Thursday, March 8, 2012

6 Months Ago Today.....



Six months ago today we found out that our little blessing, Westin would be born with spina bifida.  Of course we were crushed after that appointment because nobody can prepare you to hear news like that.  We went from having a normal happy pregnancy to worrying about what the outcome would be after 9 months.  Over that time Heather was able to learn many things about spina bifida by blogs.  She eventually got hooked up with the website called babycenter.com which also was a great tool for us.  The things she learned helped us understand what Westin would possibly go through and helped us look to the positive.  Westin is an amazing little boy and we are very proud to have him in our lives.  We hope that you enjoy the videos! 




Wednesday, March 7, 2012

I'm reporting with....

SUPER NEWS!!! Our appointment in Minneapolis again couldn't have been any better. Westin's ventricles were still unchanged...hooray!!!! Now...drum roll please, we don't have to go back until June!!!!

Casting is still moving right along. Although we finally got it figured out. When we were in the see the Dr. last week for Westin's cold/rash we mentioned what a pain it's been to soak off the casts... Well I guess we should have said something 4 weeks ago because Dr. Halvorson said.. Well I can cut them off!!!!! I bet the look on our faces was like a kid at Christmas! So Monday morning we headed in to get them cut off. The saw was loud but Westin didn't mind it one bit.

Monday afternoon we were back in Fargo for another set. We are making progress, the Dr thinks we will need two more weeks of casting and then we will be ready for Westin to have his tendon release. But time will tell. Monday night I could tell that something was wrong with the right cast. So we called and sure enough Tuesday we were back in Fargo again........ Puke! But they put a new cast on and he was good as new.  Not to mention they gave us a $5.00 voucher for the Sanford Cafateria for our troubles...haha!

So now we are getting the process started for MA, medical assistance.  At first we were told that he didn't qualify, which was totally wrong.  Now we got to sit down with a lady from Fargo that deals with this.  She went over everything and helped us get all of the paperwork completed.  Our next step will be for another home visit where a lady from Wahpeton will come look over Westin.  Eventually we will have people coming into our home weekly to work with him.  That part we are not really excited about, but overall we know that it will be good for us and Westin.

Please keep Westin in your prayers.





Quote of the day:  You have to stay in shape.  My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60.  She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is:-)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Casting.....YUCK

We have met a new enemy.. casting Westins feet. Yuck We all know that this has to be done but oh my what a pain this truly is. I had no idea it was going to be so much work.m From finding clothes that fit over the casts, to diaper changes.. to our weekly cast on session in Fargo to our end of the week soak off session.

The first week we removed them it took just under two hours with scissors, plyers and a razor blade. No babies were harmed in the process!!

3 weeks later we got a pretty good system down, this past week it only took 30 minutes and me, Travis and my mom. Westin developed a pretty bad pressure sore on his left foot so this week we only have one cast.

This past week Westin got his first cold.....talk about no fun, so we brought him into the dr to get that checked out as well as a rash that he developed 2 weeks ago... Turned out to just be baby acne and exema. After a few days of hydrocordozone he looks like a new baby!

We head back to the cities tomorrow for a head ultrasound, as well as a meeting with the Dr. to go over the results.....fingers crossed that his ventricals are unchanged. We feel his soft spot everyday along with measuring his head. From what we can tell things still look good but we will find out for sure tomorrow.

Westin has learned to smile at his mommy and daddy, and also another accomplishment....he slept a 6 hour strech last night!!! Woohoo...let's hope he keeps that up!

Of course im including pictures... They change so fast!

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for. ~unknown"