Today started off at Mott Children’s Hospital for Colten’s follow-up cranial ultrasound from his shunt placement on October 17th. After some other appointment switches, we also worked in his hip ultrasound today so we don’t have to drive down to Ann Arbor three times in 10 days. The radiologist was even nice enough to throw […]
Finally could get all three carseats in our Jeep Liberty since Colten can now back-lie! We will use the carbed for some upcoming longer drives but hope to be able to travel now as a family. Although Colten’s seat sits between Parker & Max. It could get interesting. Both of them were ecstatic to have […]
The two older boys went off with one of my sisters to a Halloween party so we have a little peace, quiet and TIME to post tonight! Colten continues to heal and be a pretty normal baby. Here are some pictures of his scars… Today is also the first day he can lay on his […]
We have been home now since last Thursday and it is SO NICE! Colten is great – eats, sleeps, poops. And does it all again. And again. And again. Besides the constant stream of stuff into diapers (we are often putting one on as he soils it), the 1-3 medical appointments each week, and the […]
The past week was pretty difficult for Richard and I. While we were excited to go home from our NICU stay after Colten’s myelomeningocele repair, we left feeling like our boy wasn’t doing so well and that the boy we brought to Mott Children’s Hospital wasn’t really the same boy we were taking home. The […]
Before I get into today’s main event, the brothers gave their third musketeer a loving send-off this morning… Surgery to place the shunt went very well! The same neurosurgery team that did Colten’s spinal surgery did the shunt placement (Dr. Maher and Dr. Stetler). The anchor or insertion point (I’m sure this is not what […]
Colten had another cranial ultrasound Monday. It showed an increase in the ventricles of the brain, which means an increase in cerebral spinal fluid. His head also measured an increase, at 39cm (and this morning it measured 39.5cm). He was born at 36cm and normal rate of increase is no more than about 1cm per […]
Colten had two more tests before being discharged, a VCUG and an MRI. The VCUG came back showing that Colten has urinary reflux back into his kidneys. So he needs to stay on antibiotics indefinitely. Urology will follow up with us in 3-4 months; surgery will be required to correct this issue – it is […]
We are getting discharged! Colten has a few more tests tonight – a VCUG (please don’t ask me what it stands for – go look it up if you want to know) which will test reflux into the kidneys (schedule for 3pm), and an MRI (scheduled for 4pm) that will go “tip to tail”. The […]
This afternoon was the best afternoon we’ve had in a while… My sister brought Parker and Max up to meet Colten and allow them to spend some quality time with Richard and me. It’s been a few days since we’ve seen the boys and today was the first time they met Colten! It was truly […]
The Adventures of Colten Robert 