Hello everyone,

It has been a month since I posted last and there has been quite a bit that has happened. The transition to living at home was pretty easy for us right away since we were just excited to be out of the hospital. He had his initial follow-ups at the Clinic at U of M Masonic Children's. The first visit included getting x-rays and removal of the stitches from where his chest tubes were. His next visit ended up being his last appointment at the U of M, this is where he got his outpatient echocardiogram and an review of his overall progress from his cardiologist. They were able to cut out some of the medications and the doctor said everything looks great and he was truly surprised with how quickly he recovered. We scheduled his next cardiology appointment for May to take another look at the repair and make sure everything is going well. Beyond that the plan would be to see him 6 months after that, and then if things are still looking good move to just yearly check ups.  Since those appointments he has been seeing a  pediatrician at the clinic in Stillwater about once a week to monitor his weight gain. This was something we were closely watching because he was about 6lbs when he was discharged putting him in the 2nd percentile for newborn weight. He has been eating up a storm and gaining weight at a good rate, and he is now at 9lbs going  on 6 weeks old, about 3lbs in 4 weeks.

We have been fairly busy between all the 'normal' care for a baby, meeting grandparents, aunts, uncles, and running normal errands. I returned to work on the 7th of this month and have been plenty busy with everything going on there. I was very fortunate to be with Kaden and Bailey in the hospital without having to worry about work, I was able have the time I needed. I was also able to take an additional week to transition into life at home. I'm very grateful for the support and love sent our way from everyone at Your Boat Club.

Unfortunately this past weekend Kaden was not doing great. He started to eat a little less and be pretty fussy, but we figured he was just going through normal baby things. By the time Sunday came around he was crying and inconsolable starting at 6:30am and not getting better at all so after speaking with some nurses on the phone we were told it was probably best we went to the ER. So we packed up and were at the U of M Masonic Children's ER from 9pm last night to 4am this morning. Long story short his heart is functioning great and the cardiology team said it isn't the cause of his discomfort, from everything they have seen in x-ray, echocardiogram, EKG and initial lab results. He tested negative for covid, influenza A and B, and a number of other common viruses. He has a number of outstanding labs that we haven't gotten the results for yet but we are hoping its some kind of mild cold that will work out of his system soon. With Kaden being a heart baby, we can't mess around with any sort of sickness, so even though it was a long night at the U of M we are thankful they could run all the appropriate tests to rule anything serious out. 

We really, really appreciate everyone's following, prayers, love, and support through this challenging yet incredible journey! We are thankful for every moment we have with Kaden and for all of you.

Love,

Bailey and Brendan