Sweet Potatoes, Avacados and Pears....Oh my!

Yay for 'solid' food! Cameron is finally moving on up to eating orally. We're so super excited! His progress has been slow, but steady and I feel like he finally really is eating (not just taking tastes and spitting them out). We met with the plastic surgeon last week and he wants to do his cleft palate repair surgery in early October. It will be such a relief to have that one crossed off the list because it means that eating will be even easier for him!

Right now, as you can probably tell by the title, Cam's favorite foods are sweet potatoes, avacados and pears. I think pears are the true FAVE though. He will eat the most of those when available.

He continues to make progress with his development, also slow, but steady. He is finally sitting up fairly well with no support! He will tip side to side a little when he gets excited about a particular toy, but mostly sits pretty steady. He's rolling more and more, and when on his tummy (with a little help) he pushes his legs to try and crawl.

The most exciting was last night though. He has a rainforest soother thing in his crib that I turn on when he's napping or going to sleep. There is a little parrot that you push to turn it on. Last night, after it went off, I caught him reaching for the parrot and trying to press it! Very purposefully too. He kept smacking right on the parrot, it wasn't like he was just hitting the whole thing. I was SOOO excited!

He's also becoming way more vocal recently, although he has been 'talking' for months now. It is really starting to get loud since they put the tubes in his ears on July 20th. I think now that he is hearing more clearly, he is experimenting with his voice more.

He is really becoming quite the character, I've started calling him my little koala bear because of how strongly he grips on to me now. Daddy can make him laugh for hours and hours, and he is fascinated with the dogs. We let him pet Scooter, although he's more trying to pull her fur and drool on her than he is 'petting'. She's a very sweet and tolerant doggie. Now Max on the other hand....let's just say there's no petting Max in Cameron's near future.

Anyway, time for some much needed rest. I hope you enjoy reading this most recent post. We thank everyone again for all their kind wishes, prayers and support!

Here are some recent iphone images for your enjoyment-

All snuggled in wearing my favorite pj outfit (that is almost too small!)

Naptime. I think he takes after mama, I always end up with my head under the pillow.

Despite how this pic looks, he actually LOVES this shopping cart cover. He likes to look at all the people in the stores and grab at everything I put in the cart.

Just hanging out!

New Blog and Such

Hi all! If you followed Cameron's old blog, you may have noticed that this new one looks pretty similar. There are some cool new features though! Check out the navigation on the right side for quick links to his Picasa albums and his youtube videos.

I update those two more often than I update the blog. Sorry! I will try to do better. :)

We have a bunch of pics from some recent 'studio' shots that we are very excited to post. I hope to get to those by the end of the weekend. I think we may even have another video clip or two that need to be uploaded as well.

Also, we FINALLY sent out the birth announcements. They were a long time coming because I was stubborn and wanted to design them myself. Unfortunately, after taking the time to design them, I couldn't find a printer that I was happy with. So we ended up picking a template design and just altering that. You would think these invitation printing places would be more open to printing custom designs for you. More money for them right? Anyway....I digress. Everyone reading this blog should have already received their announcements, or will be very shortly. I was missing a couple addresses, so if I emailed you for that info, please send it over! I will try to post a digital copy to his picasa album as well. I can't believe how quickly we burned through 100 announcements! Cameron sure does have a lot of friends. :)

Ok, time to hit the sack. More updates on our little man soon. He's getting so big, it's crazy!

Father's Day 2009!

You'll have to forgive me for taking so long to catch up with Cameron's news. There has been a lot going on since his surgery on 5/20. The biggest downside of the surgery was Cameron caught his first cold in the hospital. It was a nasty upper respiratory virus of some kind and it took him about 3 weeks, several days of intense breathing treatments, and a dose of steroids to finally kick it. He was fully recovered in plenty of time for Father's day though!

It was a fantastic day overall. Cameron inked his footprints onto a frame for Daddy. It was interesting keeping that a surprise as that ink stayed under his toenails for a couple days. I would like to say I'm surprised that Mike didn't notice, but I just don't think guys are that perceptive. :) Cameron also gave Daddy a cool hiking backpack so we can start going hiking again. We planned to go up to Sedona for Father's day, but we were up all night the previous night with a minor g-tube incident, so the trip was postponed. We had a nice relaxing day of just hanging out, grilling, and playing on the floor.

You can check out the full album on Picasa here.

