with feeding, as can abnormal muscle tone inside the mouth
Most of sensory-based difficulties resolve as the baby's nervous system matures, especially given informed parents like Mickey's. They worked closely with an occupational therapist who helped them to understand and meet his sensory needs while avoiding sensory overload, e.g, the best ways to position him in his crib and for feedings, how to caress him with firm rather than light touch, how intensely to rock him, and so on).
The Good New: There is help for sensory integration problems!
With appropriate interventions and time, most children develop needed central nervous system connections and sensory input starts getting more familiar and more comfortable. Not always, but most of the time, children can overcome their sensory problems, especially with parents who develop their own "sensory smarts."
MARCH 3RD 2009
Hello all... Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. The surgery went very smooth. They wheeled him back to us and he was already sitting up and, the curious kid he is, trying to see everyone else in their recovery rooms. He got to wear the coolest Looney Toons hospital gown! He was too cute for words. He is home now and still recovering. It will be a very very long healing process and has been extremely painful and exhausting already. The most dangerous part is over however, and we are blessed and thankful for that. There are still risks and possible setbacks ahead, but through prayer we are confident Joshua will be good to go within the estimated 3 month healing time. We are so very fortunate to have such a wonderful hospital and amazing surgeons within our region! Our hands are tied over here so I may not update for a while. Here are some pictures we took at the hospital...
  
MARCH 2ND 2009
We're off to surgery... Joshua wanted to type everyone a quick message:
vghjkjjv ijhhhh
Î lmnknvn m fsho"Gard
Translation... Thank you for praying for me. I will be a trooper during and after surgery. I love you all.
Comments
Joshua your in my prayers always!! I love you so much!!!
- Aunt Sarah
|
MARCH 1ST 2009
Hello everyone! We will be leaving for the hospital around 6am tomorrow morning. Joshua's surgery is scheduled for 11am. We have so dreaded this day, but are glad to be on our way to getting it over with. We've packed everything we can think of to make Joshua comfortable and happy after the surgery. We've even gone as far as downloading his favorite Disney Choo Choo Soul music video onto the Ipod. LOL. He well deserves it. He has come a long way and he has developed into a genuinely loving boy who blows kisses on demand and waves hello to everyone. He defines the word sweet in every way! We are praying and praying and praying some more for a safe and complete surgery and a quick, painless and successful recovery! We hope you'll say a quick prayer for him too. We know you always do! We love you guys and will update as soon as we can.
Love,
Nick, Mel & Josh
JANUARY 7, 2009
And we are making progress!! We have a potential date for Joshua's surgery. February 19th is the possibility. I say this with exclamation, but it is quite scary. It will be at least a 2 hour procedure. There are some things we have to accomplish before we can lock in that date so keep your fingers crossed that it happens if it is meant to be on that day. I'll keep everyone updated!
Love Melanie
Comments
Hi,
I was just going through your website. My son was born premature as well. I wish you son gets well soon.My prayers are with him.Be Strong Joshua.
Mother of a premmie child born 1 pound 2 ounces.
- Radha
|
JANUARY 6TH 2009
Hey guys! I've been organizing our pictures and videos from the past 2 years and I've been trying to upload the videos to youtube. If you frequent our youtube page you will see a lot of new video clips. It's a work in progress so bare with me. I also wanted to share a leap Joshua has recently taken! It sounds like a trivial thing, but two days ago Joshua decided he could move around in the bathtub, from side to side, and then decided he could stand up in the tub! These seemingly simple tasks have been challenging for Joshua. He has formed a real sensory issue and the mere fact of sitting in the bathtub without his little baby tub (the blue tub he sat inside in previous pictures) was an overstimulating task. As with eating, Joshua uncontrollably tenses up, closes his eyes, dry heaves and often brings himself to a full vomit. It's really quite discouraging. Previous to two days ago, when I would put Joshua in the tub, he would not move a muscle. He would sit in the same exact position throughout the entire bath and would just stare at his toys. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw him gain the confidence to try to move to the other end of the tub. Once he felt comfortable with that, and it didn't take long, he was like a fish floating back and forth! Then, the daredevil child of mine became so confident he repeatedly attempted standing up in the water. Sensory issues are confusing, and don't really make sense to those like myself who are not educated about it. It seems crazy that if rice cereal is thickened too much and merely touches Joshua's finger he could literally vomit from it, but on the other hand he can stick his hand and whole arm down the toilet bowl if you don't catch him in time! All I know is that God is good, and he has brought Joshua through every obstacle so far. We are still trying to fine tune his body movements, gross and fine motor skills, with his occupational therapist. We are blessed to be in the right hands. Since Joshua found his new bath-time confidence, I've noticed he has been more at ease about trying new things. What would you know, our prayers are being answered, your prayers are being answered and this boy will not stop until he has defeated every last road block!
