Christmas Time!

Christmas time now will forever be an extra special time for our household, not only the birth of Jesus Christ, but the anniversary of when we got to bring Owen home from the hospital!! We are definitely celebrating on the 23rd with cupcakes and extra hugs and kisses. 

Owen has been doing big things in the past month!  The Monday before Thanksgivkng he started to crawl and hasn't stopped!! He is pulling up on things and starting to cruise. He is constantly learning more sounds and getting better at communicating. It is so amazing to watch him grow and become a big boy with all 7 of his teeth!!!

 

He is still wearing a helmet and will be until March probably. Our trips to Dallas have been spread out to every 3 weeks.

We saw the neurosurgeon and they ordered another MRI to double check that there is no swelling in his brain. He shows no physical symptoms of it, so we are very hopeful!

January will be busy with 2 trips to Dallas, an MRI, high risk appointment, many therapies, pediatrition appointment and an appointment with the opthamologist.

Owen has been off of oxygen for 5 nights now and has been doing great. He seems to be taking some time to adjust with the changes but has been able to hold his oxygen levels up all night. He is officially off of all medications and oxygens!! Very exciting!!

Please pray that he continues to stay healthy this flu and RSV season.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

14 Months young!!

Owen is 14 months old!! He has been keeping busy with trips to Dallas, doctor visits, therapy and visiting dad on the farm! He is around 18.5 pounds and gaining pretty steadily, but the doctor is still keeping a close eye on him.

October 17th, we went to Dallas to get a new helmet since Owen had grown out of his first one. The new one looks so much bigger.  Since we have been home with the new helmet Owen has not seemed too comfortable in it and it probably didn't help that he was sick the first week with fevers and an upset stomach. We are very thankful that it wasn't anything respiratory since his lungs are still very fragile.

Two months ago we started bringing Owen to a Chiropractor, and we are really glad that we did. We came to this decision because Owen would scream if you put him on his tummy, so we decided that something had to be hurting him. Sure enough his neck would not hyperextend, it was even hard for him to hold his head up straight. with in two visits Owen was rolling onto his tummy (on his Own!!!) and not screaming!! It was a miracle! It continues to improve every treatment and we are so grateful!!

We saw his ENT that specializes in Cranial reconstruction and he did not see a huge improvement with his head according to the measurements that he took and suggested that we see that neurosurgeon, which we are scheduled to do early December. He did say that he rarely does cranial surgery on babies with out early fusion so he is not thinking that we will go that route. The neurosurgeon will give his opinion if he thinks that there is still pressure on Owen's brain. We are praying that there has been a big enough change in his head to relieve the pressure that there was.

We must be very careful now when putting fingers inside of Owen's mouth since he now has 4 teeth!! and it also looks like two more on the way!!

Owen has been working really hard with his many therapists. He is getting closer and closer to crawling and is also loving to walk around with Mommy and Daddys help! Owen is eating solids better, he has started to pick up 'finger foods' and feed himself We are still working on teaching him how to chew bigger foods, but that will come with time. Lately it seems like he is adding more and more 'tricks' like waving, knocking, playing with his brother PJ and walking!!!

Last week we went to see the Ophthalmologist to get his eyes checked. He got his glasses 7 months ago and his eye has gotten a lot worse since then. The Doctor gave us a new prescription and they have made a big difference already. Owen is now enjoying books for more then just an afternoon snack and interacting a lot better with everyone. We are hoping that this will really help him with his fine motor skills as well!!!

In the next 2 months we will be seeing High Risk, Neurosurgery, immunologist, ENT and our normal Pediatrician, chiropractor, and therapists.

Brushing his Teeth

Most creative Halloween Costume - Our little Minion!

How do you use this Mom?

The Bear 

Was really excited to see the Cotton

Maybe he was just confused...

He was smiling in this one!

Our Little Country Boy

Loves his Pickles!

Birthday Boy!!! September 11, 2014

A year ago today we kept waking up all night long hoping that it was just a nightmare and that Owen was still safe and comfortable inside Amy. But that was not the truth, he was downstairs in the NICU with tubes down his throat and lines in his veins and machines hooked up to him as he was fighting for his life. At this point we were just in shock and did not really know what to think. All we knew to do was to pray and stay by his side as much as we could. We were never going to give up on this little 2lb fighter. As the days went by in the NICU and the roller coaster had its ups and downs Owen proved to us over and over again his strength and determination that he had to fight through. He also let everyone know that he would do everything on his own time, known as "Owen time."