Cameron's Craniosynostosis Surgery

Hi all! Cameron's surgery went perfectly! He was such a little trooper and is now recovering nicely in the PICU. Here's the overview (scroll all the way down for pics)-

We arrived at Phoenix Children's Hospital at 7:15am for a scheduled surgery at 9:30. Poor Cameron hadn't eaten since 3am, so he was a little cranky. We sat in the admitting waiting room until around 7:45, then it was off to the surgery waiting room. Fortunately, we had our own little room to wait in, with a TV and a new bear waiting for Cameron! Well, they actually let Mike pick out Cam's bear from the 'brave little patient' toy bin. We found out our doc was stuck in traffic, due to a huge crash on the 10. A robbery suspect, who was fleeing the police, got on the freeway going the wrong direction and hit a semi head on. So Mike grabbed some coffees, Cameron got into his cool Koala Rocketship hospital gown (he wasn't too excited about the purple color), and we waited. And waited, and waited. Ugh, waiting with a hungry baby in a hospital gown is no fun! We kept him entertained though. Mike played rocketship and we had adventures with the new bear. Then the Chaplin stopped by, chatted with us for a few, and said a prayer with us for Cameron. It was very calming and relaxed us a little. Finally, just before 11, the doc arrived. He came in and chatted with us, then the anesthesiologist came in, then we were finally off!

First update came at about 12:15. Lines were in, they were officially getting started. Next update will be in an hour. So we head down to the cafe and get some lunch. Scallop salad for Mike (really, at a hospital cafe?), and I had, of course, the pizza. Can't ever pass up pizza.

Next update comes at 1:15. They were really amazing about actually updating us when they said they would. The nurse is smiling a big smile, phew. That's always reassuring. Cutting is done, everything is going well, next they will start molding and piecing it back together. In the meantime we watch some hilarious Chappelle Show season 2 clips to keep our minds occupied. "I'm Rick James!" Thank God for comedy and portable dvd players. :)

2:15. Our friendly nurse is back again. This time I am in the NICU pumping, ugh. Mike chats with her. They are almost done piecing back together, then they'll sew him back up and the surgeon should be out to talk to us in an hour or so. Now we're really getting nervous with anticipation. How will he look? Will his expressions be different now? Will his eyes look smaller with his new brow bone? Will his cute chubby cheeks appear smaller? Most importantly, how will he feel?

3:30ish. Finally, we see the surgeon! Everything went well, Cameron is on his way to recovery, we should be able to see him in exactly 10 minutes and can talk about the surgery more then. We set our timers on our phones for exactly 10 minutes then go to the frantic task of calling, texting, emailing, packing our stuff up, going to the restroom, etc. Just as the timers were about to go off, the surgeon cruised back by and offered to walk with us to the room. He warned there would be swelling. Lots of swelling. But for at least this first hour or so, he should look somewhat 'normal'. Take a mental picture of that, he said. Otherwise you will focus too much on the swelling and forget how great he really looks!

We get to the room and an xray tech had beaten us by about 5 seconds. So we have to wait in the hall, peeking in the window, while they take an xray of his lungs. Just to make sure they look ok after the anesthesia. Hurry up, I want to see my baby!!

Cameron looks great! Definitely gives me unwanted flashbacks to the NICU with all the cords and how out of it he seems. He is opening his eyes a little, but is still very sleepy. The swelling is already beginning, although we get a good idea of his new 'look'. Still cute as can be!

The next few days will be the real test. Although we got through the scariness of surgery, we now have to deal with trying to comfort our confused little angel, who we can't pick up. The surgeon tells us that compared to his 'fundo' (the surgery he had when they wrapped his stomach, and put in his g-tube), this is nothing. As far as pain goes that is. He said the main frustration comes from not being able to see. *Most* kids who have Mytopic synostosis will have both of their eyes swell shut for 24-48 hours after the surgery. He said that is what causes the most 'pain' because the poor little guys have no idea what's going on, they just suddenly can't see anything. Think of how scary that would be for you or me!

So for now, we are all doing great! And a few days from now, we'll be doing great again. In the interim though, we may have a little rough patch. Cameron is one tough cookie though, and at this point, I think his parents are too. It doesn't make it any easier though.

We greatly appreciate everyone's prayers, support, kind words, and gestures! And a special thank you to Scott and Caroline for the temporary home base!! They live blocks from the hospital, while we are about 45 minutes away (without traffic). Mike is crashed out there as we speak, since only one parent can stay overnight in the room. Speaking of which, this parent probably needs to get some shut eye while she can. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a looooong day.

Check out today's pics, and make sure to read the captions. They really tell the story. :)

Before-

After-

Prayers for Cameron

Hi all! Cameron's big craniosynostosis surgery is this Wednesday. Please keep him in your prayers. We truly feel that he has done so well due in part to everyone's prayers.

