Day 66

Today was a big day..he truly is a Grand Kanyon..He hit 4 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4lbs. 1oz. to be exact!!! So, with that milestone comes others. He is out of his isolette and in an open crib...the REAL big boy bed! He is also wearing clothes!! YIPEE!! They swallow him of course, but that's ok. As long as he maintains his temperature, he will be able to stay in this crib! What a big step. Health wise, things are going Ok. He is having his test done in the morning to check out his kidneys/bladder to try and see what might be causing his UTI's. Hopefully that will help them know what to do to keep the infections away. He had another eye test. It's showing a tiny bit of damage...retinopothy. They said for his birth weight, etc. that it was pretty good. The sooner we get off oxygen, the better that will be for his eyes. We are praying for GOD to protect his eyes from any damage and heal the damage that has been done. As for breathing, etc. He is still having a few "spells" a day, but not as bad as he was. I sure wish he'd get over those things. They say its just what preemies do, but I"m ready for him to outgrow that phase. The less he does that, the more he'll be able to start conquering his next goals-like weaning his oxygen down and eating from a bottle. So...we've made great progress, but we still have a long ways to go. Keep this little man in your prayers. Enjoy the pictures of this monumental day!

Here's the BIG BOY in his BIG BOY BED!!! He is also eating..that's what that tube thing is by his name tag. Yummy milk.

"Hey guys! I"m SOOO big!"

This is the sign last night's nurse put on his bed after they weighed him.

"Mom, seriously, do you have to take SO many pictures?"

This is his new "thumby". He does so good sucking it! YEAH!

OK, this may be my favorite picture yet!

Here he is looking like a full grown baby! The hospital put him in this outfit...crazy to think he's been alive for over 2 months and he just now gets to wear clothes! I took some of our clothes up there tonight, so he'll get to wear some of his own clothes!
Yeah for Kanyon! Thank GOD for each little step closer to home.

Day 64

Today's weight... 3 pounds 14.3 ounces!!! I can't believe it!! I remember waiting for what seemed like forever for him to reach 2 pounds and here we are almost to 4. Even with his infection, he was doing well today. Eating 35cc's and back down to 2 liters on his oxygen and keeping his oxygen percentage pretty low on that. Good boy! His culture yesterday still showed infection. They did another one today, hopefully it will be negative. He got his 2 month shots today...as if he hasn't been poked enough. The Dr. is going to do his dye test either the end of this week or beginning of next week to see if he has the reflux in his kidney/bladder. That may give us a little more info on why these UTI's have been popping up. Kanyon has enjoyed his visit with Gram...we're hoping he'll hit 4lbs before she leaves tomorrow..that means tonight will have to be a big night. Last time she was here, their "goal" was for him to open his eyes before she left and he did the day she left. So, we'll see tomorrow if he reaches their goal for this trip. How about some pictures!!


This is his little splint to help straighten his foot. It was bent probably from having to share a tummy with his sister.


Being gawked over sure makes a little boy sleepy!!

Sweet time in Gram's lap!

Kory with 2 of his favorite people in the world!

"See dad, my hand is almost as big as yours!"

Day 62

It has been a few days since we've updated, so I'll try to catch you up. Since Gram has been here, we haven't stopped. I went to school for the last day of the year and got to be with my sweet class. They really were (are) so great. I missed them so much over the last couple of months. It was good for us to be back together again.

