Happy Easter!!

Zachary has had a wonderful past few days, and a very eventful Easter Sunday. Saturday we were able to color eggs, and prepare for the big Resurrection day!  Today our day began early, with 8am mass.  Zach usually sleeps at this time, and it wasn't too long into mass that he decided he was ready for sleep.  He was resting comfortably on Daddy's lap until Communion, when he was awoken by our movement and the music.  That was pretty much the last good rest he had for the entire day.  

After church we had a brief Easter egg hunt at the house, and some pictures.  We were hoping for a little more time, but Zach didn't want to sleep for more than 30-45 minutes.  

Zachary had his usual noon feeding, then we headed over to the DiSalle's for Easter dinner.  He did very well for the first hour, then slept for another 45 minutes, but decided to wake up yet again and join us for some afternoon Master's coverage and Rockies baseball.  After a few more bouts of happy/sad/happy/sad, Zachary decided it was time to eat once again.  

Overall he did very well, and Mommy and Daddy had a wonderful time at dinner and visiting with everyone.  The food was fantastic as always, and Daddy enjoyed his first beer after Lent!  This week is a big one for Zachary.  He gets his casts taken off Tuesday for good.  It has bee three months with various degrees of casting and surgery, and now he finally graduates to leather shoes, and legs free to move as they may.  We are all very excited and anxious for the week ahead, and thankful that God has blessed Zachary with such a wonderful recovery to this point. and pray he can continue down the road to a fully healthy and Happy life.  We hope you all have had a wonderful day, Happy Easter!  - Brian + Kimmie

No Doctors This Week!!

For the first time since Zachary entered this world, he will not be visiting any doctors, nurses, specialists, or practitioners!!!  Mommy and Daddy were just talking about the week ahead at dinner and it was somewhat strange to not have any appointments planned for an entire week.  Needless to say we will all enjoy the "time off" and are actually a little anxious for next week's appointment, when Zach will have his final set of casts removed.

We all had a pretty enjoyable weekend.  The "huge" spring storm never materialized, but we were able to enjoy the time spent together waiting for the storm to arrive.  Cindy and John were at the house Friday night and watched Zachary for a few hours while Mommy and Daddy attempted (albeit unsuccessfully) to accomplish a few errands.  He had a fantastic time listening to the books they read to him, and seemed to be very pleasant for most of their stay.  

The rest of the week has been spent getting Zachary into a slightly different routine.  We've eliminated one of his evening cluster feeds, and have been putting him to sleep during naps without swaddles.  So far, so good.  We hope you all have a wonderful Holy Week, and enjoy the pictures of our little chunker.  Love - Brian + Kimmie

In the Home Stretch

Zachary's appointment went very well yesterday.  Dr. Miller said that his feet looked very good and the overall results were better than expected, especially with his left foot, which had been lagging a bit behind.  We were able to give Zach a real bath once his old casts were taken off, and after Dr. Miller evaluated and reset his feet, it was time for his new (and final) set of casts.  He will have this last set on for two weeks before he makes his final move to a shiny new set of white leather shoes!  For eleven weeks Zachary has been in casts and working on straightening his feet, all the while being the ideal patient and never really fussing or crying during all of his appointments.  Yesterday was a bit of a different story.  We're not sure if it was the fact that Zachary had not gotten his morning nap, or if he was reacting to the 2 year old girl who had a nuclear meltdown and was running the halls screaming, but he was not real happy to be at Children's for the first hour.  By the time they put on his new casts he was pretty well exhausted and slept through the whole process.  

We are all excited that Zach has entered this last step (no pun intended) of his journey to healthy feet.  We continue our prayers for Zachary's success, and are extremely thankful that the Lord has blessed us and answered so many of our prayers to this point.  Enjoy the pictures, and the Easter Bunny!   Love to You All - Brian + Kimmie 

Finding His Voice

Zachary is doing wonderfully, and adjusting to the changes in his life quite well.   After several days of cathetering and only getting very small amounts, we decided to call the urologist and see if there were any new steps to take.  After some discussion with the nurses, it was decided that we could reduce the catheters to twice a day, rather than four!  We are very excited and continue to pray for a complete stop to the process, and Zachary's continued healing. 

We have been enjoying our time spent with the little guy for the past several days, especially his new found love of baby talk, and all the smiles that go along with it.  He is quite the story teller, and if given the opportunity, will tell some rather lengthy tales!!  The video above is of one of his many recent episodes, we hope you enjoy the story!!

Not all has been rosy around the Zurliene house.  Zachary decided the Saturday night and EARLY Sunday morning were not good times for sleeping or eating.  After four hours of screaming, grunting, and overall displeasure he collapsed from exhaustion and slept for a few hours, as did Mommy and Daddy.  Not sure what caused the minor meltdown, but thankfully, he returned to normalcy on Sunday, and has been his old self for over 24 hours!

Tomorrow is Zachary's appointment with the orthopedic surgeon to have his casts removed, and a follow up exam after his surgery.  We're anxious to hear about the progress he has made to this point, and to see how straight his feet are becoming!  They will put another set of casts on, and hopefully in two more weeks,  he will be all through with casts!

Thank You All for the continued Love and Prayers, and we will update Zach's progress soon.  With Love - Brian + Kimmie

Moving Forward, Looking Back

Zachary's urodynamics test went very well yesterday.  Dr. Wilson (the urologist) said that all the results from the test were very positive.  Zachary's bladder is smooth and good size (many children with spina bifida have bladders that are rigid and small).  They were able to fill it with 60ml of fluid which is very full for a child his age.  Then they observed him relieving the fluid and were pleased with his steady stream (sorry for the graphic details, but it's all for the better).  After the test we consulted with the doctor and discussed Zach's future.  Dr. Wilson said he had a "sneaking suspicion" that Zach could develop some difficulties further down the road, and so after some talk and soul searching, Mommy and Daddy decided that we should begin catheterizing Zach.  The doctor feels this is for the better because it begins the process early in his development, so when he gets older he is very much accustomed to the process and it will make things much easier.  

This morning Mommy began the first catheter, and got a very small amount of fluid out (a very good sign).  The rest of the day was more of the same, with very small amounts each time.  If this continues for several days the doctor told us to call and consult him, because he may want to discontinue the catheterization.  That would be an ideal situation,  one we are praying especially hard for.  

We hope you all enjoy the short video, and some pictures from yesterday's trip to Children's hospital.  Please continue to pray for Zach's healing and an ending to his catheterization. God Bless - Brian + Kimmie

 

Happy and Healing

 Zachary has been doing very well the past few days, and seems to have handled the whole surgery and recovery wonderfully.  We all had a very peaceful weekend, enjoying the nice weather before the storms moved in today.  Saturday, Mommy took Zach out to dinner with Nicole and they had a nice night together.  Yesterday was a fun day with Adam, Ashley, Autumn, and Alex coming by and joining us for some lunch in old town Erie.  They had not seen Zachary since he was in the NICU, and it was fun spending some time together, and watching Mommy get "burned"" by the green chile!  

Tomorrow, Zachary has his urodynamics test in the afternoon.  We should get a lot of answers as to his future with his bladder and bowels.  We're praying for wonderful results, and Zachary's continued healing on this journey.  Love to You All - Brian + Kimmie

Success!