Minor Set Back

Cayden was supposed to come home tomorrow and there has a minor set back.  He has his immunizations yesterday which resulted in a slight fever which then led to a small Apnea spell.  Once he has Apnea, this sets him back 5-7 days.  The soonest he could come home is Monday or maybe Wednesday.  Please pray that he has no more Apnea or drop in heart rate.  The worst thing to happen would be to bring him home and have him have those spells at home.  Please pray that he can come home as soon as possible and than when he comes home, he is ready.  Thank you to all!



More past pictures of Sweet CJ and all of his loving visitors!!

Cousin Heather and Aunt Cathy made the drive out to visit Cayden. How sweet!!  Aunt Rosie and Jamie came a different day and I can't believe we didn't get pictures of them!

Passed out on Mommy!

Wow!  He has come so far!

Bottle feeding and breastfeeding now!  He is on an amazing three hour schedule and he is the best baby ever so far!  He doesn't even cry when he wakes up. He just sits patiently waiting to be fed.

Like father like son!

He loves his Poppy!

Aunti Megs came to visit at least 3 times a week before going back to work!

Mimi holding CJ

This was the day that Cousin Connor got to see CJ for the first time through the NICU glass door.  They won't let anyone under 10 years old come in. ConDog already loves his baby cousin!

Rock Star CJ Rodney!

Mimi at one of her many visits to see Cayden!

Autie Mal drove all the way home from LA to see Cayden at 10 pm!!  Her sticker says, "Cayden's Proud Auntie."  She made that to wear for him!

My wedding ring fit over his entire hand at birth!

This is when they took the Bubble CPAP off to give Cayden a break and he still had the feeding tube in.

No folks!  This is not a photoshopped picture of Chad's face on CJ's body!  This is 100% CJ!

These are past pictures to remind you of how far he has come and how prayer absolutely works!!  He was intubated at birth and once again during his one and only set back and then the other pictures are of him on the bubble CPAP.  Thank you for praying!

We are planning for Cayden to come home this Saturday!!

Cayden had 5 days Apnea free and then had a small episode at 4 am last Friday, so the soonest he can go home is Saturday October 1st.  He has to have 7 days Apnea free to go home and he will also be coming home on a small dose of Oxygen.  We are so excited.  I am going to post a few pictures now. I aplogize for not posting more often.  We are so busy going back and forth to the hospital all day long. We finished his nursery and we are really looking forward to having him home in it!! It has a Noah's Ark theme and we chose that because "Noah" means "survivor" because he survived the great flood. Love to all!!

Cayden continues to progress!

Yesterday was my first day breastfeeding and Cayden did amazing! He latched right away and was able to pace himself perfectly. Today he stayed on one side for 22 minutes and did wonderfully. He acts as if he's already a real pro! I am just so proud of how he is doing.  He had another milestone tonight. He was introduced to the bottle for the first time by his primary nurse, Charolette whom we just love.  It was at his 8:30 pm care time and she taught us all of the important lessons in bottle feeding and how to recognize all of his signs and what they mean. It was incredibly informative. I don't know how parents do all of this when just taking the baby home the day after they are born. We learn so much being in the NICU everyday and caring for CJ side by side professional nurses.  As with the breastfeeding, he did fabulous his very first time with the bottle. He was really impressive the way he took it and managed the sucking and breathing at the same time.  Dr. Cho spoke with us today and told us that at this point, they are just babysitting Cayden in the NICU until he gets old enough and his lungs are strong enough to leave. He is doing so well, so it is just a matter of time until he meets all of his milestones and can go home. Please keep praying! It means the world to us and please pray that he comes home really soon because being away from him for even an hour is getting harder and harder with each day that passes. Thank you so much for praying and supporting us during this trying time.

Major progress for Cayden John Rodney!!

Today is a wonderful day!!  Cayden is off the Bubble CPAP and has moved up to the smallest Oxygen tube!! Yay baby CJ!  He is doing so well at this next level! The plan moving forward is to just keep weening him down off of the help that he is getting.  Today or tomorrow, I get to start recreational breastfeeding.  This means that I will pump all of the milk out and then hold Cayden and practice latching with him.  Because in a few days (at 34 weeks gestation) he will be able to begin breastfeeding and bottle feeding.  Right now, I pump my milk and bring it to the NICU and they feed it to him through a feeding tube.  I am so excited to get him off that! In order to be sent home, Cayden has to go an entire week without any Apnea or major drops in heart rate, be able to latch and drink the milk, be 5 pounds and 35 weeks gestation.  He will be 34 weeks on Sunday and 35 weeks on Sept. 11th.  We are hoping to get him home by his due date, Oct. 16th.  He is 4 pounds 8 ounces today, 4 1/2 pounds!  We still really need all the prayer we can get for we are truly living on prayer.  We love and appreciate you all for praying for our little fighter.  I cannot believe how in love I am with this little boy!  He is such a miracle and blessing.