Ok, so the title makes it sound worse than it really was, hehe, but it was still surgery. Caden had both Achilles tendons cut and lengthened at Shriners on the 31st of March. Bless his heart, he was SO sore the day after, but he's still trying to be a happy boy. Kids are so tough, WAY tougher than mama is through all this, that's for sure!
So I realized I'd not updated this in a bit, at least not as far as putting up recent pictures goes. I managed to take some pretty cute ones in the last week, week and a half, so I'll slap 'em up below. This first one is what his new braces look like, the Mitchell Abduction Brace. SO much more baby friendly, with support that went all the way up the back of his calf instead of hackin at him right at the heel like the others did.
This is what the brace looks like with the bar detached. Yep, it snaps on and off. Again, so much nicer than the others where the bar didn't detach - we got a better fit with these cause we could put him in them just like regular shoes then slide the bar on. Poor kid, 2 months old here and already makin a fashion faux pas; socks and sandals...
This was what HE looked like after I put the bar back ON. His scowl is epic:
I took him up to get the mail again a couple days ago, but alas, in true Utah weather glory, it snowed that day. So I got him up in his Pooh snowsuit. He's a bit bigger than he was last time I tried this!
So there's a few updated pictures of my Nugget. He's getting so big! Early Intervention weighed and measured him on Monday, and he's now 11lbs 10oz, and a whopping 23 1/2 inches long. Heavyweight! Will update again with pictures and progress of Caden's tenotomy.
Well, we've had a bit of a setback with Caden's clubfeet. While he was healing from the sores the first abduction brace caused, his feet relapsed. A relapse which was made worse by his Arthrogryposis. His heels tightened back up. We had an appointment at Shriners today, and he'll have to have his Achilles cut. They set us up for it next Tuesday.
It's an outpatient procedure; they'll put some numbing cream on the backs of his heels then let it set for about an hour (which is when the effect peaks), then they take him up to the OR and give a shot of lidocaine (the cream numbs him so he doesn't feel the lidocaine injection), after which they make about a 1/4 inch cut, move aside the tissue and stuff from the tendon, snip it, close it, and then immediately cast his feet to hold them in place so the Achilles can grow back to a longer, looser and proper length. He'll have to keep those casts on for 3 weeks straight, no changing them every week like we did in the beginning.
Poor Nugget, with new casts on it's back to the sponge baths. We won't be able to have fun full-dunking bath time anymore for a little while :( I really believe stuff like this is way harder on mom than it will be baby!
I was updating Caden's little event calendar tonight and something struck me as I looked at the date. One year ago today, I lost our last little one. That was miscarriage # 3 for us, and I thought for sure that that meant that I just wasn't destined to have children. It was always such a struggle just to get pregnant, and then when we did, I'd lose them within weeks. I almost didn't want to try again; I wasn't sure I wanted to go through the heartache again, wasn't sure that I could. But we did end up trying again, and after a lot of extra care from my OB and some extra medication to help, the gorilla glue finally stuck fast and we were blessed with this a week before Christmas:
Is he not the most yummy baby you've ever seen? Can't tell that I'm biased at all :) I cannot imagine loving something so small so much, so completely, so fast after first meeting him. It took 365 days of pills, some morning sickness, extra doctor's visits, and a lot of worries to do it but he's here, he's ours, and I wouldn't change anything about him, crooked feet and all, for anything in the world and I'd do it all over again just to snuggle him close and have him giggle in my face. I love you, little Nugget!
I know I've been slacking on updating this. Here are some of the pictures from Caden's blessing day, February 8, 2009:It was so wonderful. The blessing made everything so much more real. He really is here, he really is ours. It's so humbling to think that my Heavenly Father trusts me enough to send this special guy, with his special needs, to me to take care of for Him. Talk about overwhelmed.
This is the Caden I'm used to, not the sad boy he was a week and a half ago...stupid snowboard. He's my happy boy.
Friday Caden got his last set of casts off and was ready for his boot braces. He got to kick around for about an hour before we were sent over to rehab to have him fitted for his snowboard: 
It was incredibly hard to get on the first time, and that night at home was not a good one. He wasn't used to not moving his legs independent of each other and the bar is significantly heavier than what the casts were. The ortho and rehab nurses told us to remove the braces every few hours for a few minutes to check for blisters and play with his feet to get them used to being touched - after 3 weeks in casts, they were hypersensitive. So we did. I bathed him at 9:30 that night, he fell asleep at about 10. Mind you, this was after he'd been crying and was pretty much inconsolable all day. He woke up at 2am to eat, and I changed his bum and took the braces off for about 5 minutes. His feet and ankles were a little red, nothing too serious. Put the braces back on, laid him back down. He slept again till about 7:30, ate, got a clean bum....
