Precious Moments

Call it what you want but this is Precious

Kaden Mathew Mack was born at 8:00am on 2-15-2008. Valentines Day came a little late for us. He was taken by C-Section by a great team at the University of Utah Medical Center. Our doctors wanted us to deliver there because of the close proximity to Primary Childrens Hospital. They are connected by a tunnel. When he was born he was immedately taken the the NICU and cleaned an evaluated. After Jeanine was back to her room, I went to be with Kaden. He has a good sized head, but it is not quite as big as we had expected. He also has an extremely flat face. His cleft is very large and includes most of the upper lip, most of the palate of the mouth, and all of the supporting structure of his nose. His head swells over his eyes and his forehead is very flat. As you look through the pictures you will be able to see what I mean. For the first several hours he was placed under a hood that provided oxygen to him. His breathing was labored and eventually he needed to be stablized with a breathing tube. Everything has since pretty much settled down but occasionally needes to be pepped with a little sugar or saline or oxygen. In the late afternoon we were able to let our Kids see their brother. They had been up since 5:30 in the morning in hopes that they would get to see him. They very patienly waited. They were so cute that there were very few dry eyes. It may be the only time that our little ones will all be together in this life and it was very moving to be able to at least have one little picture with all of us together. The reason for the visit was a transport to Primary to get a CT done to see what is going on with his head. I almost forgot. One thing that is present that is of major concer is Kadens eyes. The drs have been unable to see any. There is concern that he may not have any eyes or that if they are there that they will not be functional. The CT scan started too high on the head to see the eyes, but revealed some other disturbing news. Kadens brain is not bumpy like a normal brain. His is smooth. This could mean that the midline defects that we know about may be much more extensive. He is having trouble regulating the chemicals in his blood. Babys with this type of condition cannot lead any sort of life. Even if the little body manages to breath etc, he will be unable to communicate, move voluntarily, have personality etc. Usually these babies don't live very long. We are awaiting an MRI to confirm and define the problems that exist with his brain. Late today, 2-16, we got a bed and transfered Kaden to Primary Childrens Hospital. The specialty there is already beginning to show. In addition to MRI, they are going to re-check his chromosomes and genes. They want to be sure that he doesn't have Trisome 13 or 18. They will also have a genetic team examine him to see if there is something that can be attached to Kaden's condition. One term that has been thrown to us apprehensively is Lissenscphely. We are not going to look into it unless MRI indicated that is what he has. At this point. we are soking in every moment that we have with Kaden. Despite his deformities, we can' t keep our hands off of him. To us he is the most beautiful kid in the NICU. We love him sooo Much. There are not words to describe the feelings that go through when you know that your little one will probably not be here long. Jeanine and I have some tough decisions to make in the coming days and weeks, but we are at peace that Kaden has completed his mission on this earth. His sole purpose was to come and recieve his body and bless ALL of our LlVES. Very few people who associate with us haven't in some way been touched. You will never know how much it means to us to have so many people praying for us. Thank you all. We will never forget this time in our lives. We love you all.