Kanyon has done OK over the last few days. He started having more "spells" where his heart rate and breath rate dropped. It started a little Friday, then got worse Saturday, so by Saturday night the Dr. ordered a work up to check for infections. They put him back up to 3 liters of oxygen (he'd been down to 2) and that helped instantly. His "spells" almost completely stopped. So, we were thinking that was all he needed, but as it turned out, he has ANOTHER urinary tract infection. So far that is the only culture to come back positive, so we're praying nothing else is positive. Obviously something is going on since this is the 2nd UTI he's had, so they are going to do a test in a week or 2 to make sure he doesn't have reflux in his bladder/kidney area. They started him on antibiotics as soon as they started the cultures, so he's already been on them for 24 hrs. Once the 48 hours is complete for the cultures and they get all the info about this infection growth, etc. and they will take him off whichever antibiotic he doesn't need and give him the one that will treat specifically that infection. I hate that this is happening again and may be something we have to deal with. I hate for him to have to be on medicine, though I'm glad they have it to help "fix" him. We pray that this infection clears quickly and that it doesn't slow him down too much. We also pray that they will figure out what is going on that could be causing this. We continue to pray for his head (which seems to be responding well to his temp. shunt) and are always praying for his lungs to grow strong. Just his whole body-inside and out- needs to be covered with prayer. He looked good today and was doing great tonight. So I'm glad he's not acting sick with all of this. He's still truckin' right along. Just keep those prayers going.

On a lighter note, Saturday Kanyon turned 2 months old!! We took his picture by his basketball like we did before. The problem is we couldn't get at the same angle since he's in a different bed, so it may not be an accurate angle. Oh well. Here he is!





This is his first bball picture taken just before his actual 1 month birthday

This is him on his 1 month birthday with that nasty ol' C-PAP thing

2 months that seems in some ways like 2 years and in other ways like 2 seconds. We are thankful for the blessings of the last 2 months. He's come so far! Thanks for coming with us!

Day 59

I've been waiting for a long time for this post! Kanyon has experienced the joy of being in his grandmothers' arms and he's already decided that it's a good place to be! My mom held Kanyon a few weeks ago and Kory's mom got here today, so she held him today! Kory and I are both so thankful for our moms. They really are the best. This past 2 months they have had to work double duty. They've not just taken care of their grandbabies, but they've taken care of their own babies too. We love them so much and can't imagine how we could've gotten through this time without them. Thanks MOMS!!!



Kanyon and my mom (she doesn't have a grandma name yet). This was almost a month ago...he has changed so much.

That is definitely a smile on his face!

He draws a crowd!

This is Gram...she came all the way from Montana to hold him! He's been looking forward to this for a long time! Can't you tell by the smile on his face?!

He's eating and being held by Gram...that's the life!

He was so alert and awake when we got him out of his bed. He was showing off his whole big body!

This was the very first moment Kanyon was in Gram's arms!

Day 58

Another good day! We give thanks for that! Today Kanyon weighs 3lbs 6.8oz. I'm kind of on a roll with pictures, so I'll just post some more!



Here is Kanyon's jet for his ride to Dallas and back.

This is him on Mother's Day. The nurse got him that hat. He was all dressed up for our first Mother's Day. He was very sleepy, but he opened his eyes for me!

I never get tired of seeing his hands grasp ours. Here he's holding his daddy's hand. Even his hands have grown...they're getting chubbier!

Day 57

Kanyon is still doing well. He is now eating 30 cc's per feeding..that is one ounce! His breathing is going well also. We are thankful for these good days. We get to hold him pretty much every time we are in there, so that is wonderful! Speaking of...I have some long overdue pictures...

Nurse Kathy took this picture while she was weighing him...guess he doesn't like that too much! I wish you could hear his squeeky little cry. We waited a long time to hear that...sweet sound. Funny to think how thankful we were to hear him cry the first time.

Sweet baby in his daddy's arms

This is the first time Kory got to hold him..it was a few weeks ago. There was not a dry eye there. We were all so happy to finally see this!

Look real close at this one, Kanyon is looking right at his daddy!

Back to sleep!

Day 56

Kanyon is loving being back in Longview! His breathing is going great. His oxygen support is almost as low as it can go and they reduced the amount of pressure pushing through there. So..he's doing more and more on his own! GOOD BOY! He's eating well and now weighs about 3lbs 3oz. As you'll see in the pictures, he's getting some cheeks! His nurse Kathy especially loves his newly formed double chin! Who knew a double chin would ever be something to cheer about!
His head scan they did Saturday showed that his ventricles did go down some. They are still too big, but we were glad that they had reduced some. That means this shunt thing they gave him is helping. Please continue to keep his little head in your prayers. We pray for this procedure to help reduce the fluid and for there to be no damage done in his brain from the swelling. That is our main specific prayer for Kanyon right now, so we would appreciate you joining us in that! Well, I guess I'll FINALLY post some pictures!!!!