...and after only about 8.5 hours, this was what I found Saturday morning:
This blister (above) is what was on his right foot and where my pinkie finger is is a little black pressure sore. Below is what I found on his left foot. 2 blisters on the inside of his foot and that massive pressure sore all around the back of his ankle. 
Put a call into the orthopedic surgeon on call and was told the braces stay off until we saw the orthopedic doctor treating his clubfeet on Monday. The blisters only got bigger and the pressure sore never diminished. He was squirmy and cranky all day Saturday (who could blame him?!) but by Sunday afternoon the screaming had turned into that high-pitched "I'm in pain!" chin-shaking, breath-holding wail. We ended up in the ER at Primary Children's getting the blisters lanced and the sores treated and making sure the little infections around the wounds were only localized and not spreading. We got home at about 10, and he cried/screamed until about 4 Monday morning. Saw his ortho on Monday afternoon. Braces are off indefinitely obviously until he fully heals. At that point she said we'll have to go to a plan B in his treatment. He'll probably need a couple of re-castings done to correct whatever margin of curvature his feet re-take after so much time without any support, but after that they'll have to find some other method of treatment since it's appearing he can't tolerate the boots. This doesn't make us happy campers, as it appears (and the ortho that saw us in the ER said so) that the reason he developed such serious sores so fast was that they probably mis-fit the braces in the first place. Grrrr. We were sent home with specialized dressings we change twice a day until we see her again on Friday to check the healing and discuss optoins for the rest of the treatment.
The sores looked better this morning and he seems to be going back to his normal mellow happy self. He's only needed Tylenol twice since early Monday morning as opposed to during the weekend, needing it every 4-5 hours, and he's sleeping a lot harder and falling asleep faster. He's actually doing better than his mama...I haven't cried this hard or prayed so honestly for someone else's relief in my life. My poor Nugget :(
Gosh, has it really been 30 days already?? I can't believe that. It seems like just a little while ago Branden and I were all "Gosh I can't believe we only have a couple months left." Went so fast! I can't imagine the last month without our little Burrito though, smooshed feet and all.
What also went fast was Caden's healing with his little feet. Great news there! This 3rd set of casts he has now are likely his last. His feet got that straight that fast. Next week they'll assess him but more than likely he'll graduate from the casting to his little snowboard (boot braces with bar). And he won't need either Achilles snipped! The orthopedic could get his left foot to flex just as much as his right this time, and they're both doing what they should be. He also had his ultrasound on Friday to check his hips (breech babies are high risk for and often born with hip dysplasia), and it appears that they're just fine.
Needless to say, Friday was a great day (we won't talk about how Friday night/Saturday went, hehe, that first day after new casts is miserable for both of us). Today the casts are fully dry and he's used to the new positioning of his feet. He's a happy boy. Happy 30-day Birthday little Nugget.
Grandma and Aunt Sessie got bored last Sunday...
...and today we get this set taken off and replaced with the 3rd set. Luckily we get to keep the casts, so he'll have some art to hang onto.
So, I decided I need to go get the mail yesterday. But I had a conundrum. I couldn't yet carry bebe in his car seat, but would need my hands to open the mailbox so I couldn't carry him up in my arms. Then it hit me - we got a sling, I could put him in that! So I did. I bundled him up in his snowsuit...and then realized that it still doesn't fit him. As you can see below, it drowns him, but he had enough of his arms IN the arms that when he moved, the whole suit arm moved too. Hilarious. He loved the sling. Wasn't sure what to make of the snowsuit though. I kept getting a raised eyebrow and "Uh, Mom? What gives?" looks on the walk.
Had the first casts removed today and the second set put on. The picture's kind of grainy because it was taken with my cell phone, but this is Caden's right foot after the casts came off this afternoon. Looking at it now won't mean much unless you know that before the casts, this foot was the worse of the two; it bent inwards almost 45 degrees and the toes were bent back up towards the top of his foot. Now after just the first casting, it's nearly straight. His left foot is even better. The doctor thinks he'll only need this second casting on the left to get it totally straightened out, but his right foot'll need the full set of 4 castings. More news on the Achilles too - his right foot won't need it cut but his left one will. So we're half lucky, hehe. But after the casts come the booties and physical therapy (yay we get to start work on his little fingers then too!) and then by the time he's ready to crawl, he'll be good to go. Lot of work on a tiny body, but I'm so grateful this is something they can fix early and with relative ease on him!
Our poor dude had the first of his castings done this afternoon (picture enlarges when clicked on). He'll need probably 4, maybe 5 all together; this one and 3 more. By the last one they'll know if they need the 5th or not. After the castings are done he'll be in little boots that are attached together by a bar for 23 hours a day until he's 3 months old, and then after that he'll only wear those braces at night until he's about 2 or 3 years. We might be lucky. 95% of babies with clubfeet have to have their Achilles cut to allow their heel bone to descend out of their ankle joint. The orthopedic can already feel his heel bone (instead of that area in the back of his feet being just squishy), so he could be one of the very few kids that doesn't need that procedure done. The doc'll know more by the end of his castings. We can hope!
