My Birthday Ticker
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Special prayers for Deqlan please!
Hi All,
This is from Deqlan's blog, please continue to pray for this family!
Hello Deqlans ArmyWe need to ask you to get your camo and green outfits out but most importantly very special prayers for DeqlanAs you know, i have been concerned about Deqlans eye - it actually looks pretty good at the moment, but still doesnt seem 100% . We happened to go to the paed today for his ears, that he is pulling on, and luckily all fine with that, must be a referred pain fromt teething . I mentioned my concern about Deqlans eye and she called our oncologist for me. They decided it would be best to do a ct scan - so we have scheduled it for 12 o clock tommorow at Unitas hospital.Please, please say a very special prayer for Deqlan tonight and tommorow that there is nothing of concern, and that its just the bone remodeling and that he shall continue to remain NED foreverThank you to you all and i look forward to giving you all great news tommorowGod Bless and loveMark , Samm & DeqlanALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVELORD, WE BELIEVE, LORD , WE RECIEVED, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, ONLY BELIEVE
Love
Elriza
This is from Deqlan's blog, please continue to pray for this family!
Hello Deqlans ArmyWe need to ask you to get your camo and green outfits out but most importantly very special prayers for DeqlanAs you know, i have been concerned about Deqlans eye - it actually looks pretty good at the moment, but still doesnt seem 100% . We happened to go to the paed today for his ears, that he is pulling on, and luckily all fine with that, must be a referred pain fromt teething . I mentioned my concern about Deqlans eye and she called our oncologist for me. They decided it would be best to do a ct scan - so we have scheduled it for 12 o clock tommorow at Unitas hospital.Please, please say a very special prayer for Deqlan tonight and tommorow that there is nothing of concern, and that its just the bone remodeling and that he shall continue to remain NED foreverThank you to you all and i look forward to giving you all great news tommorowGod Bless and loveMark , Samm & DeqlanALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVELORD, WE BELIEVE, LORD , WE RECIEVED, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, ONLY BELIEVE
Love
Elriza
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Update - and prayers please
Hi All,
We went to see dr. van der Vyver today and he noticed that Caden has a hernia on his left lower abdomen (Just like his dad). Unfortunately they'll have to operate on him as soon as possible, but this will only be on Monday. The thought of them operating on this little boy sends chills down my spine, but he's so incredibly strong, so we'll just have to learn from him. Atleast dr. Vermaak wil be back from leave, so that put our minds to rest a little bit. Please pray that his hernia stays "safe" until then and doesn't rupture. We also decided to start bottle feeding baby because he wasn't getting enough milk breastfeeding. He's still only at 2.09kg, which isn't great. He'll still get breast milk, but now we can monitor how much he eats, and if necessary we can add some growth powder or what the sisters call "baby-steroids".
Oh well, we know everything is in God's hands, and I can't imagine that he has anything but great plans for this little miracle of ours, so we're keeping very positive. We can't do this without your support however, so please please continue to pray for this beautiful warrior.
I also just want to thank granny and grampy Paul for their HUGE donation and for Caden's savings account. We'll make sure Caden reaches his full potential with it!
Ouma Rina and Ohpaw Zak came to visit our little warrior today and Ohpaw Zak got to hold baba for the first time today, it brought tears to my eyes (both our eyes actually!). I can't wait for grampy, granny, uncle Brendz and the rest of our families can meet and hold him aswell. I think it still takes people's breath away how small he is. Small, but incredible!
Well, I'm off to go feed our warrior so that he can grow big and strong like his dad. This morning I laughed so much at Wes. I told him "Honey, we really are the feather-weights" and he replied "Yip, built for famine!"
Lots of Love
Elriza & Wes
We went to see dr. van der Vyver today and he noticed that Caden has a hernia on his left lower abdomen (Just like his dad). Unfortunately they'll have to operate on him as soon as possible, but this will only be on Monday. The thought of them operating on this little boy sends chills down my spine, but he's so incredibly strong, so we'll just have to learn from him. Atleast dr. Vermaak wil be back from leave, so that put our minds to rest a little bit. Please pray that his hernia stays "safe" until then and doesn't rupture. We also decided to start bottle feeding baby because he wasn't getting enough milk breastfeeding. He's still only at 2.09kg, which isn't great. He'll still get breast milk, but now we can monitor how much he eats, and if necessary we can add some growth powder or what the sisters call "baby-steroids".