He is really starting to suck his "thumby" (the part he's sucking on looks like the thumb of a little tiny baby, so that's what they call his pacifier)

Nice cheeks!!

Yeah for the double chin!!!

While we were in Dallas we got to kangaroo!!

Just a reminder of what he looked like the first time we got to kangaroo..WOW!

Kanyon continues to speak sign language. This time he wants to say "I love you!" to all of his blog friends!

Here he is all uncovered showing off his growing tummy!

Day 54

We are back settled in here in Longview. Yesterday was a LONG day for us. At 8:45 am they started telling us the transport team was ready to come get him. At 5:00 pm we finally left there! Everyone took great care of him on the way and he did great. Very thankful for that. He was happy to see his "home NICU" and happy to hear and see his nurses. Amanda was his nurse when he got there, and she has literally been with him from the moment he was born!

Kanyon was happy to be eating again, they had stopped his feets at 6am so he could transport...long day with just IV fluids. They took him off the vent this morning. So far he's done great with that. I think he was so ready for that. They kept him on the vent longer than he probably needed because they had to keep it for transport, so by last night he was wiggling and squirming to get that thing out! So...HOPEFULLY we can kiss the vent goodbye forever. We need those lungs to grow strong and healthy!

They are doing head scans today to check on that progress. We'll let you know how that goes. We do have some pictures from our time in Dallas, we'll get them posted as soon as we can. We thank you as usual for your prayers. We were reminded once again what a blessing it is to have people walking through this with us. We'll keep you posted!

Day 53 - Back in Longview

Kanyon and his family are safely back in Longview, and their trip was just fine. Kanyon slept the whole way and had no problems. Thanks for all your prayers!

Day 52

Jaymie just told me that Kanyon is still doing well, and if nothing changes, he is supposed to leave Dallas at 11:00 am tomorrow to return to Longview. The trip to Dallas from Longview was pretty rough on him, so I know they are a little nervous. Let's lift up special prayers for a safe trip and stable health while Kanyon is traveling tomorrow.

Diaper Pictures

Through all of this, I've tried to figure out a way for people to understand Kanyon's size. It is almost impossible to accurately show his size. So, here is another attempt. DIAPERS! Here you see Kanyon's diaper (not sure what size they call this) up against a normal size 1. He his finally fitting snugly into his diapers, but until recently, even this tiny one was HUGE on him..it went all the way up his back and they even folded it down.

I posted an "informational" blog below, so for an update, scroll down.

Day 50

50 days!!!!!! WOW! I can't believe it. In some ways it seems like it has been 50 years, but in some ways it feels like time has flown. We are thankful for 50 days of life for Kanyon. We are thankful for 50 days of experiencing GOD taking care of us in a way we never could have possibly imagined. I know without a doubt that we have felt that peace and comfort because of the prayers all of you have prayed for us. We are so thankful to GOD and to all of you.

Kanyon is doing well today. Kory is back at work and so its me and my mom here. We checked on him this morning and he was sleeping. I tried to coax him into opening his eyes, but it was just too much work. He is started back on feeds after this last surgery and he is taking his last doses of antibiotics today. He had nice greenish poop! In case you're wondering that's a good thing! It means his tummy is working. His physical therapist came in (yes..that's right, a physical therapist for a preemie...who knew?!) this morning to work with his little foot. It is a little bent from either sharing a belly with his sister or from laying on it funny after he was born. Anyways, they just massage it and try to get those toes wiggling! Kinda funny.

The only other news we really have is that we are going to be here an extra day or two...that seems to be a pattern! The thing they put in his head is a little different than what they first thought they would do (no better or worse, just a different thing) so they have to watch it for 3-4 days instead of just 1-2 days. SOOOOO we should be back in Longview by Friday at the latest! We are ready to be home, but want to make sure he's good and ready to go before we leave.

