During our first meeting with Austin’s surgeon we were warned that he could be facing other complications due to his condition. They said he would probably be a fussy baby and that he could have learning and mobility delays due to his poor oxygen levels. Now, 10 months later, Austin has proved them all wrong on all counts. Not only is he not fussy, but is one of the happiest babies we know and everybody remarks on how alert he is and his constant smile. He is catching up on the growth chart and he is the pinkest “blue baby” you have ever seen! He is now crawling all over the house and pulls himself up on anything and anyone he can find. His doctors are now absolutely amazed at his progress and say that he is a complete anomaly.
Austin has finally been cleared to travel after his first birthday and so we are looking forward to long visits to both Washington and Wisconsin to introduce him to the rest of his family and friends. We thank you all for your continued support and prayers and hope to see you all this summer.
Austin has had a great month, and is looking forward to a Chrismas tree, presents, and his holiday feast of green peas and yams! On Sunday, Austin watched with a big grin on his face as his Dad struggled to get the Christmas lights up on the house. The lights are done, and Austin loves to check out Santa on the roof in the train delivering the presents to all the boys and girls (really he just likes the array of blinking lights). Here are a few new pictures of Austin hanging out and enjoying himself.
Austin was discharged from Childrens on November 4th, and has been all smiles since being released from the hospital. He made a pit stop at Nana and Papa’s house for the past couple of days due to Dad coming down with a nice case of the flu on the day Austin was supposed to come home. After scrubbing down the house, Austin will be on his way home later today!
Here are a few photos showing Austin’s progress over the past week.
Today was a big day for the little man. We were out the door by 6:45 am and the nurses whisked Austin away to the operating room by 8:00 am for his scheduled Glenn procedure with Dr. Pearl and his homies.
At about 1:45 pm we were able to talk to the good doctor and he was very happy with the outcome of the surgery. He said he’s pretty sure, well at least relatively sure…. Ok, if he was a betting man, he would wager that all the plumbing got hooked up correctly and the fittings are holding as planned.
Currently, Austin is relaxing in the Intensive Care Unit while his highly skilled team is constantly tweaking medications, administering blood transfusions, running tests, entering data into the computer, and answering the endless questions coming from Austin’s parents (mostly his mom). Some examples of questions from Austin’s mom include: ”What are you doing?” “Now what are you doing?” ”What are you doing now?” Then the cycle seems to start over with “What are you doing?”
Meanwhile, I sit with pops in the corner of the room while he explains the anatomy of the heart. Ocassionally he will pause and look up to see if I’m still tracking. Upon seeing my “deer caught in the headlights expression,” he starts all over.
The next few days should be touch and go with getting Austin’s refurbished ticker all dialed in, but with any luck he could be back home in about 5-10 days. We will keep you in the loop with updates thoroughout the week, but we couldn’t be happier with Austin’s condition at this time.
I’ve included a few pictures a day or two prior to Austin going in for surgery. He wasn’t feeling too photogenic tonight, but wanted to make sure that I showed off his Halloween costume on the blog.
Austin’s parents and Doctors are both thrilled with his progress. He is now tube free and a tad over 12 lbs. Austin is all signed up for October 29th where he will be undergoing the Glenn procedure down at Children’s Hospital in Phoenix. The Glenn procedure connects the superior vena cava to the pulmonary artery, after the Blalock-Taussig shunt is separated. This allows more blood flow through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs. It also serves as a basis for the final surgery, the Fontan procedure.
For now, Austin still loves taking walks to the park where he enjoys watching baseball games and football practices. Occasionally he even jumps on a swing with Dad for a few minutes. Although optomistic at the start of the season, Austin has become bored watching the Seahawks on Sunday and prefers throwing in his Wiggles DVD for entertainment. For Austin, nothing beats the Wiggles performance of “The Big Red Car.”
Much to the delight of his parents, Austin was able to finally ween (I’m sure I spelled that wrong) himself off of oxygen this week. We have been working at it for the past couple of weeks, and today was the big day. We monitored Austins profusion levels, and even at his fussiest times his numbers remained strong.
Since Austin and I had no plans this evening we decided to take a stroll down to the park to take in the scene. Austin got all dudded up in a new outfit, fresh baby lotion, and even changed his Huggies before heading down, but unfortunately there were no dames Austins age to be found in the park. Oh well, Austin still had time to do a mini photo shoot since we were on location.
Timmmberrrrrr (a product of the worst storm in Phoenix in the past 14 years)
“Big A,” has continued to make great progress over the past few weeks gaining about an ounce to an ounce and a half a day. Currently, Austin’s weighing in at a stout 9 lbs. Dr Jadeykin is very pleased and anticipates Austin being ready for his 2nd surgery at the end of October, or early November (at least according to his magic 8 ball that he has on his desk).
For now, Austin enjoys long walks around the neighborhood in his stroller, preseason football, and the occasional session in his swing.
Here’s a few recent pics of Austin.
Big smiles when Austin finds out the Seahawks are on Monday Night Football
Notice the Seahawk gettup. Being a Packer fan is not an option.
It’s been a relatively quiet past week or so at the house of Cox. You know what they say. “No news is good news.” That is, unless the news is bad news. Then I guess no news would be bad news… Anyway, on to the “no news” that happens to be good news.
Austin continues to gain weight at a rapid pace (just like his Dad). Currently, Austin is weighing in at an intimidating 8lbs 6oz. It’s not uncommon for Austin to pack on a whopping 30 grams a day, putting a hurt on the Costco size baby formula that we keep stocked. The goal is still to get Austin to 12 pounds so he can make a trip back to “The Ritz” for his second surgery.
Today was the first day we attempted to feed Austin with the bottle. Austin gave it the “old college try,” or in other words his effort was minimal. My best guess is that he simply prefers his meals served through a tube.
Austin hitting the bottle.
Austin hams it up for the camera with a few smiles!
Austin had an exciting past couple of weeks and got a visit from two of his midwest cousins Kaelyn and Julia (and their moms). The girls were excited to meet their new cousin and would often wave to him while making a beeline out the back door for the pool.
On Monday Austin began to act a little fussier than normal and we found a curious little growth around his chest incision. After emailing a picture to the doctor it was off to the hospital where Austin got to spend a couple more days at his favorite resort. This time we started in the Pod-D where the accomadations were very familiar. A couple of days later we were moved to the fourth floor where we were fortunate enough to share a room with another little guy and their family. Although I reminded all hospital staff that passed by that our medical plan was a “PPO” as opposed to “HMO,” our lodging accomadations remained the same.
It turns out that Austin had a minor staph infection. After 4 days of antibiotics I am happy to report that Austin is doing much better and is currently hanging out at home watching a Chuck Norris marathon on cable. It always puts a smile on Austins face when Chuck delivers a roundhouse kick to a deserving criminal.
Well, it was 3 weeks later than originally planned but we were finally able to bring our son home from the hospital. He has made great progess and is thrilled to be at home away from all the noise, constant light and needles. Our goal now is to fatten up our little one and get him healthy and safe to the next surgery.
Thank you all for the prayers and love that have gotten him and us this far. We couldn’t have done it without all our friends and family and the support you have given us. We feel truly blessed to have Austin in our lives and know that God has a plan for our family.
P.S. If you look real close, you can see Austin waving out of the top window.
“Big A,” has continued to make great progress over the past few weeks gaining about an ounce to an ounce and a half a day. Currently, Austin’s weighing in at a stout 9 lbs. Dr Jadeykin is very pleased and anticipates Austin being ready for his 2nd surgery at the end of October, or early November (at least according to his magic 8 ball that he has on his desk).
