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KADEN

WELCOME TO KADEN'S STORY FROM THE BEGINNING --MAY HIS LIFE TOUCH YOURS AS IT HAS TOUCHED OURS!! AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE CLICK ON "OLDER POSTS" AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GO THROUGH THE WHOLE STORY OF OUR SWEET BABY!!

Hey everyone, we have decided to set up a blog for our family so we can keep eveyone informed on what is going on with Kaden. Many of you know, but for those of you who don't here is a quick overview. Kaden has a bilateral cleft lip and pallet. He has a very, very flat nose which is even difficult to see on ultrasound. His top two ventricles in his brain were the wrong shape and now are filling up with a very large amount of fluid. They think he also could be missing part of something called the corpus callosum, which is in the top of the brain, but we won't know that for sure until after he is born and has an MRI. At our 29 week ultrasound his head circumfrance was measuring at 35 weeks because of all the fluid in his venticles. He was supposed to have between 10 and 12 mm of fluid and had around 33 mm in each ventricle. They are guessing his head will just continue to grow until the fluid is drained. Right now his cleft is not even an issue because that can be fixed a few months after he is born. The doctor's are concerned because the fluid is pushing all of his soft brain tissue against his skull and could cause brain damage or difficulties breathing. The neurologist is saying that he has atypical hydrocephally, most babies with hydorcephally do not have this amount of fluid. Because of his head size, they are going to take him C-section at the U of U hospital somewhere in the last week of January and the first week of February, he will be right around 32 weeks. His body will be that of a 32 week baby, but his head potentially could be as large as a 40 weeker, but only at the top, and he is missing parts of his face. It's kind of an interesting picture to paint in your head. Right after he is born they will take he right to Primary Children's for an MRI for placement of a shunt to drain the fluid. If he is stable he will be in the NICU there for 6-8 weeks. Kaden does only have a 40% chance of surving right now. I have started steroid shots to hopefully increase his breathing capabilites when he is born. We really feel honored that God has chosen our family to send this special spirit and are praying that the Lord will help us be both willing and able to accept his will, whatever it may be. We will keep you all posted on the date of delivery and try to get picures up as soon as we can, but if will probably be a pretty crazy day.

These are pictures of the top of Kaden's brain. They picture on the left was taken at 21 weeks showing the wrong shape of the ventricles. The picture on the right was taken at 25 weeks. The black is the fluid that was in his ventricles. Where you can see on the right picure the grayish stuff is his brain, currently it looks eggshell thin and there is at least twice as much fluid there.

This is a picture of Kaden's cute face. The small bump in the middle of his face, just below his eyes is actually the nasal bone and not the soft tissue. His soft tissue is really hard to see and is very flat. You can also see his cleft lip very well. It is bilateral meaning there are two side missing. This picure makes it look like he only has one side missing, but trust us, there are two holes with a little piece of tissue in the middle.

Scheduled Delivery

Hey everyone, this profile picture was taken of Kaden on 1-29. The white mark next to his forehead is his hand. You can see how big his head is getting in this picture. His head is measuring at 40 weeks and his body is just over 31 weeks. They have scheduled a c-section at the U of U on February 15th. A bunch of different doctor's have discussed him, and they all feel taking him this early would be more dangerous than waiting. The neurologists can't even place a shunt in his head yet because his body is to small. They all feel that keeping him on the inside longer will give him a better chance of survival. I have to go in every week from now until he is born to have him measured, because they can't let his head get bigger than 42-43 weeks or it becomes to dangerous to deliver. So even though I am scheduled for the 15th, if his head grows to rapidly it will be sooner, or if it stops growing it could be later. We are so thankful to everyone for your support and prayers. I honestly think the reason we feel so much peace is because of everyone's prayers for him and us. We know that Kaden is very special, he must be to have chosen this and we also know that God will take care of him, whatever his life may bring. Thanks everyone and we will keep you informed on what happen's next week.

LATEST UPDATE

Hey everyone. Our appointment today (2/5/08) went well. Kaden's head grew .5 cm last week. It now is averaging 40.5 weeks. His little body measure a perfect 32 weeks and he weighs almost 5 pounds, though the doctor says about 1.5 pounds of that is extra fluid on his head. If we make it to the 15th he will be 34 weeks and a normal baby at that point is about 4 pounds. We had a little scare over the weekend with me so I am supposed to take it easy. My utereus measures 37 weeks and his head measures full term, so my body naturally could think it is time to have a baby. We are still hopeful that we can make it to February 15th for the scheduled c-section. If we can get his body to 34 weeks he has a much better chance of survival. Also babies born sooner than that have a higher risk of brain bleeds and cerebral palsey, which we really have no desire to add to our list of things. So our prayer is that the baby will wait until 34 weeks and we can make this as least stressful as possible, since it is already going to be a crazy day. The c-section is scheduled for 7:30 am, so hopefully we will be able to get something posted by that evening. Thanks again for all of your prayers and fasting in our behalf. We are touched daily by the spirit we feel from so many who love us. We are not sure if we are going to the doctor next week, as I have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday, but the doctor said even if his head is measuring 43 weeks on that day, they still would wait until Friday for the delivery. If we go we'll let you know how everything goes.

A REMINDER OF WHAT LIFE IS REALLY ABOUT

On Friday the 8th of February, Spencer and I had the opportunity to attend the sealing of my cousin Nathan Wilson to his beautiful wife Alison and their darling daughter Jane. I know Heavenly Father helped to plan this sealing at this time to comfort both Spencer and I. The sealing was absolutly wonderful and they were the true example of an eternal family. When they brought little Jane into the room, there were not many dry eyes. She was so perfect and was so attentive to everything that was going on around her. As I witnessed her being sealed to her parents and listened to the promises made to both Nathan and Alison and also to the promises given to Jane, I knew without a doubt that Kaden is ours FOREVER, no matter what happens and that someday he will be restored to his proper health and will probably be the one leading our family in the next life. I am so thankful for the temple and for the sealing I have with Spencer and our children. I am also thankful for a gracious God, who knows our needs and knew this experience was exactly what we needed the week before this little baby is going to be brought into this mortal life. May we all remember the little things (and big things) God does for us everyday!!