Thanks again for hanging in there with us!

Out of surgery #2

I just heard from Jaymie, and Kanyon is out of surgery and doing great! She said it went just like it was supposed to, and they were about to go see him. Praise God and thanks for your prayers!

Day 49

I just talked to Jaymie, and she was feeling bad that she hadn't posted in a couple of days, but she wanted everyone to know that Kanyon is doing well and has just been resting and recovering for the past couple of days. His reservoir procedure is scheduled for 3:00 today, so let's pray extra hard today and especially at that time. One of us will post after the procedure to let everyone know how he's doing. They will want to watch him in Dallas for 48 hours after the procedure, but as long as he is eating and breathing well, he should get to go back to Longview after that. We'll keep you posted. Thanks for your prayers!

Day 46

Well, things seem to be going well with Kanyon's recovery. This morning his Dr. actually said, "He did better than I expected" and she clapped her hands. That's a nice thing to hear and see after the events of the last week. They started feeding him my milk again and he has tolerated his first 2 feeds great so far. Pray that continues! His main goals are to eat and get a little lower on some of his vent settings. They aren't going to take him off the vent because he has to be on it for his next surgery, but it is safer for him to have as little help as possible. He is in quite a bit of pain, but they are keeping medicine in him to help with that. They took out the chest tube they put in after the surgery to help with draining and that was probably causing him the most pain. So, we're glad that thing is out of there! *Christie...make sure and tell sweet Macy that he's one tube less! I know she's prayed for him to get those tubes out! :)* We are very thankful for a good day today and a good recovery so far. If his good recovery continues, they are planning to put in his reservoir on Monday. Then after that, we shouldn't have to be here in Dallas much longer...of course we didn't expect to be here this long the first time...things can always change! We are thanking GOD for each bit of good news and each day that goes well. We are looking forward to having this all behind us so we can look towards the rest of his journey towards coming home. We have been blessed with wonderful people here taking care of him, but I know he misses the familiar voices of his nurses and Dr. in Longview. (we do too!)...they will be so proud of him when they see him...He's BIG! They actually weighed him right about 3lbs...which isn't "dry weight" some of that is fluid, but we'll take it! :) We are so proud of him and thankful for a good day. We ask GOD for more good days. Make sure and thank GOD for answering our prayers so far. We will continue to trust in Him.

Out of Surgery

Jaymie just called and Kanyon is out of surgery. The doctors were able to successfully ligate the open duct in his heart. Praise God! I know that Kory and Jaymie are relieved this is over and are so grateful for everyone's prayers. Let's continue praying for Kanyon's recovery to be quick and complete so that he can be strong for his next procedure. One down, one more to go!

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Day 44

Right as we were headed out of the hospital for a little bit, a "game plan" formed real quickly. Our neonatologist, cardiologist, and cardio thoracic surgeon all came in. His follow-up culture on his infection came back negative today, so its cleared. They decided Kanyon is ready for surgery tomorrow! They will fix his PDA by tying off/clipping the vessel to make his blood flow work the way it is supposed to for a baby outside his mommy! This vessel is open when babies are in the womb and it is supposed to close shortly after they're born. The confusion continues for Kanyon the preemie. Babies like him don't always know if they're born or not! :) SOO his never closed but they will fix that tomorrow. The surgery is routine and has minimal risks, but its still surgery. It will last around 2 hours. I am glad that it is nothing out of the ordinary, but of course we ask for all the prayers we can for this. His recovery may take a day or two to take off, but once he gets his pressures and such adjusted, the recovery will hopefully move quickly. Pray for the surgery itself and the Dr. and his team that are doing it. Also remember his recovery..infection free and smooth! They are expecting the surgery to be sometime mid-day, but that doesn't mean that's when it will happen. Just be thinking about our Grand Kanyon tomorrow. I know he will feel much better when this is done. We just pray its as easy as it can be for him. We'll let blogland know when he his out of the OR and back in the room. Thanks for everything!

