March 31st, 2019 - The World Comes Full Circle

Age- 5 months
Adjusted Age- 7w 4d

Well hello all! Some time has past since our last post, but there have been no shortage of updates we would like to share with you all.

Brooksie has been doing great since we last spoke. He is continuing to grow at rapid pace probably because of the good stock that comes from on both sides of his family. He has not been weighed in about 3 weeks, but we are guessing that he is in mid 13lb range. (That is a long, long way from his 2.2lb birth weight.) Brooks has also ventured out of North Carolina and had his first sleep over in the past week. I was sick this week, so Kat and Brooks went to stay with her parents for 3 days. He has changed tremendously in such a short time. I was amazed!

It has been 9 weeks since we left the NICU for the second time. Since then, his appointments fill out our time for the most part. Brooks has seen his pediatrician multiple times, his therapists, gastroenterologist (Charlotte), Urologist (had his circumcision) and surgeon (Charlotte). Since Brooks was still on oatmeal, prilosec, and prune juice, we were referred by his pediatrician to get GI involved to see if we could remove any of these. Our Laney family traveled to CMC a couple of weeks ago to visit with the GI doctor. He was fully on board with getting him off all three but not without tests. He removed the prilosec during our first visit, but ordered a swallow study to make sure he wasn't aspirating. We had the swallow study done at CVMC. The study went great and Brooks passed with flying colors. Since we were at Catawba Valley, we were able to sneak up to the NICU and see our old friends with out it seeming too weird. It was great for all of us to see them again (sorry if we missed anyone...didn't want to bring too many germs from the other side of the hospital). We will have another GI appointment in two weeks to see if we can remove the oatmeal and prune juice.

Everyone involved with Brooks' care have come to the agreement that since he strains so hard, it causes him to reflux. So how do we help him not strain? We reduce the oatmeal and we fix his hernia. Our pediatrician also asked us to get a second opinion on Brooks' hernia in his groin. Katherine and I without hesitation knew exactly where we would get this second opinion. Back to Charlotte we go to meet with Dr. Cosper. For those of you who do not remember, Dr. Cosper is the surgeon who operated on Davis. Kat and I were so impressed with him, we have decided that he would be the one to operate on Brooks if needed. We had our appointment with Cosper last week to discuss the hernia. Together, we decided that now is the time to get Brooks' hernia fixed, so he will have the surgery at Presbyterian on Thursday. (Nakisha, if you are working, we would love to see you.) If you are willing, please say a prayer for our little steady Eddie on Thursday. We know this is a "minor" surgery, but with everything we have been through, we can't help to be overly cautious, especially when it comes to anesthesia. 

Our next major step is when Katherine goes back to work in a couple of weeks. Please say a prayer for that too! Flu season should be over within the next two to three weeks. Once we are in the clear, Brooksie will be ready to mingle with all of you who have patiently waited to see him.

Katherine and I want send out special thanks to all who have brought food over the past couple of weeks. You all have made our lives much easier to get acclimated and you will always have special place in our hearts.


Love and Prayers,
Taylor, Kat, and Brooks