Owen has taught us so much in his first year of life. He has taught us Love, Patience and faith. They say the love you have for your children is something that is so indescribable you have to experience it to believe it. Well that is so true, there is no other way to explain it then you have to experience it. I am sure all you other parents out there understand. I thought that I had patience before I met Owen, but I must say we have learned to push Owen to develop as much as we can but he is on "Owen time" so we have to let him tell us when he is ready. We have learned the power of prayer to a much deeper level, it is so amazing! Thank you to everyone that prayed for this little man, we know a lot of you did and a lot of people that we have never met!! We prayed all the time as well for Owen and everyone at the hospital that was looking after him 24 hours a day.

A year old and we can certainly say that Owen has really developed a personality!! He is Happy, very Social (loves all the attention!), knows what he wants when he wants it and is very serious most of the time!! He is sitting up SOO good! Owen and PJ have started to enjoy each other at times, he has gotten his first tooth (yes just one right now hehe) and he is loving his first word, "Dada" he says it all the time! It was so cute at first, but I think it is time to move on to other words.. like ''Mama" :)

Owen is just  over 17lbs and growing!! We are still traveling to Dallas every 2 weeks to get his helmet adjusted. We went on Monday and they are very pleased with the progress and do not think that he will be in it for the projected 8 months!! maybe only 6!!

Thank you to the UMC staff for the most amazing gift anyone could every receive!!! Thank you to all of the prater warriors that never stopped praying!! Thank you to our friend and family for loving us and Owen and for being there for us!!! One year down so many to go so excited to see what is in store for Owen!!!

I'M ONE!!!

And serious about it!!

Awesome Cake!!

Wondering why we are singing to him

Focusing very hard on destroying the cake!! Very proud parents!!!

Decided to have a couple bites!

MMMMMmm 

Thinks his Birthday care is funny!!

Loves his new toys!!!

Pj was a little more interested then Owen

Oh CANADA!! August 29th, 2014

Owen is officially an international Traveler! We spent the last two weeks visiting family and friends in Canada. Owen was a great Traveler, loved people watching and riding in the big plane!!

 He got to play naked when we got there because it was so hot and humid, and his helmet makes him extra hot!

Then it got pretty chilly so he had to put on his sweater

Of course we had to let him try ketchup chips, and he liked them, well licking them at least

Put him in the long grass….wasn't too sure about it.

But he sure did love the beach and the sand!!!!

And he loved hanging out with Nana

And fit right in with the "boys" (and Lisa) at the reunion

He loved test driving the Porsche!!

He was happy to get a break from wearing his helmet and have lunch outside!!

Cousin Maxine was showing Owen how to throw the ball!!

Justing Chilling with Grandpa!

Someone was a little jealous of her daddy hanging out with his nephew!! 

 We had a great time showing Owen around Amy's old stomping grounds!! it won't be the last time!!

Owen has had him helmet for just over a month now and is doing well with it. the therapist said that she can see some improvement at each visit. So that is promising. We will have a following up with the surgeons in 2 months to see if they think the helmet is working quick enough.

We are doing a lot of therapy to get Owen on the move, he does not want to be on his belly at all, so getting him to crawl is very difficult and a lot of tears (from him only so far):)
We are also working with a nutritionist and Speech Therapist hoping to get him eating better.. I think that he is able to do it, he just doesn't want too. Oh the personality that is shining through. Got to love it!!!

Overdue Update July 30th, 2014

Owen has been home for over 7 months now and is doing pretty good. He is 16lbs and not gaining weight like he should be. We have seen a nutritionist and a speech therapist to help with his feedings twice a month. Since he seems to like solids better then his milk, the therapist is going to work on him tolerating different textures. We are trying any and every way to get calories into him.

Owen has been released from the cardiologist!! He did his echo and the doctor said everything looked good!!

We have had a busy month dealing with Owen's head. Earlier in the month we saw the ENT that specializes in head and facial surgeries. He diagnosed Owen with Brachiocephally (back of the head is flat), turricephally (Tall head) and Microcephally (Small head). The doctor was worried about his small head because that could mean that the brain could have stopped growing and therefore the skull has no reason to expand and then will fuse early. The doctors other concern was that the skull had simply just fused early. Owen was ordered to do a CT and MRI to rule both of these out and then to go see a neurosurgeon. We had to wait until the following week to do the scans and then another 3 days to see the neurosurgeon and get the results. Meanwhile we had a feeling that we would be planning for skull reconstruction surgery in the next month. We met with the neurosurgeon and got great news, Owens brain seemed to be growing at a normal rate, and the sutures in his head were all open still (not fused yet) which meant that he would not need the reconstruction surgery!! The neurosurgeon suggested that we try a reshaping helmet for 3 months and see how effective it is. If results are minimal then we can consider a surgery where he would place screws and a crank to pop Owen's skull out over time with a key that we would turn daily (ouch).  Praying that the helmet will work and we will not have to do any sort of surgery.

