March of Dimes WalkAmerica

Well... Now is the time! We are going to be participating in this year's March Of Dimes WalkAmerica on April 24th. We will be walking as a family in memory of Konner, and in celebration of Kyle.

If you are interested in donating, please click on the link below - every dollar counts, not just toward our goal - but toward the finding a cure for prematurity!

www.walkamerica.org/micropreemiesteps

Now for an update on Kyle...
Here is a picture from Easter:


And here's the latest on his health & development
It's been a rough week! Saturday late night Kyle began having trouble breathing. He went to bed on 1/2 litre of oxygen (not entirely uncommon), but by 5AM, he was at 1 litre, and 2 litres by 6:30. I grabbed the stethoscope, and there it was - that dreaded raspy sound I was always told to listen for - my heart sank as we quickly gathered him and his equipment to rush to the ER. We arrived around 7AM, and wasting no time, he was taken back, and an x-ray was ordered. It was indeed one of my nightmares, he was diagnosed with Pneumonia (VERY moderate +). His upper right lung was completely white. There was some hazing on the left side as well - with no clear definition of the heart (meaning that it was moving into the other lung).

We were promptly admitted, and IV antibiotics were started. Since he didn't have a temperature, we knew that we caught it early enough. And since he had just been to the Dr last Tuesday - we had a window of time that this could have occurred. We were told that it was either Viral or due to aspiration. If it was Viral, his temperature would certainly spike within the day/next day.

Since he's been teething (3 teeth now), he started to get what our Pediatrician refers to a "teething cold". It consists of a lot of upper nasal congestion and secretions - but no chest congestion (just something we watch and are mindful of). He never ran a fever, but was having a hard time with his reflux due to the excess snot, etc building up and causing him to cough/gag. We estimate that if he aspirated, it had to be around Friday or Saturday morning. He was on 1/8 litre of oxygen on Thursday & Friday, and back to his baseline of 1/4 on Saturday during the day/early evening. We had no indication that there was a problem until early Sunday morning... It was just that quick!!!

So, as I'm leading you along this path, I'll let you know - he did in fact aspirate (inhaled fluid during a reflux or spit-up moment). Not that you would EVER want your child to go through this - but if they were to get pneumonia from it... This is certainly better than the Viral version, which would have had a major impact on Kyle.

Well, back to the hospital... By noon, Kyle was up to 3litres of oxygen, and by the end of the night 3.5litres. Karl and I were very worried, but Kyle was still very playful, and his usual happy self (which I found odd for a "sick" baby). The nursing staff ordered up the vapotherm (canulized cpap) in the even that we needed it - but fortunately, we didn't! By Monday night, we were back to 2 litres, and Tuesday morning 1 litre... By noon we were at 1/4 litre (his baseline). It appears that the medicine was doing the trick. We were released from the hospital at 9PM last night (Tuesday) - which is record breaking time for a child with Chronic Lung Disease/BPD.

I should add that in addition to the antibiotic, he was given steroids (prednisolone) and Albuterol Nebs. He will remain on those to finish the course: 10 day course for the Antibiotics, 5 day course for the steroids, and 7 day weaned course for the albuterol.

Well, in all - we can't be thankful enough to the wonderful medical staff that cared for him, and was so quick to respond!!! If you live in the Naperville, IL area, I strongly recommend that you take advantage of Edwards Hospital and their Pediatric ER. The team is top notch, and they waste no time at all calling in the right support.

On an upnote...
Kyle is rolling over now like a champ! I can't tell you what a major milestone this is for us. He's been sitting for months, but even in that he's getting stronger... But the rolling - well, I'm just so proud of him that it's too hard to describe! In the past two months he has made major developmental improvements - and he's so determined!!! Tonight I went to put him on his belly, and he even pulled his knees underneath in the crawling position. And for a moment, he put his weight on his hands (he hates doing that).

One day at a time - one milestone at a time... I'm just so proud of my little guy!

And here's one more picture of him. This time reading his book from Mamaw & Papa K...