Oh well, we know everything is in God's hands, and I can't imagine that he has anything but great plans for this little miracle of ours, so we're keeping very positive. We can't do this without your support however, so please please continue to pray for this beautiful warrior.
I also just want to thank granny and grampy Paul for their HUGE donation and for Caden's savings account. We'll make sure Caden reaches his full potential with it!
Ouma Rina and Ohpaw Zak came to visit our little warrior today and Ohpaw Zak got to hold baba for the first time today, it brought tears to my eyes (both our eyes actually!). I can't wait for grampy, granny, uncle Brendz and the rest of our families can meet and hold him aswell. I think it still takes people's breath away how small he is. Small, but incredible!
Well, I'm off to go feed our warrior so that he can grow big and strong like his dad. This morning I laughed so much at Wes. I told him "Honey, we really are the feather-weights" and he replied "Yip, built for famine!"
Lots of Love
Elriza & Wes
Monday, 14 April 2008
Home sweet home!
Hi All,
Finally we're home!!! Yesterday was certainly one of the most emotional and happiest days of our lives! On Saturday I got the call to stay over at the hospital so that we can take our little warrior home on Sunday. It's been such a journey that the nurses became our friends and Carstenhoff NICU a second home, so the departure was quite emotional.
Our first night was eventfull but good with Wes and I taking turns to check on our baby boy. His whole "toolbox" is up in our room and luckily the oxygen cord is long enough to transport Caden without real difficulty. We also gave him his first bath (from us) and it was just tears and drama, but we got through it! Today he's been very peaceful, only waking up to eat and reserving the rest of his energy for gaining weight.
Dr. Vermaak is on leave so on Wednesday we have to go for a follow up appointment with dr. van der Vyver because Caden lost a little bit of weight just before he came home. So just to be on the safe side they're checking him out. He also received all his vaccines for polio and tb, and the eye doctor said that Caden's eyes look fine.
Thank you so much everyone for your support throughout this journey. It has been amazing to see how people can come together in times of need!
Enjoy the pictures, and we'll keep you updated!!!
Lots of love
Elriza & Wes
Friday, 11 April 2008
Not yet!
Hi All,
Yesterday Caden's oxygen levels dropped dangerously low, so low that he turned blue, which of course had me in histerics and Wes just trying his best to calm me down. That was the deciding factor that lead dr. Vermaak to the decision that Caden is coming home with oxygen.
At about 11h00 I tried to wake him up to feed him, but he was fast asleep and wouldn't wake up to eat. At about 13h30 the nurses fed him through the tube and 15 minutes after that the first desaturation occured. He dropped to 33, the nurses flushed him with oxygen and then he went back up to 96 again. About 5 minutes after that he dropped again to about 50 and they phoned the doctor. They put his tubes back into his nose and left him on 30% oxygen, which seems to be all he needs. Apparently he vomited at around 17h00, and this seems to be the cause for his desaturation. He was just too full. But dr. Vermaak thinks it's best to send him home with oxygen and personally I think we would also be relieved. After seeing your child blue like that a person tends to become a bit neurotic, so it's best that we at least know he's getting enough oxygen.
Now we wait for the oxygen to arrive at the hospital, then we'll stay a night and go home the next day! Yay! Otherwise all is fine and Caden is looking pretty and pink (luckily not pretty in pink!).
Have a great weekend!
Lots of love
Elriza & Wes
Yesterday Caden's oxygen levels dropped dangerously low, so low that he turned blue, which of course had me in histerics and Wes just trying his best to calm me down. That was the deciding factor that lead dr. Vermaak to the decision that Caden is coming home with oxygen.