Immediately after the Neuro appointment we called Cranial Tech to set up an appointment for Owen's helmet and they had an opening the next day!! We packed up everything and woke up bright and early to make our first of many trips to Dallas. The appointment went great, and Owen cooperated for the most part after a long 5 hour drive. They took 3D images of his head in some super cool high tech room full of cameras and sent them off to make his custom helmet that will be ready to pick up in 10 days. So Tuesday morning we got on the plane for our second trip to Dallas, and Owens first plane ride and he did great. he got to try on his helmet and they made some cuts and tunnels (for his glasses) so it will fit perfectly and he didn't seem to mind. We heard sleeping would be the hardest adjustment for Owen, and I believe it. Owen fell asleep pretty quickly after a long day but woke up at 1am and was one unhappy camper. We took off his helmet to give him a breather and there was a large bump on his head that disappeared by the morning but i can only imagine how uncomfortable that was for him. We flew back to Lubbock this morning and hoping that tonight goes a little better.


Owen has been working hard on some new 'tricks'!! He is sitting up on his own really well now and has mastered the art of clapping!! We are working hard to get some leg strength and for his to start enjoying tummy time more.

Head home, Owen got his own seat on the plane

Doesn't know whats about to happen

All Smiles

Loves Dada time (brother photo bombing in Background)

Happy to be 10 months old!

Can I get cutter?

Bath time!

Helmets not too bad!

9 Months old - June 13th, 2014

I can't believe Owen is 9 months old already. He is weighing in at 14lbs 10oz. Still gaining slowly and refusing to eat at times. The doctor said that sometimes that just happens when they are around 9 or 10 months old and you can't really make them eat anymore. He is enjoying his solid foods pretty good, when he wants too. :)

The immunologist did blood work and said that his immune system reacted like it was supposed to react to the 6  month shots!!!

Cardiologist did an EKG and it looked good. Owen is going to do an echo in 10 days and if that looks good then he will be cleared from the cardiologist!!

ON the 24th we are going to a doctor about his head. It is really flat in the back and it is probably one of two things. 1. Craniosynostosis - which is where the skull fuses together early and brain doesn't have room to grow. This would involve surgery and then a helmet.
2. plagiocephaly - just from laying on his back too much and from when his neck was really stiff and favored one side. Repairing this would just mean a helmet.

The CMN telethon a couple weeks ago was a success. If you weren't able to see Owens story you can see it here: 

http://www.umchealthsystem.com/index.php/childrens-miracle-network/miracle-children

Owen was rolling over a couple weeks ago from belly to back but has since decided that's too much work. His nick name is "lazy bones"... He has learned that we will assist him with everything so there is no need for him to have to do much including rolling over, picking up toys (please place them directly in his hands), putting his paci in his mouth, holding his bottle, the list goes on. We are working on it, but he has us wrapped around his cute little fingers! He is started to sit up much better with just a boppy around him!!

Just so you don't think he's always happy:)

Have you seen my starfish?

On live tv at the CMN Telethon

Pool party!

Pretty cute!

CMN Telethon - May 28, 2014

Owen is scheduled to do a live interview for the telethon on Saturday May 31st between 2:30 and 3pm ok KCBD channel 11. They also have a previously recorded interview that they will play sometime during the weekend as well. 

Owen has been struggling eat lately, we are not sure why, he has only gained 5 oz in two weeks compared to his normal 15 oz that he usually gains. 

Thursday we go to the immunatologist for some blood work to check his immunity levels. 

Monday we go back to see his pediatrition for a check up. Hopefully he will have a solution as to why Owen is refusing to eat at times.

June 10th we head to the cardiologist to make sure everything is still good since leaving the NICU.

This boy is growin fast! 

Serious photoshoot, no smiling 

Hanging with his friends

Filling out this spread sheet

Feeding himself! Nom nom

Smiles

Helping mom in the kitchen 

Working on sitting!