Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Shots..

Owen got his 3 month shots today and he was not happy about it! We are spreading out all of Owen's vaccinations, so instead of just getting shots at his normal check-ups..he has to go once a month to see the nurse and get shots. The positive side is that he doesn't have to get so many shots at one time.

He was in a great mood this morning. He was cooing and smiling as he laid there waiting on the nurse...he obviously didn't know what was coming. He weighed in today at 12lbs 6oz and was 24 inches long. I had the nurse weigh him twice just to make sure the scales were correct. He's gotten so heavy...we were all betting that he weighed at least 13.5lbs.

Owen before the shots...



getting the shots....



that night after the shots...

With his last set of shots he was really fussy for 2 days, so I thought I would try to help by giving him Tylenol right before his appointment. It seemed to help a little...He slept a little more today than usual, but he still had a low fever. He has also been a little more fussy than usual and just not his happy self. We really hate to see him like this...hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.

We received Owen's DNA results a couple of weeks ago. They were positive for the Very Long Chain Fatty Acid Oxidation Disorder (VLCAD). These are not the results we were hoping for, but now we're just focusing on learning everything there is to know about the disorder and getting Owen the best help we can. Apparently, Owen in the only child in Arkansas with this specific disorder, so the we (including the doctors) are all learning as we go.

For now, we are only modifying his diet. He is on a special formula (Portagen) that is made up of mostly medium chain fatty acids. However, this is an adult formula so it's been hard on his little tummy. The good news is that they just came out with an infant formula that we will be able to start in the few weeks. Yea! We are still feeding him every three hours during the day, but have moved to every 4 hours at night. That extra hour at night is amazing! As he gets older, we will be able to adjust the time between feedings.

We are still waiting on the skin biopsy results. We should know something by the end of this month. According to the doctors, the skin biopsy will confirm the diagnosis and show us how the long chain fatty acids are affecting his organs (specifically his liver, heart, and brain). We have another appointment at Arkansas Children's Hospital on August 10th.

Owen looks and acts like a normal 3 month old. If you saw him you would never know that anything was wrong. We pray that he continues to be a happy and healthy little boy. He is the love of our lives!

1 comments:

Ross and Kate said...

We love that little guy and we are so glad he is out of the hospital. I'm sure it's wonderful to be home with him!