At about 11h00 I tried to wake him up to feed him, but he was fast asleep and wouldn't wake up to eat. At about 13h30 the nurses fed him through the tube and 15 minutes after that the first desaturation occured. He dropped to 33, the nurses flushed him with oxygen and then he went back up to 96 again. About 5 minutes after that he dropped again to about 50 and they phoned the doctor. They put his tubes back into his nose and left him on 30% oxygen, which seems to be all he needs. Apparently he vomited at around 17h00, and this seems to be the cause for his desaturation. He was just too full. But dr. Vermaak thinks it's best to send him home with oxygen and personally I think we would also be relieved. After seeing your child blue like that a person tends to become a bit neurotic, so it's best that we at least know he's getting enough oxygen.
Now we wait for the oxygen to arrive at the hospital, then we'll stay a night and go home the next day! Yay! Otherwise all is fine and Caden is looking pretty and pink (luckily not pretty in pink!).
Have a great weekend!
Lots of love
Elriza & Wes
Wednesday, 09 April 2008
Update
Hi All,
Thank you so much for all the beautiful messages and comments, we really appreciate it.
Caden is doing very well. Weighing in at 2.06kg he is now sort of off the oxygen. They took off all his tubes so we could see his whole face (and he still looks like dad with a hint of me). They have a funnel-type of thing that lies next to him which they use to give him oxygen as soon as he desaturates, but he's doing well. He also discovered his voice and is crying now when he's hungry or unhappy with something. It's the cutest thing ever! The doctor said if Caden isn't off the oxygen he'll motivate so that we can take him home with oxygen no later than Monday or Tuesday. We'll just continue praying that he gets off the oxygen before that otherwise he'll have to be admitted again in a month's time. Please please please pray that our boy will be able to breathe on his own before Friday!
I also just want to say a very big THANK YOU to Melanie and Ludwig for buying us the breathing monitor. They phoned around everywhere to find out which is the best one and where we can get it and then they bought it as well. Words can't describe our gratitude! Thank you thank you thank you!
We also got some very good news today. They finally arrested the guy who stole Wesley's motortbike last year and conviscated his bike to give to us. They also found Wes's bike in some shop, in pieces! For those of you who don't know, the engineer from Honda stole the bike while it was in for a service, and the insurance refused to pay out, so we still had to pay it off. This is such a relief for us knowing that the scum-bag is finally caught and we can now take his bike to sell and pay off the debt.
All and all it's been a very good day with lots and lots of blessings coming our way. Now we just hope and pray that Caden will stay off his oxygen through the night. I'm at the hospital every day from 7h45 to 15h15 to feed him and he's drinking very well, but he likes to give the nurses the run around. It's feed on demand now and he usually likes to play at 14h00 instead of eating. It's very cute, he just lies there and looks around, but refuses to drink and so the nurses are at the edge of their seats waiting for him to start crying for food. It's very amusing!
Anyway, hope everybody had as great a day as we've had. Almost weekend!
Love
Elriza & Wes
Thank you so much for all the beautiful messages and comments, we really appreciate it.
Caden is doing very well. Weighing in at 2.06kg he is now sort of off the oxygen. They took off all his tubes so we could see his whole face (and he still looks like dad with a hint of me). They have a funnel-type of thing that lies next to him which they use to give him oxygen as soon as he desaturates, but he's doing well. He also discovered his voice and is crying now when he's hungry or unhappy with something. It's the cutest thing ever! The doctor said if Caden isn't off the oxygen he'll motivate so that we can take him home with oxygen no later than Monday or Tuesday. We'll just continue praying that he gets off the oxygen before that otherwise he'll have to be admitted again in a month's time. Please please please pray that our boy will be able to breathe on his own before Friday!
I also just want to say a very big THANK YOU to Melanie and Ludwig for buying us the breathing monitor. They phoned around everywhere to find out which is the best one and where we can get it and then they bought it as well. Words can't describe our gratitude! Thank you thank you thank you!
We also got some very good news today. They finally arrested the guy who stole Wesley's motortbike last year and conviscated his bike to give to us. They also found Wes's bike in some shop, in pieces! For those of you who don't know, the engineer from Honda stole the bike while it was in for a service, and the insurance refused to pay out, so we still had to pay it off. This is such a relief for us knowing that the scum-bag is finally caught and we can now take his bike to sell and pay off the debt.
All and all it's been a very good day with lots and lots of blessings coming our way. Now we just hope and pray that Caden will stay off his oxygen through the night. I'm at the hospital every day from 7h45 to 15h15 to feed him and he's drinking very well, but he likes to give the nurses the run around. It's feed on demand now and he usually likes to play at 14h00 instead of eating. It's very cute, he just lies there and looks around, but refuses to drink and so the nurses are at the edge of their seats waiting for him to start crying for food. It's very amusing!
Anyway, hope everybody had as great a day as we've had. Almost weekend!
Love
Elriza & Wes
Sunday, 06 April 2008
Over 2 kg!!
Hi All,
Caden finally just reached the 2kg mark and is now weighing 2.02kg. He didn't pick up much weight because he used a lot of energy sucking. He's eating well and is on 3 feeds a day now. Tomorrow he's getting some of dad's blood again to help with his oxygen. It's what the doctor calls "a 20 000km service". Hopefully after the transfusion he'll be able to hold his oxygen better with all the new red blood cells to help. After that, we're on our way home!!!
We also finally finished the room and we're very happy with it. Hopefully Caden feels the same! Dad's compactum and toy box came up from Cape Town on Friday along with a whole lot of other goodies. Thanx so much granny and grampie Paul for sending it and for spending so much time fixing the compuctum up for us. We really appreciate it and can't wait for you to see it in his room!
Friday night was an absolute blast at the comedy jam. We enjoyed letting our hair down and relaxing with some very good comedy! Now we're just waiting on the edge of our seats for baby to come home.
It's much easier picking Caden up now that he's picked up some weight. It doesn't feel like we're going to break him which a a huge relief! Hopefully we can post some pictures soon!
Hope everybody has a quiet week! We're off to the hospital now.
Lots of Love
Elriza & Wes
Caden finally just reached the 2kg mark and is now weighing 2.02kg. He didn't pick up much weight because he used a lot of energy sucking. He's eating well and is on 3 feeds a day now. Tomorrow he's getting some of dad's blood again to help with his oxygen. It's what the doctor calls "a 20 000km service". Hopefully after the transfusion he'll be able to hold his oxygen better with all the new red blood cells to help. After that, we're on our way home!!!
We also finally finished the room and we're very happy with it. Hopefully Caden feels the same! Dad's compactum and toy box came up from Cape Town on Friday along with a whole lot of other goodies. Thanx so much granny and grampie Paul for sending it and for spending so much time fixing the compuctum up for us. We really appreciate it and can't wait for you to see it in his room!
Friday night was an absolute blast at the comedy jam. We enjoyed letting our hair down and relaxing with some very good comedy! Now we're just waiting on the edge of our seats for baby to come home.
It's much easier picking Caden up now that he's picked up some weight. It doesn't feel like we're going to break him which a a huge relief! Hopefully we can post some pictures soon!
Hope everybody has a quiet week! We're off to the hospital now.
Lots of Love
Elriza & Wes
Friday, 04 April 2008
Eating by myself!
Hi All,
Caden has been doing extremely well, weighing in at 1.98kg! On Wednesday he started breastfeeding and he latched well but didn't eat a lot as prem babies get tired very quickly. It's also the first time that he actually tasted milk! Yesterday though he ate very well and today he's going to drink twice! If that goes well they'll try 3 times tomorrow! He's working so hard and we are so incredibly proud of him. It's so cute, he drinks for a couple of seconds, then he's exhausted and falls asleep, so we try to wake him, then he gets a bit of a fright and starts sucking immediatly again, and so the cycle continues.
We saw dr. Vermaak this morning and he told the nurse to drop his oxygen a couple of times today so that he can get use to it. He also said we need to get him ready for home now, so yay! Maybe next week we'll be posting with a beautiful baby boy by our sides! Thank you so much again for all the prayers and positive thoughts. It is because of this that Caden is doing so incredibly well! Can't wait to post on Sunday and tell you that he is over 2 kg and hopefully off the oxygen!
