July 31, 2007...Updates!

Hey all! Happy First Birthday to Burke and 31st to Chris!




We're doing well.... Burke is on the surgery schedule for his cochlear implant on October 9th! We're so excited! He's doing well with his hearing aids but we're ready for the implant as it will give him even more access to sound for language development. He's being evaluated for growth hormone definciency and currently taking testosterone shots once a month for 3 months to help his little male parts grow :) He's stronger and has hair on his chest (haha...j/k)....actually he's stronger and is holding his torso and head much better. He still needs support to sit but can do it on his own for about 30 secs to a minute if he's well occupied. He still isn't crawling but can spend more time on his tummy and hold himself up on hands and knees...I know just one of these days I'm gonna be putting up baby gates all over the place...he's such a busy bee! (that's a nickname for him by the way...bzzzz...bizzy beeee!)
Nate is currently working on his counseling practice in the evenings and staying home with Burke during the day while I work until 2pm...it's going very well! Burke really likes spending time with his daddy and visa versa! It's really helped him develop physically as Nate is great at doing physical therapy stuff with him during the day. The speech and language pathologist told us he doesn't need feeding therapy...oh my goodness...we were super excited!!! Oral skills and feeding were supposed to be the area that he was expected to need the most help with...we are so fortunate!
So, we're looking forward to a trip to the Washington Coast with the Nelson clan this coming month...we can't wait for Burke's mouth full of sand and salt water :) We still have lots of appointments in preparation for the cochlear implant surgery in October. We have 2 different home visitors (physical therapy and auditory verbal therapy) coming each week along with more testing for his possible growth deficiency. Busy times! All in all, we're in good spirits and so thankful for our happy and amazing little boy who lights up our lives each and every day! praise praise for such a beautiful blessing!

Comments

Jen said…
Wow, I can't believe he's one already. He is so cute!! Thanks for the updates, I had been thinking about you guys!! Take care,
Dana & Jen
1:35 PM
Unknown said…
Gorgeous boy! I will add his link to Kennedy's blog site! Can't wait to see more of Burke...what a beautiful child.
5:53 AM
Unknown said…
beautiful and welcome
2:21 AM
Unknown said…
I hope that the surgery went alright on October 9th. It is great to be able to see pictures of your little one grow & read the stories, it makes us follow his life (although we are on the other side of the world)...

Keep it up !
Roland & krause family
2:02 AM
hannah m said…
I found your blog through Mighty Max's - Burke is so precious! What a sweet and strong little boy!

My daughter Vivian has CHARGE, too, and will be one in a week. What a year it's been!

Very best wishes to your lovely family!
5:19 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-26-06 We're Going HOME!

YES, it's official!...we're GOIN HOME! OH MY! In exactly three months Burke has managed three major surgeries, two major procedures,3 nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections, two rounds in the NICU, a million x-rays and florostudies, rounds and rounds of expert opinions and even more trials of ways to feed and gain weight. As of today, Burke has doubled his weight to 8 lbs and is taking in the appropriate amount of milk by a bottle (binky trainer good bye!)! His esophagus and stomach are slowly but surely starting to coordinate themselves appropriately and Burke is now HUNGRY when his tummy is empty and HAPPY when his tummy is full of mommy's milk! We've managed to convince Children's Hospital Surgical Team, Dieticians, Residents and Feeding therapists that premies with surgical complicaton CAN grow and gain weight on breastmilk alone through a process called Lactoengineering...I've even been asked to publish an article for the Journal of Human Lactation a...
Read more

7-15-06 I'm so cute

Image
It was another good day today. Burke rested peacefully and continues to breathe well...so well that they discontinued the oxygen that was being given through his nasal canula (yay..one more tube gone). He's also in the process of being weaned from the morphine...it's a slow process but the doctors have reassured us this is very common and the babies do just fine without any long term side effects! We are super proud of his progress. Monday he will be transfered to Children's Hospital...we are very excited to be closer to home. Please continue to pray that the transfer goes well and that he responds well to being weaned off the morphine. Thanks...we appreciate you all so much!
Read more

8-20-06 Surviving the Hospital

Image
Well...we're still hanging in here at Children's and trucking along in the right direction (homeward bound). We're still just "talking" about going home so there are no official plans yet but we hope it will be sometime later this week. Burke's official due date is Aug 24th so we hope to be going home around then! In order to get there, Burke must gain weight steadily and have stable breathing. His weight gain has been slow but is on the rise and he weighs 6lbs as of yesterday! He continues to have 1 to 2 episodes of oxygen desaturations during the early morning hours which has been somewhat concerning as the doctors can't quite figure out why they're occuring. Burke hasn't been negatively affected by these episodes and doesn't require extra breathing support/oxygen which means his body is strong enough to recover nicely on his own. An expert plans to visit us tomorrow to help uncover the meaning behind these episodes and we pray she'll b...
Read more