P.S. Nick and I have been crazy sick the last couple months. It's as if the last 2 years of being so healthy and avoiding any sickness caught up with us! We've been diligent about helping Joshua avoid catching anything from us and it seems to have worked. Every time we've been sick God has spared him from it. We are fretful about the first time Joshua actually catches something big. However, we will keep praying for the best and if you have a moment in your prayer, we would love it if you included a quick prayer for Joshua's continued health. Thank you everyone and we love you!
Mel, Nick & Josh
Comments
I love to read your updates Melanie, and have since the first one. He has made such incredible strides. What is the name of the youtube site?
- Jules
Thank you! Our YouTube site is http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleTrooperVideos
- Melanie
|
January 1, 2009
Happy new year! Joshua had a wonderful Christmas. He was more interactive than we could have ever imagined. We had a nice Levantini Christmas Eve and and a Gatt Christmas morning. This was surely a fun time for us. We had to wake Joshua on Christmas morning. The kid could have slept all day if we let him, lol. I tried to tell him that Santa came to his house because of what a good boy he has been, but he didn't want to hear it. He gave me his complain face, squeezed his eyes shut tight and rolled over to his daddy as if to tell mommy to leave him alone! Once he was up though, things were mighty different. He was loving it! Each present was like gold to him. He wanted it assembled or out of the box immediately. Nicholas bought us a video camera for Christmas. We've already filled it up with hours of footage. I am trying to put together a video shortly. Our highlight of the occasion had to be Joshua's discovery of the microphone on his new D.J. keyboard. He realized his voice would come out of the speaker if he held the microphone right up to his mouth and said, "Whoo, Whoo!". He would crack up hysterically every time he talked into it. We transformed our guest room into a computer slash toy room with a couch, DVD's and satellite. It has been quite the hang out. It is Joshua's favorite room in the house. It's opened the house up wonderfully. Joshua has formed such a personality. It is amazing and he is sooo lovable. His health is amazing. If you have a moment, please say a prayer for his upcoming surgery and also, Nick and I have been really sick, so ask God to spare Joshua of this. We know He always has our back! Lol. Anyway, we love everyone and we wish you a great start to a fresh new year!
Love, Nicholas, Melanie & Joshua
DECEMBER 11TH
Hello everyone! I apologize for the long gap in the updating on this site. I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season! Joshua has been doing wonderful these past months! One day he decided he was going to crawl... The next day he decided he was going to sit on his own... The next he decided to pull himself to a standing position and the next he decided to START WALKING!!! He is the biggest handful ever... lol. We couldn't ask for anything more or less. He is an explorer and true boys boy! If it is motorized, he has to have it. If it is outside, he wants to go to it. If it has a button, he must push it. Today he learned how to make the water come out of the water cooler and when I tell him no he laughs at me. I think it's because he knows his 10 teeth are totally handsome! His new tricks include pulling the ornaments off the tree, blowing kisses on command and opening and closing all the doors, drawers and cabinets in the house. He thinks his daddy is the best thing ever! He knows Nick's every habit and even his schedule! He is one smart kid.
On a more serious note... Joshua is showing what could be a serious aversion to any food that is not completely pureed. His occupational therapist is going to begin working strongly on this. Please keep him in your prayers for this one!
Also, I mentioned so many months back that Joshua has two surgical procedures to undergo. We thought they would have been scheduled for before the close of this year, however, they are still pending. The surgeons nurse is trying to schedule both procedures to be performed by both surgeons on the same day and at the same time. This way Joshua will only have to go under anesthesia one time. Because of this, there has been a delay in the scheduling process. Once we find a date there is a four week prep time we must go through before the surgery, so that is another factor causing the delay. The nurse projects it will be sometime at the end of January. This urological procedure is extensive and it could take up to three different surgeries to complete! Please, please, please as God to spare Joshua from at least two of these procedures, if not three! Miracles happen! We've all seen one! Joshua truly reminds us of the reason for the season! We are blessed to be filled with so much joy. Merry Christmas everyone!
