Wednesday, June 24, 2009

OH! SWEET KADYN KADYN KADYN!

Hello Everyone!

Well...it seems that Kadyn just cannot catch a break! Two weeks ago Friday Ryan, Kadyn, and I went to Columbia to meet with Kadyn's CF doctors. It was a very informative appointment. She got a chest x-ray and a throat culture. We found out right away that Kadyn had a bit of air under some mucus in her lung. The doctors were not too concerned and said we would just watch it. We went home that same day and continued with our family fun time at home.


Then last Friday I got a phone call from one of the CF specialists. Kadyn's throat culture tested positive for Pseudomonas A. This is a bacteria in her lungs that can be very dangerous if not aggressively treated. So on Monday Kadyn, Koy, my mom, and I checked into the Children's Hospital at the University of Columbia. We will be in the hospital for 2 weeks so Kadyn can get loads of antibiotics and several breathing treatments a day. Of course our goal is to completely rid her lungs of this bacteria. However, once the lungs are infected with Pseudomonas it is not uncommon for CF patients to carry the bacteria for the rest of their lives, making antibiotic treatment necessary on an every other month basis (usually at home).


Ryan will be joining us later in the week. We all miss him very much but are glad he is holding down the fort and taking care of the rest of our family (our 3 dogs) at home! We are looking at this as another adventure to add to the baby books. Not something we were wanting to experience but we are confident Kadyn is going kick this bacteria's butt!


Thank you all for your continued support, and prayers (keep 'em coming)! We appreciate it more than you could possibly know!


Love, Katie



Everyone says I'm an angel... Look at my new IV halo!





Whoa! They didn't have mobiles like this in Springfield!

Monday, June 8, 2009

WELCOME HOME KADYN!


Hi! This is Katie... home at last with my babies!

I know it has been a while since the blog has been updated and we apologize for that! One week ago today our sweet baby Kadyn came home and we wanted to make sure she was settled in before we shared the news with everyone.

Here’s a quick recap of the past few weeks…

Dr. Ford told us that we had to be patient and Kadyn’s stomach would cooperate when it was ready. We were beginning to wonder if her intestines would ever wake up, and finally they did! From then on she has made nothing but steady progress. Today she is able to drink 2.5-3 ounces of breastmilk from a bottle each feeding. It’s hard to believe she is anything but perfectly healthy based on her lung power when she is hungry! She is getting stronger by the day and weighed in at 7lbs 9oz.last Friday. We are so proud of her! Kadyn is already falling in line with Koy’s schedule. I think they discussed giving Mom and Dad a break because both of them have slept through the night together a couple of times.

The twins have had a blast being home together. Koy introduced Kadyn to their ocean playmat and taught her how to master tummy time. Ryan and I have taken pictures daily and cannot get enough of them, even though the house sometimes looks like Babies R Us during construction! God truly blessed us when he brought Koy and Kadyn into our lives! We would not trade one second of this incredible journey for anything!

Needless to say, we are extremely excited to have our babies home and cannot wait for everyone to meet them! However, the doctor told us Kadyn's “public appearances” must be limited to family gatherings, neighborhood walks, and doctor visits for the next couple of months in order to prevent the risk of infection. So we are going to have to wait a while longer before we can invite anyone over for a “meet and greet”.

Ryan and I cannot begin to express how thankful we are for everyone’s thoughts, prayers, meals and cards during the past 6 weeks. Your support has shown us that we are not alone. It has definitely been a trying experience for us all, but God has given us strength beyond our greatest imagination. While we know we will have some trying times ahead of us, we are positive that Kadyn has the will to conquer any obstacle that may cross her path! With God’s help and your continued prayers we will all be more than ok!


So this is the ocean Koy has been telling me about!


Oh mom! This is so embarrassing! Our diapers are showing!!

Is this how I do it Koy?

Isn't this cool? You can also turn on your side like this! Don't you love the colors!?

She did a good job for her first tummy time, didn't she mom!?!







Boy! All this playing sure is exhausting!!!


We are so grateful Meghan started this blog! She did such an amazing job! We hope to be able to update you occasionally with pictures and information about the twins as they grow.

Love,

Ryan, Katie, Koy and Kadyn