We'll post an update late Wednesday afternoon or Thursday. Also, we have posted a couple fun new videos on youtube. Cameron vs the Claw, Cameron talking, Cameron in the pool with dad, and Cameron in the pool with mom.

Thanks!!

Our Happy Baby and Another Surgery!

Greetings all! I know it' been a long time since we've updated this blog with any news. We have been busy busy busy. I don't think we ever realized how many specialists existed! It seems every week there is at least one (if not two or three) doctor appointments and/or procedures/tests. Add to that the therapists that come to the house 2-3 times a week and it makes for a full calendar. Fortunately, *almost* everything has been positive so far, with just a lot of follow up appointments to make sure he is on track.

Just a few of Cameron's exciting medical updates:

• He is off his oxygen during the day, and we hope he will be off it soon at night.
• No more wedge/sling positioner in his crib! He's sleeping on his back with NO apnea!
• He is down to only one med a day. When he came home, he was on 4.
• He is still gaining weight like a champ, and almost gaining too fast. :) We found out his pump was calibrated wrong and has been giving him a little extra food at each feeding.
• We are slowly weaning the nighttime continuous feeds...finally!
  

And some exciting developmental updates too:

• He was finally approved for state funded services, so he now gets physical, developmental, and speech/feeding therapy every week.
• He really loves playing with his toys, moving them hand to hand, bringing them to his mouth, and throwing them.
• He has amazing head control and loves to sit up in his bumbo, or in our laps and look around at stuff.
• We get huge smiles all the time now, they were few and far between for while. Still working on that laugh, but you can tell he's trying to laugh and he'll make little sounds.
• He talks almost as much as daddy. :) He is just a little chatterbox and loves to tell us what's on his mind.
• We're thinking that rolling from back to tummy will be coming any day now. He has really been getting some momentum rolling side to side.

Overall, Cameron is a very happy baby. He loves to play and smile and talk. He doesn't seem to notice or care that he has any medical issues. Needless to say, that makes all of this a lot easier for Mike and I to handle. It's hard to be upset about the hand you've been dealt when you have such a happy little guy to play with and cuddle.

Our biggest challenge now is Cameron's upcoming surgery. He has recently been diagnosed with a condition called metopic craniosynostosis (also known as trigonocephaly). Mike and I noticed the ridge on his forehead from the time he was in the NICU and everyone always seemed to think it was 'normal'. We had asked about it at several doctor appointments and the answer was always something like, "yeah, babies can have weird shaped heads, it's not abnormal." Well, fortunately Mike was very persistant about it and finally at a pediatrician appt she referred us to a neurosurgeon. It took the neurosurgeon about 1 second to look at Cameron, and say, "oh yeah, he definitely has craniosynotosis. We'll need to operate to correct it." His surgery is scheduled for May 20th and it is a pretty gnarly surgery. He should be in the hospital recovering for at least 4-5 days. Fortunately, this should be the only surgery he needs and we have one of the top surgeons in the valley doing the surgery. He is actually the director of Neurosurgery at Phoenix Children's hospital and on the Phoenix Top 100 Docs list. We are confident the surgery will go well, but I think this scares us more than anything else so far.

Please keep saying prayers for Cameron! Hope you enjoyed the recent pics on picasa.

New Pictures up on Picasa!

We posted a lot of new pics on Picasa! I will also update everyone on all of Cameron's exciting developments shortly. Trying to find the time! :) http://picasaweb.google.com/hughesfamilyaz

Welcome Home Cameron!

Well, it's been almost a month since I last posted. A ton has happened since then and I just haven't been able to find the time to update the blog. Cameron's surgery was a success, but his recovery was a little rough. He was back on the ventilator for quite a few days and then pulled the g-tube out after about a week! He finally has his 'button' now and it seems to be healing nicely. His scary death spells have stopped, but as a result of the surgery he isn't able to burp as easily and has become very gassy (read- fussy).

The most exciting news of all though is that our little Cameron is finally home! He was discharged Tuesday of last week, after an excruciating 115 days in the hospital.

**Note- the above was started on 1/28. Today is now 2/13. I have been trying VERY HARD to update this thing, but for some strange reason all my free time seems to have disappeared. :) Continued....

So Cam came home on 1/20, the same day our new president was inaugurated. Who knows, maybe Cameron will be president one day and tell the story about the day he came home. It has been a whirlwind three and a half weeks with an average of 3 doctor appointments and/or nurse visits and/or AZ case workers coming by the house. Every outing is an adventure to say the least.

