Rowan the TV Star

The past few weeks have been quite eventful for Rowan.  Steph has arranged a social outing essentially every day.  I think Rowan has already done more laps around Wash Park than I have.  He enjoys riding in the stroller and being outside and told me that he is really excited to meet all the cute baby girls he sees riding with their moms. He also enjoys eating and is having no issue gaining weight. In two weeks he'll have his next checkup with the pediatrician to see how his growth and any other baby things are coming along.

This past Thursday was the first spina bifida clinic for Rowan.  He saw the neurosurgeon, urologist, and rehab doctor.  All were very pleased with his progress.  Stephanie really wanted a list of activities, stretches, exercises, etc. that she could work on with Rowan but the advice of the whole team was to work with him just like any other baby, nothing extra to do at this point.  His stitches have dissolved from his head and he continues to be a very happy boy.  We will visit the clinic again at the end of March.

About a month ago we met with the PR director of the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children and she wanted to share our story with the public.  She made contacts with a few news media outlets and this past Friday Rowan was featured on the Fox nightly news. It was a pleasure to share our story and we hope that other families facing the journey we have been on will see the story and be encouraged.  The link is included below.

http://kdvr.com/2013/01/25/denver-surgeons-make-breakthrough-in-treating-newborns-with-spina-bifida/

That's a cute duo!

January 12th marked 1 month old

Story Time! 

Discharged and heading home

After a night of little sleep for us all we are very much ready to head home. Pretty amazing how 24 hrs ago Steph and Rowan were walking into the pediatrician and now we're heading home after surgery. Rowan started eating early this morning and seems to be returning to his normal self. We will try to return to our normal routine today and get this kid sleeping and eating on a schedule. Thanks for all your kind words and prayers.

4 weeks old and back to surgery

Rowan is 4 weeks old today and unfortunately spent the day seeing the pediatrician and neurosurgeon. Thanks to a very caring and attentive mom Steph noticed a few signs showing that his shunt might not be functioning correctly. After a quick assessment by the pediatrician Rowan saw the neurosurgeon who felt his condition warranted surgery. His shunt wasn't draining correctly so a portion that was clogged was replaced. Certainly not what we hoped for today but he's doing well now. He's still waking up from anesthesia and we'll all three be spending the night at the hospital. We should go home tomorrow. Please lift up a prayer for Rowan that he wakes up calmly and starts to eat.