MAY 5TH
I forgot to mention that they doctor is trialing Joshua off of his oxygen! It is scary, but soooo nice to see him comfortable without the hose! He is getting so big!
MAY 2ND
Well the doctors appointment on the 29th went very well!! Thank you for your prayers! However, Joshua will be needing to have a procedure done where they will be looking at his airway to figure out why he has a weak and raspy voice and also why he continues to aspirate formula into his lungs. He may have had a vocal cord clipped and paralyzed during his heart surgery when he was 12 days old. Or, he may have a bunch of scar tissue built up from being forcefully intubated so many times. There are a bunch of different things it could be, even down to a cyst or tumor. We have to talk with the doctor again before we schedule the procedure, but it should be within the next month or two. He will be having a urinary surgery sometime this year or early next year, which will be very extensive. The doctors want to be sure they know exactly what the situation with Joshua's airway is before they put him under for the big surgery. This is for safety reasons and to avoid any complications while on the ventilator and under anesthesia. Because of this, we are more comfortable going through with this airway procedure. It is still very frightening. He will be back in a hospital open to all the germs and infections. He will also be under anesthesia again, which is even more frightening. We are confident everything will work out though. Everything has so far! We will keep you posted.
Love, Melanie
APRIL 25TH - PRAYER REQUEST
Hello everyone! Joshua has a doctors appointment coming up on Tuesday the 29th. We fear we are going to receive some unfortunate news about another possible surgery. If you could, please say a prayer that this particular doctor be touched with compassion, rationality and understanding and that Joshua be spared from any unnecessary procedures. We all know that there is no simple procedure for Joshua. He is just too delicate. His hernia surgery, which we were told was a very minor surgery, kept him in the hospital for a month! Nick, Joshua and I are so blessed to have this huge support system petitioning to God for Joshua's health and complete recovery from all of his ongoing issues! We have already been heard so many times that I have no doubt He will send his Grace down this time! We have an indescribable gratitude in our hearts for each and every one of you! Thank you :)
P.S. New pictures are up!!
P.P.S. I forgot to mention that Joshua had a recent eye doctors appointment. It went well. The doctor is wonderful! However, his left eye is having some troubles. Please keep him in your thoughts for this as well :)
APRIL 20TH
A Song for Joshua
Come To Jesus by Mindy Smith
Oh, my baby, when you're older
Maybe then you'll understand
You have angels that stand around you shoulders
'Cause at times in life you need a loving hand
Oh, my baby, when you're prayin'
Leave your burden by my door
You have Jesus standing by your bedside
To keep you calm, keep you safe,
Away from harm
Worry not my son
Child, when life don't seem worth livin'
Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
Oh, my baby, when you're cryin'
Never hide your face from me
I've conquered hell and driven out the demons
I have come with a life to set you free
Worry not my son
Child, when life don't seem worth livin'
Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, my baby, when you're dying
Believe the healing of His hand
Here in Heaven we will wait for your arrival
Here in Heaven you will finally understand
Here in Heaven we will wait for your arrival
Here in Heaven you will finally understand
Worry not my son
Child, when life don't seem worth livin'
Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
APRIL 5TH........NEW PICTURES....NEW VIDEO....NEW THINGS!!
Hello! I've uploaded some new pictures and a new video. There is now a link on Joshua's page that will take you to his very own YouTube.com website! Since there are now so many videos it is easier to view his youtube sight than for me to keep adding them all to this page. The newest video is all video! It takes a little while to load if you don't have a fast connection. If this is the case just press the pause button and wait for the long red bar to load and then you can view it straight through without interuptions. Joshua becomes more and more animated as the video progresses! Keep checking his YouTube site for more videos because I've become an addict! :)
P.S. There is a link for his YouTube site on the home page but I'll also include it here......
Click Here!
MARCH 27TH
Hello everyone! Joshua has two new teeth!! They are very handsome! They finally broke through about a week or two ago. He's already putting them to work... he accidentally bit me the other day! :) We've been trying to give him solids but he thinks they are poison. He just can't quite comprehend the concept. He looks at us like we are out of our minds and then he'll give a little gag to tell us he's not quite into it... little stinker! Anyway, right now he needs prayers for his weight gain, oxygen requirements, tongue and vocal cords!! We know you will all keep him in your thoughts and prayers and we are so grateful to that!
P.S. I added a new video and there is also a song you can play on the home page!
