Family Update - Part 1

Well it’s been a while and I really can’t figure out where to being this family update. I guess I’ll start with Gannon as I have the most to write about on him.

Many of you already know that Gannon was born on Nov. 5, 2008 at 1:48am; I actually was in labor all day Nov. 4th and I still went to vote.:)

Gannon one day old.

By the evening of the 5th we were told that Gannon has a soft palate cleft (a small hole in the roof of his mouth, and no uvula) and by the morning of the 6th we were discharged from the hospital to see a feeding specialist team. After watching me breastfeed, they advised me to continue to breastfeed along with weekly weight checks. Gannon began losing weight, which is normal, then with in a week became jaundice because of this we went to the hospital for daily Billy Ruben test for a week, then finally put on a Billy Blanket. By this time I started supplementing with formula; when he weighed 8 lbs two weeks in a row and not even close to his birth weight by his first month I quit breastfeeding.

Gannon 1 month old.

Joe and I decided to take Gannon to see a cleft specialist and feeding specialists up in Minneapolis, MN, so Dr. Andersen called in a quick referral. The best choice we could have made. A few days later I was told that I should have never even started breastfeeding, but give breast milk in a bottle instead. I was also told that there was a better bottle that would allow Gannon to eat without having to work so hard for it. Basically, Gannon was burning every calorie he was taking in, and passing out from pure exhaustion. We were given one new bottle and a prescription so we could purchase more through a pharmacy.

This is what Gannon's bottles look like. They're called Medela Haberman Feeder.

This was a blessing because our insurance was then able to cover some of the cost (4 bottles = $111.00). Back home we started biweekly weight checks, then back to weekly weight checks and by his two month check-up we were told that Gannon would be able to do normal well baby check-ups. On Feb 6th (3-months old) he had tubes put into his ears.

Gannon being weighed before his bilateral tube surgery.

Gannon in his scrubs, and yellow duck socks.

The left ear has been clear, but the right ear has been draining green oozy puss off and on ever since. At his follow-up appointment it was so clogged they couldn’t even attempt a hearing screening, and Dr. Sidman vacuumed it out. At his 4-month check-up he weighed 19 lbs 7oz, 27 in, and a head circumference of 17in.

Gannon (4 months) playing in the ultrasauser.

Last night Gannon was up most the night crying with a fever, and this morning 2 hours after giving him Tylenol his temp was still at 99.6 under the arm, and he only ate 2oz of formula since 4:00am, so I took him into the clinic. He weighed in at 20 lbs today, and is wearing 9month clothing already! During his visit he was tested for RSV, and Influenza; the good news it was not RSV, the bad news he has the flu which this year includes a sore throat. Tomorrow we have to go get his ear vacuumed out again, this time I’ll try to get a picture of the vacuum they use; it’s kind of interesting.