Day 43

This is Jaymie....I am on a computer that works, so I'm able to blog for myself! :) First of all, thank you for the comments y'all have posted over the last few days. Reading them is so encouraging..especially at times like this. We have a little more information today. Through the day yesterday, Kanyon's breathing has leveled out better and they're even going down on different vent settings to let him do as much breathing on his own as he can. He was on room air most of the day yesterday and maintained his saturation great! So..that's good. As they checked the cultures yesterday, they did find that he has a urinary tract infection. Kind of weird since he's a boy, but they said yesterday that these little babies can do all kinds of weird stuff like that. They did do a renal (kidney) sonogram this morning to check and make sure there is nothing going on in there that could have caused this infection. I haven't heard from the Dr. yet about that. Hopefully there is nothing in there that caused it and we just got a bug and we're on our way to fixing it. They started him on antibiotics as soon as he got to the hospital just in case so it was a good thing he was already on them. By tonight, they will know a more definite "bug" that caused this and narrow down his medicines to treat exactly what he has. All of the other cultures as of last night were showing no growth, so that is good. I don't think they consider them negative until the full 48 hours, but they feel pretty sure this is the only infection. We are thankful especially that his CSF fluid (in his brain) and his blood have no growth..those would obviously be bad places for infection. So..lots of negatives is a good thing in this case! They will not talk surgery until this infection is cleared up, so all of that is kind of on hold. We're expecting them to fix his PDA thing in his heart first, then figure out the reservoir thing...but..all of that is on hold until we can get this infection covered. Hopefully that will be quick and as easy as possible. Keep the prayers going..that sweet little boy has been through too much. He's been poked, prodded, stuck, and bothered way too much in the last few days. But, we feel very good about where we are and how thorough they are being. They will probably start feeds again soon, so pray that goes well. This has made me nervous this whole time. His digestive system is so sensitive I just hope that he goes back on his feeds as well as he was doing before they stopped them. Please continue to keep all of him in your prayers. We love y'all and are very thankful for the support you all give us.

Day 42

This is Rachel, but I'm posting an email from Jaymie:

We are settled in here in Dallas and today we've gotten a little more information from doctors and nurses. Yesterday was a little crazy as we were blindsided because Kanyon kind of took a dip, but we're getting it all figured out now. He started having more of his apnea/bradycardia spells during his transfer and while they were getting him settled here. He had been doing great before while we were in Longview, so this was a surprise. So, when he got here they put him back on the ventilator to settle him down and they started from there trying to figure out his condition. They are running every culture under the sun right now making sure there is no infection anywhere in his body. Those take 48 hours to show up, so we don't know about those yet. They also did an ECCO and they found that his PDA heart valve is opened and will have to be closed with surgery. We were disappointed to hear this because we were thinking all of that was behind us. We knew there was a possibility that it could re-open and it obviously did sometime in the last 24-48 hours. SOOO...needless to say yesterday was tough because we left Longview thinking we were coming here for a routine procedure to be done Monday morning and be back to Longview by Wednesday or Thursday and we find out we're not going anywhere for a while. Kanyon is resting now-- they are pretty much leaving him alone after all he went through yesterday. As the cultures come back and time passes, we'll know more about what steps we'll take next. Please Please PLEASE pray a few extra prayers for Kanyon over the next few days. His little body has already been through so much. We are praying for his brain (which they were able to tap some fluid off of and relieve the pressure for now), his lungs as he's back on the vent and needing to give them some rest, but at the same time, they need to keep maturing, as well as for his heart. We also want to ask GOD for an infection free boy! The infections will only complicate and prolong all of this, so we really hope we can dodge that problem. So..all in all, I am asking GOD to protect every little part of his body inside and out. Thank you for the prayers I know you are already praying and the ones I know you will continue to pray. They will give him strength and they give us strength as well. We'll keep you posted.

