He gained a little...

Well, Erik had a dr's appt. today and he weighs 10 lbs. 2 oz. and is 23 inches long. So, he hasn't gained as much weight as we thought he would, but he has gained a little over a pound. So, with that, there's not much more to update you on. Keep him in your prayers please.

The button

Today Erik is getting the g-tube removed and having what's called a mickey (sp?) button put in. He will no longer need to be fed 24/7, so we are excited about that. The button is smaller and more convenient. It will also enable us to give Erik a regular bath instead of the sponge baths he's been getting. So, hopefully the button will make life easier and hopefully it will make Erik more comfortable by and by. Tomorrow we should find out how much he weighs. Erik is doing well.

Growing!

Erik smiling:0)
Erik in his carseat. You can see the line for his feeding tube.

So, Erik is growing. Finally! We don't know how much he weighs right now, his next appt. isn't until next week. I will guess that he weighs approx. 12 lbs. His cheeks are chubby and he fits bigger clothes. It's so nice to be able to call him a chubby baby. He looks more like a 6-7 month old than a newborn now. The pictures above were taken in Arizona, his 2nd trip to visit his grandma. That was over Easter weekend. This past weekend we took him to the beach. I will post those pictures later. He is doing well and growing. We are still hoping to find the right meds for his infantile spasms (seizures). He is still having several "episodes" throughout the day. They have lessened, but he still has them. Those need to be controlled or he can suffer brain damage. Please keep praying for Erik. We love our little fighter! He is 13 mos. old now.

Gaining weight.

Well, Erik has been home since Saturday. The last time Erik was weighed, he weighed 10 lbs. Just last night, Claire put an outfit on him and it was a size 3 mos. Erik has never fit in anything bigger than newborn size. Now he's growing and fitting in larger clothes. Erik got his bandages taken off yesterday. His incision is healing. The only thing that still needs major prayer is that the seizure medication is still not working like it should. They need to get his seizures under control because they can cause mental retardation. Please pray that they find meds that work. God is soooo good!

Home again

Erik's hand after having his I.V. taken out.
Erik's feeding tube and band-aid where he has stiches.

So, Erik is finally home. He came home on Saturday. He spent 12 days at Children's Hospital. He is still sore but is otherwise recovering. The home health care nurse came and showed us how to set up the feeding tube and machine. It's not too hard. Erik finally hit the 10 lb. mark. It's the 1st time he's ever had a 2 digit weight in his life and he's 13 months old. It is so great that he will finally gain weight and grow. Other than that, not much to report. Oh, my brother bought Erik a new crib and he seemed quite comfy in it.

Erik, the fighter

So, Erik is doing better right now. He ended up having a major surgery. He had a feeding tube put in, a valve put on his esophogus, and they found out he had 2 spleens, so they took one out. They then closed him up, took him to rocovery and gave him morphine. So, at first he was kind of out of it. Yesterday though, he was alert and even babbling. So, he is recovering and will hopefully begin to gain weight. They gave him pedialyte today and if he does well with that, they will start him on formula. Now he should gain weight. In fact, I can hardly wait to see what he'll look like bigger. He has always been so tiny. He is 12 mos. old and weighs less than 9 lbs! So, that is the update for now. Erik is quite the little fighter. I am so proud of him!