After much anticipation and frustrations, little Caden Bradley is finally here. I had just a regular OB appointment on Thursday the 18th, but when we got to it I was contracting, and had been for 2 hours. The OB decided to take Caden that night and told us to be back at the hospital at 7pm. At 8pm they prepped me, and at 9:19pm Caden came into the world weighing 6lbs 9oz and measuring a bitty 18 inches long. Pictures (unfortunately for me because I'm bloated from the fluids they had pumping into me) enlarge when ya click on em.
He spent his first day being cuddled and loved and posing for his first photo shoot:
His second day chillaxing in his hospital bed, flashin Gang Baby "brutha" signs:
When he was awake, he was so alert, so bright eyed. Even at just 3 and a half days old.
Here he is all ready to go home on Monday. I had to use 2 of the hospital's blankets to stuff around him on both sides because he was so tiny inside his carseat. You can see here, he's clearly impressed by the process:
My mom and dad had cleaned the apartment for me on Sunday, since I didn't get the chance before he was born, and we came home to a little tree set up. And what's a tree without a little present underneath it?
He's just hangin out all bundled and comfy in his bouncer, little Santa hat and snowman blanket and all:
"Whoooa...what are you gunna do with dat?" is the question going through his head right here, I'm sure of it. Grandma Berrett was over visiting and we gave him his first bath.
So there he is. My handsome little circus peanut in the flesh. We've discovered fun things already. Sneezes and hiccups are a good way to make daddy laugh. Some things I thought that couldn't get any bigger, did (and then some!). And he likes to be wrapped in his blankets like a little burrito. He's got some little clubbed feet that will need some casting done to correct (we see the pediatrician on Monday to set that up), but other than that, he's just as perfect as can be.
I'm recovering pretty well, though I've decided the most annoying thing about the c-section is that it's robbed me of my core muscle control, so my back is WAY sore from overcompensating to keep me upright. We're getting ready for Christmas, and will be sure to post most pictures then. Happy Holidays everyone!
Yep, that's right. We got the date at my OB appointment on Thursday. If I don't go on my own before next Thursday (I'm 50% effaced so he thought there could be a chance I would), then the doc's going to take him; we scheduled a C-section for the 20th because baby is stubborn and hasn't turned yet...and probably won't by that time. Little stinker. But he'll get to share Brando's birthday! From now on, B's birthday presents will be the opportunity to put all of Caden's toys together. He's so excited, I know it.
Well, looks like it's pretty certain that we're going to get a before-Christmas baby. Just got home from an OB appointment. My Braxton-Hicks contractions are coming pretty consisent and strong now (at least 10 or 11 in a day, every day) and I've started to thin a bit, but not only that, the little Randall Runt is still breech and my OB says that if he hasn't turned on his own by my next appointment on Thursday the 11th, it's likely he's not going to because he can't (my uterus is a little abnormally shaped, which he said is probably why the baby never turned to begin with). But they won't try and manipulate him, or do what they call a "version" to turn him because this far into the game that procedure puts undue stress on the baby, is just horrifically painful for the mom-to-be, and can cause more complications than it is at all beneficial. So, if he hasn't turned by the 11th then we'll likely end up scheduling a C-section for the next week; we're far enough along that he'll be considered full-term and will be fine. Boggles the mind to think we very well could be welcoming little Caden into this crazy family in just 2 weeks!
This is a cradle we got from Branden's sister, who I think got it from a grandparent. We'll be using it in our bedroom until baby is ready to be in his own crib in his room. It looks pink in the lighting, but the bedding is actually just white with little yellow dots on the bumpers.
Aaaaaand as requested, another belly shot. Much to my dismay (and after discovering those stretch marks), this is what I look like at almost 34 weeks. I was on bed-rest earlier in the week because of contractions I had Sunday, and my OB made me laugh when he took me off it on Thursday and said, instead, I'd be on "restricted activity." Hello. Is movement while 8.5 months pregnant normal activity? Had to chuckle. Sigh...are we there yet? hehe
Had my 32 week appointment yesterday. Things are going really well. He's 4lbs now and my OB says he's on track, gaining a half a pound a week, to be right around 7-7.5lbs on his birthday. No new picture this time, he was rather shy so the scan wasn't very clear. He's also a little breech-bum right now, his noggin right up in my diaphragm. Makes breathing and eating rather adventurous. Not that I feel much like eating; not only is he pushin on my tummy, I'm freaking huge! Or feel huge. I've found my first belly stretch marks (sob) and it really is quite impossible to shave my legs. Good thing we're going into winter where I can hide the shag beneath a wardrobe of long pants every day!
