Gas drops and prune juice

have become our best friends. With the high calorie formula and extra iron supplements, Cade's digestive tract has not been very good. But, we have it under control now and he doesn't scream in pain during every feeding. Yeah! It's amazing what becomes important :) Here's some highlights from the last week.

Helping Mommy with the last blog update:

Thursday and Friday: Grandma Linda and Grandpa Reg were down for a visit. My mom walked in the door, I changed Cade's diaper and then handed him over. There was for alot of cuddle time with grandma (and grandpa).

Saturday: Auntie Marcy came over and got in her cuddle time and I ran to Babies R Us to get a new monitor. Ours was defective but I bought a more expensive one this time so hopefully it keeps working ;)

Sunday: A lazy family day.

Monday: My aunt Diana, uncle Jay and cousin Nina stopped by for a visit. They were in town from up north to visit us and a few other people.

Tuesday: We went to Children's so Cade could get his follow-up head ultrasound and then went to the neurologist's nurse practitioner to find out how the u/s looked. She said that everything looked good. His ventricles are shrinking slightly and they expect them to keep shrinking. She had no concerns and we have another appt in 2 weeks.

Wednesday: Cade had an eye appt and we got more good news. The ROP that he had developed in the hospital has gone away. Basically, the blood vessels were not growing normally but they correct themselves and his eyes are mature now so no more worries about ROP. We don't have to go back for another 6 months. Also, some of Sean's co-workers came over for lunch and to meet Cade. We all had a good time outside on the deck.

Highlights from the first few days home

Sunday: First bath at home; the nurse came and Cade weighed 7lbs 4 oz and was 19 3/4" long; Auntie Marcy came over and Cade fell asleep on her; took the puppies for a walk again


Monday: We made our first trip to the pediatrician and found out that we picked the right one since both my OB and the perinatologist that delivered Cade bring their kids to him. We see him in another couple of weeks but he said everything looked good. Also, Amy and baby K came to visit in the evening. Amy is pregnant with what is sure to be one of Cade's first friends. Later in the evening, Bob and Deb our next door neighbors stopped by. They were happy to meet Cade after hearing about all of our trips to the hospital. Then we took the dogs for a walk and ran into our other neighbors that didn't even know Cade existed. I'm sure that will happen more than once.

Tuesday: We finally sold the townhouse. What a relief that everything went through without a hitch. Cade even slept through the whole thing.

Wednesday: Another bath and a change of the cannula so I got a couple of pictures of Cade with nothing on his face :) A very cute boy, indeed. Also, another nurse visited and now he weighs 7lbs 9 oz. We were a little worried because he's changed his eating schedule but he seems to still be growing.

Cade is home, finally!

After exactly 3 months in the hospital, Cade was discharged yesterday. He passed his car seat test with flying colors (no spells) and then had a final check over by the doctor. We got all of his follow-up appointments scheduled and got his meds from the pharmacy and then we were on our way. It was bittersweet to leave the hospital. We were so excited and happy to finally get to this point but we also met alot of great people and Cade got the best care that he could from Children's Minneapolis. Cade finally met his big sisters. Lucy is still a little scared and Sophie is nervous. Sophie is used to being top dog so I don't think she is all that impressed with Cade. Belle hasn't exactly met him but she did make it to his room last night to sniff around. The whole family went for a walk last night (minus Belle of course) and we all enjoyed it. We all survived last night too. Sean and I split up the feedings and each got a little sleep. Cade wants to eat every 3 hours and it takes him about 30 to 45 minutes to eat so we get a couple hour break between feedings. Well, I guess that's it for now. We see the nurse tomorrow and meet the pediatrician on Monday and if all goes well close on the townhouse on Tuesday. I'll be home for the next 7 weeks so please send email to my personal address jksouth23@yahoo.com.

After the walk

Hanging out today

Staying over at the hospital

We just got news that Cade's eyes are mature enough to give him 100% O2 so that means we'll be staying the night at the hospital tonight. This was a big hurdle to getting him home by Friday. So, things are going according to the plan. We will stay tonight, meet with the neuro nurse tomorrow morning for discharge instructions, also need to meet with the dietitian and clean the house thoroughly. Then on Friday morning, Cade has the car seat test. If all goes well, he can be discharged on Friday which is 2 weeks before his due date! Another of the hurdles was that he needed to be bottling 100% of his feedings and gaining weight. Well, he bottled enough between Mon and Tues to gain 32 grams. He's now just over 3 kg which is 6lbs 10 oz. On Mon, he took a partial bottle from me and then before we went home for the night, he took a whole bottle from Sean. We also got a whole bottle in last night even after a bath :) He was sleeping through the last half but got the whole thing down. Sean and I are just really excited that we are finally at this point. Cade has been in the hospital almost 13 weeks, gone through 3 surgeries, is over triple is birth weight (2lb 1oz) and has grown over 4 inches. What a miracle!

Elli's party

My cousin Erin's daughter turned 1 on Sunday and we went to her big party. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of her covered in blue frosting but here's a couple cute ones. Of course, the bags and boxes were more fun than the presents and big brother Noah was very good at helping.