"Looks Good For Now"

Luke saw his Orthopedist on September 29th. We played the waiting game. (Though, if I remember correctly, we didn't have to wait as long as usual.)

He got a new pair of shoes- 3 sizes bigger than his first pair! Good news- He only has to wear his shoes during nap time. So you won't see pictures like this anymore :0)

GREAT news- When we asked about the probability of him needing surgery to lengthen his heel cord, the doctor said he looks good for now!!! He doesn't think he will need it & wants to see what happens after he starts putting pressure on it when standing. We go back at the end of March....

Medical Updates

We had GREAT news during the month of June. We praise God for His mercy and healing in Luke's life!


We visited the shoe fitter after Luke had been wearing the shoes for 2 weeks. He said "I've never seen anyone look this good".... in regards to his heel staying down, they weren't coming off, and he was so happy. Daddy is stretching his foot to help his heel cord lengthen.

We take his shoes off about an hour every day. He does enjoy "free feet time".

These next 2 pictures were taken while we were waiting to see his orthopedic doctor. I cannot tell you how glad I am that we no longer have weekly appointments with him! There was only 1 time that we didn't have to wait more than an hour before we were seen. This day we waited about 3 hours, the doctor came in said he looked great, we hurriedly asked our questions, and he was gone. Needless to say, we were VERY glad to hear that surgery is still not needed at this point. Just wish the "best orthopedic doctor in TN" wasn't so busy!

June 15th was a HUGE day in Luke's life!!! This was when he had his follow up appointments with the genetic and ENT doctors.

They had sent blood samples to several places (Mayo Clinic, Baylor University, etc.) for genetic testing. We were supposed to be contacted before our appointment if any of the tests came back with a positive result. However, some of the tests would take longer to run than others and we didn't know for sure when they would have all of the results back, or if they might have decided to wait until our appointment to give us all of the results. We were very nervous about this visit! One of the genetic counselors came in first to get family history, etc. During the middle of this she asked if we knew why we were here today....we said to find out the results of the blood work taken while he had been in the hospital. She looked at us and said that all the tests had come back negative. We felt a HUGE load lifted! Out of the hundreds of genetic disorders they tested for, Luke does not have any of them. PRAISE GOD! They want to follow up with him when he's a year old to see how he is doing developmentally.

His ENT follow up was much easier than we thought it would be since they did not have to do another scope of his throat. The doctor said again that he should out grow his laryngomalacia (floppy voice box) by about a year old and that everything else looked okay. He will see him again in 6 weeks.

We think this bib was perfect for his doctor visits that day. (Genesis1:31) Regardless of the outcome of our visits, Luke was made perfectly by God and what He has made is very good!

The ENT doctor is very tall. Daddy got to take a ride in a fun chair so they would be high enough for the examination.

Next was another swallow study. He had one done while he was in the hospital at the end of April and the results showed he did not aspirate when using the Haberman bottle, but did with a normal flow nipple. This time the results showed that he had trace amounts of aspiration with just the milk from the Haberman bottle. When the milk was thickened with rice cereal, he did not aspirate. He seems to like this mixture much better! It is easier for him to control since the milk isn't running to the back of his throat so quickly.

To end the month, I took him to his pediatrician because he had a strong cough. He had been coughing for quite some time, probably due to aspirating, but it had gotten worse. He got his first taste of bubble gum medicine. I wonder how many times he will have this during the next few years?

Happy 3 Month Birthday

Luke turned 3 months old on May 27th. We are amazed at the changes that have taken place in the last month! For starters he has gained about 2 1/2 pounds! By the middle of the month he was finishing 1 bottle a day, ALL BY HIMSELF. He finished 2 in a day, a couple of times, at the end of the month. My favorite thing to see is his smile, and he shows it to us all the time :) Below are some pictures from 2-3 months old that I haven't already posted before.

