October 17, 2007

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3)

Kyle had a check-up with his pediatrician, Dr. Marshall on Monday. Kyle is now 12 pounds, 8 ounces and 23 inches long. While I was expecting Kyle to weigh a little more, (he looks so big to us!) Dr. Marshall was very pleased with his weight gain, as she said Kyle has gained 4 pounds since she last saw him in August. Kyle also received a flu shot...it is always so hard to see him get a shot. Overall, Dr. Marshall is very happy, and amazed, by Kyle's progress. The one area of concern, however, is his speech skills. Kyle tends to have a very raspy/hoarse coo. Sometimes, he will be laughing and talking, but other than this breathy sound, not much else comes out. Also, his cry is very quiet. We think that there is the possibility that one of Kyle's vocal cords may have been damaged during his stay in the NICU. This is very common in preemies that are intubated (the breathing tube down his throat) or were using a feeding tube for an extended period of time. Another risk was Kyle's PDA ligation heart surgery. There was a nerve, the size of a strand of hair, for Kyle's vocal cords in very close proximity to the ductus that was repaired during surgery. It is possible that this nerve could have been nicked during surgery. Anyways, Kyle's "raspy" voice, along with the issues he had had with swallowing (remember we are still thickening his milk) are signs of partial vocal cord paralysis. The only way to tell for sure if damage was done is through surgery. Even if damage was done, there is not a cure, so we will not even consider surgery at this point. Eventually the healthy vocal cord will become stronger and compensate for the damaged vocal cord. In the meantime, Dr. Marshall is going to have us resume speech therapy at Akron Children's Hospital as well as have another swallow study done.

I typically brag of all of Kyle's accomplishments on the blog, but this week I have some exciting news to share about his big sis Madison as well. Madison was chosen as October's "Student of the Month" for Fishcreek Elementary! Her teacher that nominated her had this to say about Madison on the nomination form, " Madison is a top notch academic performer. She is kind and generous to all the students. She leads by example and also reminds others to make good decisions. Madison follows all the Character Counts Pillars (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship) each and every day. She is fantastic."

Joe and I are so proud of both our "babies!" Thanks for sharing this journey with us!

God Bless,

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle