Spica Cast

last bath

post-op


new carseat

The procedure went well. Ambrose's little hip went right into place with a satisfying "pop!" said his ortho, which means the socket is the right shape, we just have to wait for his muscles and soft tissues to tighten up. Should be about January.

He has a special spica car seat with no sides and is double diapered, one inside one outside, and a hole for his g-tube. He looks a little like a cross between cookie monster and a potted plant. The hard part will be keeping the inside of his cast clean and dry, especially around the diaper area.
Ambrose is a little cranky, probably has some soreness while his muscles surrounding the joint get used to their new arrangement, but the procedure did not require any cutting, just an injection and general anesthesia.

Thank you for all your prayers, and we welcome any Halloween costume ideas for Ambrose.

Go Fish

John Paul left home real early this morning with his Dad and Godfather to try his luck fishing. He had a great time and returned home just in time for dinner, which he brought home for Mom to clean and cook. They were mighty tastey little creatures!

Speaking of little creatures, Ambrose's procedure is early Tuesday (10/6) morning. Please keep him in your prayers and check back here for updates.

In other news, our offer has been accepted! We hope to be moved into our very nice and very big house by Thanksgiving.

GOOOOOAL!

So far Ambrose has been tolerating the changes made in his diet and has figured out how to say "ba" and "ma". His hip procedure is scheduled for next Tuesday, Oct 6.

Charlie is fine and has learned some new tricks: rolling over, raspberries, and can get his toes into his mouth.

John Paul is doing much better now that he is back at school and occupied with big boy activities. Saturday, on the way to his soccer game, he told us "When I take the ball away from the other team, I'm going to say to them 'Say goodbye to the ball!'" He ended up scoring two goals, but forgot to talk trash like he had practiced in the car.

Josef is learning lots and will routinely whip out obscure phrases to repeat at random times, like to Charlie yesterday, "In the name in the hundred acre wood, I capture you!" And he did, too.

Gina spent Sunday being pampered at the spa with Ryan's mom.

And the cold that had been circulating finally caught up to Ryan, but the worst of it seems to be over already.

Reschedule

Ambrose's hip procedure has been rescheduled for October 6. He has been coughing and very cranky the last couple of days and we decided it was best to postpone the procedure until he is feeling better.

In fact, everyone but Ryan has the same miserable cold, but we've got him surrounded and are closing in on him fast. It's only a matter of time.

Also, Ambrose's reflux has been giving him a lot of trouble lately, and even though he is gaining weight at a good rate, he still vomits frequently and it is cause for concern. The suspicion is that his little tummy is not emptying into his intestines as fast as it should. So he gets too full and empties it in the other direction instead. His Gastroenterologist has prescribed Erythromycin to encourage motility (emptying), if that doesn't seem to work, we'll try another drug, Prevesid, to treat the reflux. He has also ordered a contrast study of Ambrose's stomach to make sure that there is nothing (like the g-tube) blocking the pylorus ("drain").

He's also temporarily rearranged Ambrose's feedings to rule out any allergies: for the next 24 hours, Ambrose will receive only Pedialyte in a slow continuous drip, if he tolerates that, we'll dilute the Pedialyte by half with breast milk on day 2, if that goes well, we'll give him just the milk on day 3, and then add the caloric fortifier (formula) on day 4. Once we rule out any allergies, we can start to work him back toward bolus feeds, lengthening the time in between.

Despite everything he's been through, Ambrose is a strong happy baby.

Thank you, by the way, to Marti and Harriet for the princess bean bag chair. It and John Paul are inseperable.

We recently decided that it is in our best interest that John Paul return to preschool. It was a difficult decision, from a financial standpoint, but the best one for meeting his needs. He is also playing on a soccer team with his cousins (we'll post some video footage soon).

Also, we are looking to buy a larger home fairly soon.

Spica Procedure

Ambrose will check in at St. Joseph's Hospital at 9am on Wednesday September 23. He will be put under general anesthesia (by the same anesthesiologist as from his g-tube placement surgery) then his orthopedic surgeon will proceed with an arthrogram to check the joint for any irregularities then to the closed (without surgery) reduction procedure which places the head of the femur (ball) into the acetabulum (socket). In order for the joint to heal correctly, Ambrose will be cast in a spica position (flexion, abduction, external rotation & knee flexion) for about 12 weeks.
The spica cast will be pretty cumbersome for diapering, feeding and positioning Ambrose, but we will survive this too. We'll be sure to take his picture and post it once he's outfitted.
Also, a bean bag chair is recommended for positioning spica patients - if anyone has one they want to donate (you won't want it back when we're done with it), we'd be happy to take it off your hands.

Charlie eats rice cereal.

Happy Ambrose

Spica Cast

An ultrasound on Tuesday revealed that the harness has not corrected Ambrose's displaced hip. He will now require a spica cast. The procedure to get him into the cast will require general anesthesia and (re)intubation. We had thought his hip was getting better because he started moving that leg and seemed much more comfortable with it, so we are very disappointed with this turn of events.