It is finally near! The intensive feeding therapy program we have been interested in for a few years and been on the waiting list for 6 months is finally ready to take Kaden. He will be admitted on Monday the 18th. This is an inpatient program so he will be living there for at least 4 weeks, more if needed. For the first 10 - 14 days, the family will only be allowed to see him in the evenings. We are allowed to stay the night but they want you to make a decision one way or the other before the first night. Basically if you are there the first night, they want you there every night for the rest of the time he is in there. If you don't stay the first night, they prefer you not stay at all. Given that I have Collin at home and still in school, I will not be staying the night with Kaden. So, for the first 2 weeks, we will only be able to see him from 6 - 9 pm. They do intensive therapy during the day including at least an hour of occupational therapy to help him get over his texture aversions. They also do 5 - 6 feeding sessions with a feeding therapist and a psychologist. Their method is very strict...he is given foods to eat and is instructed to take 3 bites, then must drink 1/2 ounce, then 3 more bites and so on. He is on a timer and the choice to eat is ultimately his, but they are there to help him get over the mental side of it. They dont let a parent be there for the first period of time because they dont want the distraction and want to get Kaden into the routine and knowing all the rules. Then for the third week, I am required te be there for at least 3 - 4 meals a day just as an observer. They have feeding rooms with the one way glass so I can observe and he doesn't know I am there. They teach me their methods and answer all questions that may come up. Then for the fourth week, I will be the one in the feeding room with him and the Dr's will be on the observing side of the glass. If all goes as planned, he will be able to come home on June 12th. It may take longer depending on how he accepts things and how satisfied they are with his progress and mine.

This is not going to be an easy month!! I will try to keep everyone informed of the progress but we are going to be very busy! The hospital he is going to be staying at is in downtown Dallas which is almost 30 miles from home so I will be putting on alot of miles also!

Been a while

Wow, I am getting behind on this! All has been very busy around here. Jacks parents arrived around the 2nd week of March and were here for about 4 weeks, overlapping about 4 days while my parents and brothers were here also! We actually had 10 people here for 2 days! I love having the company though.

Kaden is just getting over a cold/sinus infection that went on for 3 weeks. I have been suffering from allergies for the first time...they say if you have never had allergies, move to Texas! We started April with 17 scheduled appointments and have made several more during the month! I think we will have racked up at least 22 by months end. Collin had 3 fillings at the dentist last week and has been referred to an oral surgeon because he actually has 2 extra teeth in the front! He has to have those pulled and hopefully his adult will come in. He is also missing 3 adult molars! Two on the bottom and 1 on the top. After he loses his baby molars, they are hoping for enough crowding on the bottom to just be able to space out the teeth he has. The one on the top will have to be an implant put in in his late teens. We attempted to take Kaden to the dentist but after his fit they referred us to a pediatric dentist so that he can be sedated...yay. I got a call from the intensive in patient feeding program today and it looks like they can admit Kaden toward the end of May. I am sad because he will have to miss the last 2 weeks of preschool. But, also happy because they are going to teach this kiddo to eat on his own for the first time ever!

Speaking of preschool, I talked to his teacher and she said that he is ready to start kindergarten in the fall! I was expecting him to be in preschool for another year, but she says he is ready!! Wow, he has come a long ways since starting preschool in October! She said he is like a sponge and anything she teaches him, he just soaks it all in!

Kaden and Collin at the Harbor

Grandpa Dan, Grandma Dorrie, Uncle Brandon and Uncle Sean with the boys.

Kaden and Collin feeding the birds at the Ft Worth zoo.

Kadens 1st t ball game.

Kadens surgery

Kaden had his surgery on his eyes about 2 weeks ago. This pic was taken about 4 hours after surgery. It went very well and he is now without the need for glasses anymore and his eyes are perfectly straight. They are still slightly red but that should be gone within the next few days.

Kaden has started t ball and Collin is on the waiting list for baseball. They had an overwhelming amount of kids sign up for baseball and we were late so he can only play if they get enough kids on the waiting list to make 2 more teams.

The Bredeweg grandparents are on their way here and in about 3 weeks, the Szymczaks will be here for about a week. More pictures and updates will be coming soon. Something was up with this site for about 2 weeks and it wouldn't let me post, that being the reason this post is so late.

Collin's awards assembly

Collin had an awards assembly today at school. He got an award for being on the Honor Roll for the first semester! They also did a little dance type thing which you can see by the picture, he thoroughly enjoyed...NOT!! Apparently all the boys were very embarrassed about doing this...must be the age!

Collin is on the far left. One of his best buddies, Brenden, is 3rd from the right.

Kaden's GI appointment

Kaden had an appointment on Monday with GI. They are very concerned about his weight gain, or lack thereof. He has actually lost 4 pounds since he was there 3 months ago. I happened to think their scale was off, so I had him weighed again today at feeding therapy, and it was right. He is currently at about 34.5 pounds, which means the scale at the pediatricians office is off. Anyways, because of this, I have put him back on at least 2 tube feedings during the day. He was only getting them during the night, but apparently has not been taking in as much calorie wise during the day as I thought. I was really hoping to avoid the tube use during the day because it makes him less hungry and not wanting to eat. It's so frustrating sometimes!! I have to weigh him weekly and report back to the GI Dr if there is no weight gain or any weight loss in any given week. We are still on the waiting list for the intensive feeding therapy at Baylor, they are thinking sometime in June.

New puppy

Here is our newest addition to the family. We got her on Wednesday. She is 9 weeks old and her name is Kaiah. She is a blue heeler/black lab mix. We all are loving having a puppy around....even the cat! They are now friends and were chasing each other around this morning and wrestling.

On another note, Kaden had his yearly cardiology appointment yesterday and it went VERY well!! The Dr said everything looks BEAUTIFUL and he couldn't be happier! His heart function is great and the pressures are coming down in the areas that they were concerned about which means that he is finally growing into the repairs that were made! All the repaired areas are holding up great. There is very mild regurgitation through the mitral valve repair, but it is nothing to worry about. He said that there is rarely a valve repair that doesn't have a little. We compared last years echo with this years and the aortic stenosis is definitely lessened which is what is helping his pressures come down. I asked about future surgeries and the Dr said that unless something drastic happens, he doesn't think he will need anything further done until he is an "old man".

Michigan Trip

The boys and I took off for Michigan on Dec 19th. We arrived there in between the snowstorms on Saturday the 20th. We weren't 1 hour into MI and Kaden started coughing! I kept up on his asthma meds at full strength and the cough was gone within a few days. Collin enjoyed playing in all the snow almost every day we were there. I didn't let Kaden go out in the cold until his cough went away.

Collin and cousin Sami
The boys with grandma Dorrie making a rhinoceros out of snow

Every New Years day, the Bredeweg's all get together and go bowling. The boys had a blast.

Collin and Kaden celebrated their birthdays while we were in MI. Collin is now 8 and Kaden is 5! My how time flies!

The boys had their yearly checkups at the Dr yesterday and they are both doing great. Collin weighs 56 lbs and is 50.25 inches tall which puts him at the 50th percentile for his age for both weight and height. Kaden weighs 37lbs 5oz and is 40.25 inches tall. This puts him at the 25th percentile for weight and 10th for height. He's finally on the charts! Kaden goes in for a cardiology appointment next week. The Dr mentioned yesterday that sometimes when they repair a mitral valve like they did with Kaden, it starts to stretch and get tight over time, so they will be paying alot of attention to that. I will update after the appointment!