Cameron is doing great so far at home. He seems to be adjusting to home life well, although he does not like to sleep during the day for more than 15 minutes at a time. Complicating matters, he still has some 'positional' apnea whenever he starts to doze off and happens to be laying flat (or in a swing). At night he sleeps pretty well and we have this nifty wedge and sling positioner so he can sleep elevated and on his side. He'll sleep for 2-3 hours straight at night, mostly just get up for diaper changes which is nice. He is still on his oxygen, gets his food through his 'g-tube', and is monitored for apnea by a pulse oximeter. Thankfully, his pulmonologist let us ditch the apnea monitor. That thing never seemed to work right and was just one more set of cords to get tangled with everything else.

As for Mike and I, we are so thankful to have him home finally, although admittedly are feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am still pumping 6 times a day to keep getting Cameron all the great nutrients and antibodies that come from breastmilk, so that's enough of a time drain in itself. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for him, Mike continues to work from home so he's been able to watch Mr Cameron during my hours of pumping. Somehow he is still able to get some work done and has even brought on a couple new clients! We are newly appreciative of all the parents in the world, and are even more impressed with parents of special needs kids. Although Cameron is lumped into that category, fortunately his doctors are confident he will outgrow most of his 'special needs'.

Some quick medical updates on him-
He is finally out of the woods for ROP (that means his eyes are clear and no surgery).
He needs to be retested in his left ear for hearing, but was screaming during the intital exam, so that's pretty normal.
He'll probably have his cleft palate surgery in December (they like to wait until they are about a year adjusted).
His 'button', or g-tube, has healed very nicely and doesn't seem to bother him at all or discourage him from laying on his tummy. It still gives me the heebie jeebies though.
He gaining weight like a champ, up to 10 and a half pounds already!!

As far as his development, they judge everything based on his 'adjusted age'. Which means his age if he had been born on his due date. So right now he is approximately a month and a half adjusted. Some awesome developmental milestones he has achieved since coming home-
He rolls from his tummy to back pretty easily.
He likes to bat at his toys hanging from his play gym.
His neck is getting really strong and he will turn towards our voices.
He's just starting cooing, making the most adorable noises when he's falling asleep.

I'm working on uploading our piles of pictures to a picasa web album, but who knows when I'll complete that. :) For now, here are some cute pics from the past month or so.

Also, thank you all for your continued support and prayers. I owe many of you thank you cards for your wonderful gifts (I'm getting about two written a week at this point). I also owe ALL of you a birth/welcome home announcement for Cameron as well. Working on that one as we speak. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Final days in the hospital and most of Cameron's friends (I'm bummed we weren't able to get pics of his docs and we missed a couple of his nurses too!)-

Get me out of here guys!

Lori (one of Cameron's primary nurses) kept us entertained on nights and I swear we'll get her to give Sauce one more chance.

Kathy Forbis (it's weird I know the RTs last names but not Cameron's primary nurses). Must be because they are all named Kathleen or Kathy. :) Kathy and Lori helped me hold Cameron the first time while he was still on the dreaded oscillator.

Speaking of RTs named Kathleen...Here's Kathleen Mittendorf (left) and Jessica (one of Cameron's primary nurses). Kathleen's aunt in law runs the Jack Russell rescue we adopted Max from. Small world! Jessica loved holding Cameron while she charted.

And of course Miss Carrie (one of his primary nurses). She swears she only work 3 days a week but I don't believe her. Seems like she was always there! I think she just couldn't stand to be away from our Cam bear.

Discharge day! A different Lori (left) helped send Cam off. Thankfully she was a familiar face and she was very gracious as we monopolized her time. Tracie (our social worker) was also there to make sure everything went smoothly. Tracie was a godsend and helped us save our sanity on several occasions. One of these days I'll have to meet up with all my girls for happy hour. :)

Here we are ready to run for the door.

Cameron and daddy have *almost* matching outfits!

Finally home!

"Oh no, did someone say hospital? Don't take me back there!!"

Our future Sun Devil loves to blow bubbles. Don't worry, we cleaned him up right after the pic.

First bath at home! You can see his 'button' in this pic too.

Just hanging out with daddy in our well used glider.

I love those big eyes!

Our first walk up to Fresh and Easy. Although he is quarantined from visitors with icky cold and flu germs, we can take him on walks to break our cabin fever. Fortunately for us, it's warm enough in AZ in the winter to do this.

Waking up daddy. He loves to lay on his tummy (Cameron I mean, not Mike).

Laying on his play mat. He just loves to look at all the toys and grab for them.

Here's our most recent shot of him at the pulmonologist appt on Tuesday. Can you believe those chubby cheeks?

Thanks for reading!!