Day 41 update - part 2

Kanyon and his family are now safely in Dallas. The doctors there are now doing their own independent assessments of his condition, and we'll know more details in the next couple of days. It will probably be a couple more days before they will do his procedure rather than tomorrow morning like they first thought, but we'll know more soon. Jaymie asks for continued prayers for his head, his heart, and his lungs, which are of special concern right now.

Day 41 update

Jaymie wanted me to let everyone know that they are flying Kanyon to the hospital in Dallas today. I think they are actually on their way right now, because they were supposed to leave around 1:30. Kory is flying on the plane with Kanyon, and Jaymie is driving over there with her parents. Right now it still looks like the procedure will be tomorrow morning, but I didn't hear a definite time. Let's just keep them covered in prayer!

Update on Dallas

As of this morning, there is not a bed open at the hospital we're going to, so it's probably going to be tomorrow before they come get us. Of course they say there is a chance they could come later today, but I bet it will be tomorrow. They are still saying they're wanting to do the surgery on Monday, but I also feel like that could change once we get there. We'll have to just kind of go with it. We are still praying that this clot will resolve. Medically that doesn't really stand a chance to happen, but we know that GOD can still do it. SO that is still our prayer until they take him into the O.R. We'll keep you posted!

Day 38 & 39

Sorry..no post yesterday! But, we do have some news today. Kanyon's Dr. called this morning and said that he has decided that he needs to go to Dallas to see a neurosurgeon there. His hydrocephalus which is the fluid on in his brain is not getting better. They haven't been able to draw any fluid out and his soft spot is still bulging. SO...the transfer team from the hospital in Dallas is coming to get him either tomorrow or Sunday. We're still not sure. The surgery procedure they are doing will help relieve some of the pressure in his head by creating a way to draw out some of that fluid from his head instead of from his back like they've been trying to do.

I will attempt to explain it the best I know in my unmedical way. They are going to insert a small tube down in the ventricle. Then they will have a "reservoir" like a bubble or balloon just under his skin. With this, they will be able to drain the fluid into the reservoir as needed. It will stay in there for a while so that they can tap it whenever they need to. Hopefully, this will give him more time to allow the clot to resolve on its own and therefore allow the flow of that fluid to resume. If by the time he's 4-4 1/2 lbs the clot has still not resolved and they're having to draw a lot out of his head still, then they will decide what step to take next.

I feel pretty good about the procedure and I know he's in very good hands, but the moving and readjusting will be a lot for him to handle. Please pray that not only the surgery goes well, but that this does not disrupt his progress with his breathing and eating (which are both going pretty well right now). Our hope is that this will help fix this problem and we can move past this and move on! Please keep the little guy in your prayers over the next few days. Pray for safe travel there, successful surgery, and a quick recovery!

Right now they would like to do all of this Monday and he could be back here in Longview by Wednesday. But, we don't know exact days and times for all of this, so we'll keep everyone posted the best we can...that might mean the return of Rachel the Family Blogger!!

He was held a lot today and I think that did us all a lot of good. He looks great and is doing well, so if we can get this behind us, we may just TAKE OFF! :) Thanks for everything!

Day 37

Today has been another pretty good day. Kanyon's breathing continues to go well for the most part. He has a few "spells" of saturation drops etc. every now and then, but not too often. I think these will happen until he grows up a little more. We are thankful that his lungs are sounding more clear and seem to be maturing. We are very thankful and pray that they continue to mature into big healthy lungs. His feedings are still going well. He's up to 26 cc's!! I sometimes wonder where all that milk goes in that tiny body!

He had his first eye exam today and it went OK. He's not in the "normal" range, but they're going to keep doing the tests frequently to watch his progress. They are checking to see if the blood vessels in his eyes have attached all the way through. His haven't yet, they're still immature. We'll keep praying for them to grow and mature.

