Sunday, January 11

Greg's parents and sister arrived in the morning on Sunday. Greg took them in to see Caden one at a time. In NICU, only two people per baby are allowed at a time and one of those people must be either me or Greg. No one can visit him without one of us present. It makes visiting a challenge, but at least we can take people in. They were unable to hold him, but were happy they at least got to see him.

That morning, after my mom and sisters brought Kyler over to the hospital, we took Kyler up to see Caden again. This time, we had a gift from Caden to give to Kyler. Greg had put it up there so that when we took Kyler up there, he would be able to see it with Caden and associate it with him and hopefully have a positive influence on his opinion of Caden. Apparently it worked. We had gotten a toy that has several wheeled vehicles and a drill, etc. The child can take the vehicles apart and put them back together again. Right up Kyler's alley! So, when he opened it up and saw what it was, he was pretty excited. We got a video of him thanking Baby Caden for the toy. Adorable!

That afternoon, my mom took Kyler back to Sacramento and my sister, Cheryl stayed with us. My sister, Shelly, and her daughter had to drive back to Portland that day and they left in the morning. Greg's parents and sister, Natalie, stayed for part of the afternoon before leaving. Greg's parents had to drive back to Medford. So, the afternoon and evening were more quiet. I was trying to spend as much time holding Caden as possible because if they put in the arterial line, they had said we wouldn't get to hold him anymore. Thankfully, they were letting us hold him even with the central line. But there are a lot more tubes and wires to navigate around in order to transfer him to our arms. And, he usually has to stay in a small bed while we hold him. It makes it less personal, but at least we get to hold him closer to us and hopefully he can feel our presence.

We also found out later that day, from a cardiologist after yet another echo, that not only does Caden have a coarc, he also has an ASD hole in his heart. According to that cardiologist it would require surgery to close the hole. He said this was something that wouldn't have been found prenatally because all babies in utero have it. But for most babies, it closes immediately at birth.

Cheryl and I were sitting with Caden in NICU when one of the Neonatology attending physicians came over and sat down to talk to us. It was really nice because he just kicked back and answered questions we had. He showed us the x-ray of Caden's torso showing the vertebrae. We could clearly see the scoliosis of the spine and where two of his ribs are criss-crossed. The doctor told us Caden would definitely need surgery at some point but it wasn't immediate. He said we would need to talk to an orthopedic surgeon to get more information on that. He took some time to explain the structure of the doctors in neonatology and how they were all set up in teams, etc. It was really nice to have him take the time to spend with us answering questions we might have. He was very kind and compassionate.

We have just tried to spend as much time in NICU as possible so we can hold Caden and talk to him. It's been hardest for me because I have to pump many times a day. So, for me to find time to pump, see Caden and sleep has been a challenge. I feel like we're finally starting to get into a little bit of a routine, but it's not always easy.