MARCH 14TH
Long time no write! Sorry! We have just been so so so busy! Nick is working a ton and I am running on overload :) No complaints though! We'd take the exhaustion and hard work anyday over the obvious outcome we could have been dealt! When I am so tired that my legs won't bend to walk I try very hard to tell myself that and it really helps to fight through the challenges. Speaking of challenges, Joshua recently went through a little challenging setback. We tried experimenting with his formula at the doctors request and it just didn't go as planned. His little belly got very upset and his behavior was a nightmare! He was absolutely miserable and he ended up loosing a lot of weight! I did my best to get him back on track and he is finally over that little hurdle. He is gaining weight again and after I did what I felt was best with his formula his behavior and comfort level is better than it ever has been before. However, we aren't sure if the doctors are going to be satisfied with his weight gain so please keep Joshua in your prayers. We have an appointment at the end of this month and we are hoping it goes well. I just hate to get him all messed up again when he is feeling so good and in my opinion doing very well. We have worked so hard to avoid the hospital at all costs. It would be such a shame to have to go back because of something related to weight gain. Another thing to add to the not so positive news is Joshua's upcoming visit to the ENT. As you may have noticed from Joshua's pictures, his tongue seems to be a little bit short. They may have to snip the tissue right under the tongue that connects the tongue to the mouth. We aren't 100% sure but they may have to do it this week. They say that the child doesn't even really know anything happened to them when they get this done, but it unsettles my stomach because it is just one more risk for infection leading to another hospital stay. I know God will get him through all these battles. He gave Joshua a very strong Will and has listened to our many prayers to date. He has something great in store for Joshua. On top of that He gave Joshua the best personality a mother could ever ask for! The recent Saint Patrick's Day Photoshoot I put him through truly captures his every day personality. I posted them in the pictures section! He cracks me up :)
Love, Nick, Mel & Josh
FEBRUARY 15TH
Joshua held his bottle all by himself yesterday! Well, it was only for about 5 minutes, but that's something! He even pushed it up higher to make the milk come down more :) He loves the PBS Kids morning programs. Today it taught him how to spell "book" and he was more interested in that than drinking his bottle. A couple days ago he decided his oxygen belongs in his mouth instead of his nose and we have since been playing a never ending game of mom putting it in his nose and then Josh yanking it right out again! He had another eye doctor appointment on February 5th and the doctor said he still seems to be doing well with his eyes. He does have a certain degree of nearsightedness as was expected from having his eye surgery. However, we learned that because of his condition his brain could at any time stop connecting with one or both of his eyes and he will no longer see. Aside from his retina actually detaching, another thing that could happen is that one of his eyes could develop greater nearsightedness than the other, which would result in lazy or crossed eyes. Both of these scenarios are not far fetched, so, Joshua has to wear an eye patch for 30 mins every day! Each day we alternate which eye is covered. This will help us to detect if or when any of these complications occur. Since Joshua will not be able to tell us, or even recognize himself if something is wrong, his behavior while covering one of his eyes will surely tell us if he is unable to see out of the other one. He has to be closely followed by both the retina specialist and the ophthalmologist for the next 10 years! They are absolutely wonderful! After the first decade of his life he will hopefully only need to be checked routinely by the retina specialist. It is very important that he be followed by the retina specialist for duration of his life because his eye condition is life-long! On a brighter note, Joshua is finally getting his toes into his mouth and trying to chew on them! :) What a smart little guy!