They did another spinal tap thing and didn't get much fluid. They were hoping to get more, but like I said last night, this process will take at least a week or two. We are praying that GOD will heal this and dissolve that clot and allow this to fix itself. We ask that you all pray that same prayer. Tonight with our youth group we talked about the story in Acts of GOD delivering Peter from jail by sending the angel and breaking the chains that were holding him down. It mentioned how while he was in jail "the church was earnestly praying to GOD for him". And while they were praying, Peter came to them to tell them he was out of jail and tell them how GOD saved him. I loved that story tonight because it reminded me of our situation and how we have so many people praying earnestly to GOD for Kanyon. It reminds us of the hope of deliverance from this and the confidence that GOD can do it. Thank you for praying for all of these little battles we face daily as well as the situation as a whole. We can't wait to come to you and show you our healthy boy and tell people how GOD saved him!
I have decided to post some pictures! I am still waiting on the ones of Kory holding him..the hospital has to email them to me. But I had some others I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Here he is in his big boy bed. The fun nurses hung his little turtle up in there like a mobile!

Precious little face!

Here he is snoozing through our kangaroo time! I guess he likes the pouch!

This is one of his nurses Melissa. We're putting him back in his bed after being held. You have to look at his mouth..he's in the middle of a huge yawn!! If I was Rachel I would know how to zoom this in to see his mouth better, but you'll just have to get a magnifying glass out!

I think this might be a wink...maybe for some of his future girlfriends...like Reese and Ava who are only days younger than him! I've told him about these pretty girls, so he wanted me to send this wink their way!

Day 36

Well, we've had some pretty exciting things happen in the last 24 hours! Kory and I went in last night to make our night night visit and when we got there, Kanyon was not in his flat open bed, he was in a BIG BOY BED!! What is that you ask..we'll the official name is an isolette. Its just the incubator/bubble looking things that are completely covered. We have to open the holes on the outside. We all feel like this is a pretty big deal! I think he will like it much better there. It is more quiet because its closed in. He's been pretty sensitive to noise, so this will help him not be bothered. We are proud of him and feel like it shows that his nurses feel confident that they won't have to be messing with him too much so they put him in that! YIPEE!! We hope and pray that this little step forward will just keep moving..we don't want to go back to that "baby bed".

The next big news came seconds after we saw him in his isolette....KORY GOT TO HOLD HIM!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! He has been waiting so long for this and it finally happened! We were all so excited (Kanyon didn't say anything out loud, but I could tell he was THRILLED!). Kanyon did great being held and so did his Daddy!

THEN...my mom and I went in this morning to visit and the nurse asked if we wanted to hold him and she said my mom could! So...she got to hold him too! Another very exciting moment for Kanyon and his.....umm....well..we haven't quite settled on her grandma name! :) But it was sweet and fun for all of us.

I did get my turn tonight. We got to do the kangaroo thing for a good long time. He did great and it was sweet to have him with me again.

As for his medical update, there is news there too. I think I wrote yesterday that they were going to leave his head thing alone for a while....as we've seen, things can change pretty quickly, and they did. His Dr. decided to go ahead and start a series of spinal taps to drain some of that fluid and see if that won't help the swelling. His head measurements weren't growing very fast and his head scan showed little or no growth, but when you look at his head where his soft spot is, you can see that it is bulging a little. SOOO..they started those spinal taps today and will do one tomorrow and then from there they will continue to do them every day or couple of days. They'll do head scans to check the results. I think this situation is the heaviest on our minds right now. We are praying and ask you all to pray that this will resolve on its own; that if it is a clot that is causing it, that the clot will dissolve and this will take care of itself. We pray that these taps will help relieve some of the pressure and jump start the draining. Please just pray for this particular issue and for GOD's healing hand to intervene and take care of it and protect Kanyon from possible complications from the swelling. We have seen GOD's powerful hand already so we know he can do it again! We'll keep you posted on this, but it may be a week or two before they can really tell if its working or not.

This has been terribly long post...but since you are still here....I'll tell you that I have some GREAT pictures coming your way!!!!!! All of the exciting events of the last 24 hours were of course captured with a camera, its just a matter of getting those pictures from different cameras to my computer. We're working on it! They are just precious....so keep checking! Thank y'all so much for your prayers. It never gets old hearing people say "We're praying!" that is the greatest thing in the world!