Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Newest additions to the Tripp Family: Pulse OX Monitor and O2, annd a Ping Pong Table!

Yep, we got the results back to Caed's sleep study and we are excited to say that we get to trade in his sleep apnea monitor for a Pulse Ox monitor and Oxygen at night! This is going to be quite the adventure! During the sleep study Caed would constantly pull off the cannula for the oxygen so I was up every 5 mins or so throughout the night placing it back in his nose. I am hoping and praying that they will grow to be best friends for however long he has to use it or else this is going to be a lonnnnnng however many months for the Tripp family ;-) But anyways, the results were that he was breathing too hard and too fast and his Dr. was worried that if this keeps up he could wear out his heart quickly overtime. So, Friday night begins the fun adventure! Appreciate prayers as we tackle this next addition to Caedmon's life.
So, glad that we get to say goodbye to this monitor though! Been with us since we brought the lil guy home. Many nights with it going off all because Caed squirmed around and messed up the leads. And then there was the warning of the neighbors of it's mega loud alarm(which of course NEVER woke Caed up) But, Oh well on to the next fun thing! ;-) 

Well, enough about crazy monitors and no sleep! We got a Ping Pong Table! A huge thank you to some friends of ours that donated to the Tripp family. We are so excited as we have been wanting one for a while but never really had the room. Now we have the room and the ping pong table! I see many fun get togethers in the future with friends, food, and some competitive ping pong! Thanks to our friends Luke and Sarah for helping get it to our Casa :-) Caed really enjoyed watching Luke and Josh play and would cry when they stopped. Was really funny! So it is great entertainment for the lil guy and I am sure it won't be long before he will be the one holding the paddle showing us how it is done. Looking forward to all the fun times that will be held around this table.

And here are a few pics from the rest of our lovely Wednesday. Caed was introduced to grass and surprisingly didn't eat it! He just ran his fingers through it in amazement. So, we soaked up some rays, as much as we could in the 10mins we spent outside(Caed has awful allergies) Then we came in and got a quick nap(me included!! That NEVER HAPPENS!) After that we made a chocolate chip banana loaf and have just been enjoying this beautiful day(from the inside ;-) 
*Photo Cred my iPhone* 





All in the day in the life of a Stay at Home Mom. I am blessed that I get to spend the whole day with this goober and soak in all these fun moments with my son 
(even if some days I want to just scream, pull my hair out, and run away for just a few moments to myself) 
Hope you are having a wonderful day yourself!





Tuesday, April 28, 2015

It's been a while but here we are....

Welcome back to the blog! I figured since of course I have ALLLLL this new time on my hands, with having a little one, that I would start back up my blog ;-) Haha. Yeah. Actually, the truth is I am reopening this blog to keep you up to date on Caed's life and our's, of course, as we tackle this new chapter called parenting and Achondroplasia and a second reason that I will mention later ;-)

As most of you know, Caedmon was diagnosed shortly after he was born with Achondroplasia(a form of dwarfism) for that story you can go to the link here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152687986536989.1073741847.651736988&type=1&l=f6f0564ca8

He definitely keeps us busy with Doctor's appointments, therapists, and his crazy busy self. He has quite the personality and is quite the momma's boy. He won't let me do much without him and I have to be within sight or else! It has been rather hard as most children around his age are sitting up and can play in all those fun jumperoos or activity seats and bumbos, Caed cannot due to his back. In Achondroplasia children and adults tend to have Kyphosis:
ky·pho·sis
kīˈfōsis/
noun
  1. excessive outward curvature of the spine, causing hunching of the back.



Which if not handled properly at his age could end up with some problems down the line. Hence why we have gone through 3 carseats and one stroller before we found one that properly supports his back, found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Snugride-Click-Connect-Seat/dp/B00LIRJ2NU/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1430239325&sr=1-1&keywords=graco+click+connect+40
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Jogger-Single-Stroller-Black/dp/B00G3XR7GS/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1430239440&sr=1-1&keywords=baby+jogger+city+mini

So most toys that sit a child upright cannot be used by Caed until he can work on those back muscles and be able to sit and stand himself. Makes life for mommy a little more difficult as this limits how much he can do and gets easily bored. We were encouraged to get two play mats to switch back and forth with and he also has a bouncy seat that works super great! Most things need to recline in order for him to have the right support. Luckily we were introduced to a group online to gain wisdom, encouragement, and all the info we need from parents with achondroplasia and ones with children with "Achon" which you will see me use that term a lot over time. I have been so blessed by this group to feel like I am not out here alone or crazy when tackling all these Doctors appts and such. It is a lot to take in and can get very draining. I just want to make sure Caed is well taken care of and that I am being proactive in learning about his diagnosis as some Drs. don't have a clue about how to treat him. We are also truly blessed to have an amazing pediatrician who is always studying up on Achondroplasia and is in constant contact with his geneticist to gain wisdom as this is all new to her as well. She truly cares for our son. Caed is right on target for where he needs to be right now at his age. We are still working on beefing him up, which he is eating so much better now and trying a lot of new things. Definitely an answer to prayer! We have truly seen God's hand in every area of Caed's and our life!

So, now on to why we have moved twice in a month's time! Due to Caed's respiratory issues we were desperately looking for a new apartment because the lady that moved into the bottom apartment smoked heavily resulting in OUR apartment smelling as though she was living there too. It wasn't too long after that, God provided us with a house SMOKE FREE! Then shortly after we moved in, we got news that the location and place we really wanted to be at had an opening and that it was ours if we wanted it. There were many many people who were involved in this process that we are truly grateful to! God provided in a miraculous way! We love our new place and can finally settle in for a little while until God moves us again.

Josh and I stay pretty busy these days, me as a stay at home mom and him as our hard working provider and a student at Liberty again pursuing God's will for his life in the ministry. We have our little routine down as far as the days go which makes life a lil more bearable and a lil boring sometimes but so is the life of adults and parents. Comes with then territory. It's hard work raising the next generation but it will be so worth it and God has great plans ahead!

Now for the second reason I have this blog on it's way back to life, PHOTOGRAPHY! I have really neglected my camera for some time now and I am getting a lil rusty. So, I decided I would start documenting our life a little bit more. So to kick it off, I have documented a little taste of a day in the life of Caed and I. We really have a blast together. ;-)

So here you go! Welcome to the Tripps! and I hope you enjoy this blog and follow along in our journey!