FEBRUARY 1ST
As of Wednesday Joshua has become an official thumb sucker. He can't keep his hands, and everything else for that matter, out of his mouth because he has some seriously large teeth making their debut. He is constantly chewing on his thumb and pointer finger. Wednesday he realized that you can actually suck on your thumb and I am catching him doing it more and more. He also recently started to roll over pretty well. Yesterday he rolled completely to his side to reach for a toy and when he got it he rolled back onto his back! However, my all time favorite thing that he has been doing these past couple days is sticking his tongue out. I believe this too is related to teething and soothing his sore gums, but it is SO cute. He is such a character. He loves to play in his walker, even though he is still a little small for it. Nicholas taught him how to push the buttons to make noises and Joshua can't get enough of it. We got his nursery situated with the oxygen setup so it is much more convenient to take him in there now. It's like his little play room and he loves it. I have about 50 new pictures to post but this site takes so long to upload them that it might take me a while. Keep checking back. They are definitely worth it!! :)
JANUARY 25TH
Hello everyone!! It's been a while. Joshua is a true miracle! He has more doctors and specialists than I can count with my fingers, but he continues to impress them. We sought out new doctors and they are truly amazing! They really know what they are doing and are giving Joshua the best care. We just found out, after 2 months of being home, that Joshua has been aspirating some of his formula into his lungs every time he swallows. Because of his vocal cord damage they aren't strong enough to completely close off his airway when he swallows so some milk is getting down there. Since finding this out we have been thickening his formula with a cornstarch thickener called "Thick It". It's gross but this allows him to protect his airway and spare his lungs the continuous damage. They think this is why his lungs haven't healed to the point of getting rid of his nasal oxygen. We also found a great Retinopathy of Prematurity Specialist for his eyes! She says they look great!! However, because he had the ROP and had the surgery he will carry a lifelong chance of retinal detachment. Any little car accident or hit to the head could potentially cause his retina to detach and he may go blind. We will just keep asking God to forbid that! Joshua has been gaining weight impressively. All of his doctors are very happy about that. He is no longer on ANY medicines!!! I slowly weened him off of them because I started noticing that he was becoming very shaky and he was only vomiting after his bottles that had the medicines in them. Since they've been discontinued he has been GREAT! Joshua loves to smile as you can all see :) He is such a ham. He is rolling to his side now and making all kinds of noises. When I try to teach him his vowels he makes sure he talks back to me. I give an Oooo and he gives a squeal. This week his belly and neck have become very ticklish. I pretend that a mouse is looking for a house and finds it under his neck and he turns bright red and laughs! Prayers work and God is good! I'll update again sooner than later :)
JANUARY 1ST 2008! Happy New Year!
Hello everyone! Joshua is doing wonderful. I posted some new pictures and I also put a great video into the Family Section of the website. I made some tickers that count the number of months and weeks old Joshua is and I put them on the Home Page. This should be neat to follow. There is one that shows his actual age here on earth and another that shows his adjusted age (the age he technically is development wise). Also, one of Joshua's first Christmas gifts was an infant scale from his Auntie Maureen & Uncle Lennie!! Every time we weigh Joshua I will try to put his current weight up on the top of the Home Page. :) We hope everyone is enjoying a fresh start to a great new year!
Love The McFadden's
DECEMBER 23RD - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Written on December 12, 2007
Hello everyone!
As I type this most recent "Joshua Update" I am remembering that this date is the one year anniversary of Joshua's conception.
It is hard to believe an entire year has come and gone!
Last Christmas our greatest present was learning that Joshua was coming into this world.
This Christmas, our greatest gift is having him HOME with us during it!
Joshua has been immensely flourishing since leaving the hospital.
He continues to impress us everyday.
He went from struggling to take one ounce of formula each feed in the hospital, to letting it be known he is not satisfied until he has taken at least four to five ounces each feed at home.
His last documented weight was nine pounds on December 3,
2007.
He has the most handsome ear to ear smile we've ever seen.
He definitely gets that from his daddy.
When you talk to Joshua, or pretend to eat his toes, his face lights up and he starts to make a little chuckle from his gut.
He had a developmental assessment shortly after coming home, which went great.
The nurse practitioner thought we were joking that Joshua was a preemie.
She went on to call him a show-off because he was passing her test with flying colors!
This week it has become positively clear that Joshua is teething.
He has two little white marks on his bottom gum-line that seem to have grown larger, and we just noticed one on the top too.
He has learned to alternate between chewing on his pointer finger and his thumb.
It is really quite cute!
Joshua is becoming extremely social.
He loves to be talked to.
He greatly dislikes being alone.
He will get the sweetest little pout if he is lonely.
He loves to sleep all night and then drink a large morning bottle!
We had his apnea monitor downloaded yesterday and it showed that he had no real apnea spells!
With all these great steps forward Joshua is slowly letting go of the memory of his hospital trauma.
We've noticed that he is less tense, less defensive and now thinks the pain of his infant shots and blood draws hurt.
He had previously been numbed to the daily poking and prodding in the hospital.
Joshua has a great many miles to go until his medical journey is over, but he is proving to be taking them in strides!
He is truly amazing and he gives a new meaning to our lives that we could never have expected!
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers that helped keep him here with us.
This Christmas we received a true miracle: the birth and survival of our son!
|
|
Contact This Site's Owner