This was shortly after coming home from the hospital. Notice the difference of his size in this picture and the ones at the end of this post.
He is enjoying bath time, and is getting baths more frequently now that his casts are off. This towel was given to him as part of his newborn going home souvenirs from Vandy.

The fact that he LOVES his "jungle gym" is an understatement! He is so happy when he's playing with the toys and looking at the lights. If we hear him crying while he's on his play mat, he has probably spit up or is tired.

He spent several times outside in his sun dome while I planted flowers. It's so nice to have trees that provide shade. However, one day Jasie was sniffing around and discovered such a wonderful smell under this tree that she needed to "bathe" herself in it. Once I discovered that she REEKED of a dead animal, I called Matt to say that she would need a bath OUTSIDE. I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the first, and hopefully last, time that she got a bath in the driveway.

During this month we stopped swaddling him. He would usually get his arms free anyway. He wasn't crying if he fell asleep without being swaddled so we guess he has adjusted to living outside of the womb :)

This was his last newborn diaper. He is now wearing size 1. So GOOD, but so sad- he's growing up!

Luke was invited to his first birthday party. It was for cousin Elijah who turned two. Aunt Lydia made a very fun dirt cake. Elijah loves being outside, playing with his wheelbarrow, and collecting sticks. Luke and cousin Haven let Elijah open all the presents himself this year, but next year it may be a different story :)

This month we started having family time before bed each night. It is one of our favorite times of the day! Jasie sits in my lap on the floor. "I Love You This Much" is our favorite book right now.

Luke went to get his shoes the day he turned 3 months old. He went 10 days without his casts on. You can see in the second picture how his feet had already started to turn back in some. We would stretch them several times a day, but he needs something to hold them in place. The doctors have all said that the shoes are the hardest adjustment for children because you have to tighten them so much and they don't allow the legs to be as independent as the casts do. (Since I'm 2 weeks late in posting this update, I can tell you that Luke doesn't really mind his shoes at all. He only cries sometimes when you put them on, and that is for just a couple of minutes. He moves his legs around all the time and is such a HAPPY baby!! When we saw the shoe fitter this week he said that he's never seen a child do so well :) We prayed that Luke would not mind the shoes and praise God that He answered that prayer!!)

No other prints like these

Last Monday we had a jammed packed day!

Step 1: We were going to the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday to see if Luke would need surgery on his feet. (At this point he doesn't- hallelujah!! He will start wearing special shoes that hopefully will complete the corrections that are needed.) To get ready for the doctor, I took his casts off and gave him a bath.

Step 2: I took a shower.....not something that always happens! :)

Step 3: It was possible that surgery was going to happen later that week so I really wanted to get his 3 month pictures done on this Monday so that we could get the cute little feet pictures. Thankfully we were able to! I had to iron about 7 outfits for him- you know, in case he spit up, etc. :) Oh and those sweet little toenails, that stayed pretty much hidden by his casts, were in desperate need of filing!

Step 4: We went to the Factory in Franklin for pictures...more to come about them.

Step 5: We have to change his feeding tube every 2 weeks. It was time, so we fed him right before pictures, took out the tube, and replaced it afterwards.

Step 6: As if the day hadn't been exciting enough, Luke completed his first art project when we got home. He was so patient as I held him and daddy dipped each hand and foot in paint. He really does have 5 toes on his left foot- don't know what happened there...



Since he hasn't had casts on, we've had fun putting cute socks on his feet!

On Thursday, we took Luke to the Vanderbilt University Children's Hospital to begin the treatment of his feet. He will have to wear casts on his feet for several months. After his foot is corrected, then he will have his achilles' tendon stretched so that his little feet can be bent upwards. His first little casts are pictured below.

Luke's Feet

As some of you might know, Luke was diagnosed with two club feet in utero. This was confirmed upon his birth. Below is a picture of both of his feet. The doctors have actually said that having both feet clubbed is better than just one. God created Luke in His image and we praise Him for that!