Wes and I are going to the 94.7 Comedy Jam tonight to celebrate our anniversary and we're really looking forward to it! We know this will probably be one of the last times we can go out without looking for a baby-sitter, so we're gonna enjoy it and then come home to prepare for one of the happiest days of our lives!!!
Hope everybody has a great weekend!
Love
Elriza & Wes
Caden has been doing extremely well, weighing in at 1.98kg! On Wednesday he started breastfeeding and he latched well but didn't eat a lot as prem babies get tired very quickly. It's also the first time that he actually tasted milk! Yesterday though he ate very well and today he's going to drink twice! If that goes well they'll try 3 times tomorrow! He's working so hard and we are so incredibly proud of him. It's so cute, he drinks for a couple of seconds, then he's exhausted and falls asleep, so we try to wake him, then he gets a bit of a fright and starts sucking immediatly again, and so the cycle continues.
We saw dr. Vermaak this morning and he told the nurse to drop his oxygen a couple of times today so that he can get use to it. He also said we need to get him ready for home now, so yay! Maybe next week we'll be posting with a beautiful baby boy by our sides! Thank you so much again for all the prayers and positive thoughts. It is because of this that Caden is doing so incredibly well! Can't wait to post on Sunday and tell you that he is over 2 kg and hopefully off the oxygen!
Wes and I are going to the 94.7 Comedy Jam tonight to celebrate our anniversary and we're really looking forward to it! We know this will probably be one of the last times we can go out without looking for a baby-sitter, so we're gonna enjoy it and then come home to prepare for one of the happiest days of our lives!!!
Hope everybody has a great weekend!
Love
Elriza & Wes
Wednesday, 02 April 2008
Even Fatter!
Hi All,
Our little miracle is not so little anymore! He is now weighing in at a full 1.905kg! I'll be able to start feeding him today or tomorrow! He's on 40 mls milk, and they've upgraded him to an aqua-pack for oxygen. He's on 23% O2 and half a litre flow, so his oxygen is also getting better! Oh, and they've moved him to an open crib so he's not in an incubator anymore. Things are happening so quickly!!! Praise our Father for our little warrior's incredible growth! Even the doctor says that Caden is growing remarkably fast, too fast for his oxygen! But sister Beauty said on Monday that we must talk to Caden and tell him to get off the oxygen, and it really seems to be working! Unfortunately this computer prevents me from posting photo's but I'll try to make another plan soon.
Thank you so much for all the anniversary wishes. We can't believe it's been two years already! (Wes would probably say two long, long years, hie-hie). We went out for dinner at our favourite restaurant, the Beef & Lobster, and on Friday we're going to the 94.7 Comedy Jam. Really looking forward to that.
Well. hope everybody has a great week. Wes and I will be working double-time to get baby's room ready!
Lots of Love
Elriza & Wes
Our little miracle is not so little anymore! He is now weighing in at a full 1.905kg! I'll be able to start feeding him today or tomorrow! He's on 40 mls milk, and they've upgraded him to an aqua-pack for oxygen. He's on 23% O2 and half a litre flow, so his oxygen is also getting better! Oh, and they've moved him to an open crib so he's not in an incubator anymore. Things are happening so quickly!!! Praise our Father for our little warrior's incredible growth! Even the doctor says that Caden is growing remarkably fast, too fast for his oxygen! But sister Beauty said on Monday that we must talk to Caden and tell him to get off the oxygen, and it really seems to be working! Unfortunately this computer prevents me from posting photo's but I'll try to make another plan soon.
Thank you so much for all the anniversary wishes. We can't believe it's been two years already! (Wes would probably say two long, long years, hie-hie). We went out for dinner at our favourite restaurant, the Beef & Lobster, and on Friday we're going to the 94.7 Comedy Jam. Really looking forward to that.
Well. hope everybody has a great week. Wes and I will be working double-time to get baby's room ready!
Lots of Love
Elriza & Wes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
