Welcome, Addison Thach!!

Congratulations, Christy and Nic on the birth of your beautiful daughter!! Addison was born late last night and Mom, Dad and baby are all doing great :) I met Addison this afternoon and was able to capture a couple of pics:


Bright-eyed :)

Taking it all in!!

We are so happy for you and your healthy baby girl!!

Happy Birthday Nathan...well, sort of

Today, April 28th, 2009 was Nathan's original due date and we were initially looking so forward to the end of this month to meet our second son. We cannot believe he's been here for 11 weeks already. Nathan is 40 weeks gestation today!! We sure have been busy these past 11 weeks, but really we have to consider Nathan a newborn from today forward. This means he is basically three months behind his peers. With the fight Nathan has put up thus far, we have no doubts he will make up this ground in no time!!


Resting in Daddy's arms.


Sucking away on his pacifier :)

Andrew also made a statement tonight walking for us like he's been doing it forever. He's been taking several steps here and there, but never really wanted to let go of anything to walk solo. Parents as Teachers was here tonight along with an Occupational Therapist to take a look at Andrew and he sure showed them what he can do!! Steve and I really thought everything was fine, but it's definitely nice to hear it from the therapist. Andrew has been such a trooper through this chaotic time and know it's taking a toll on him too.

Our boys sure are keeping our minds racing lately, but Andrew and Nathan are the love of our lives and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Our Boys

Here are a couple recent pics of our boys over the last week or so. We had a good week and weekend enjoying the nice weather and relaxing just a bit.


Nathan sound asleep in Daddy's arms - typical Vehige "bus face."


Nathan saying his prayers.


Andrew hanging out in his pj's.


Andrew supervising Daddy as he blows off the deck.

So proud!!

I don't know what he's up to in this picture, but the look on Andrew's face is just precious!!

Andrew reading all of his books.

Nathan will undergo another MRI tomorrow to see how his ventricles look and make sure there are no other developments. We are still concentrating on his bottle feedings and he is now only on the nasal cannula during his feedings as a precaution. We hope for another good week!!

What a Week

WOW...we can't believe we are already at the start of another week. This past week has been quite hectic and every time we turn around, it seems as though something else has happened.

We started this week by welcoming our newest nephew, Henry Peter to the world!! Henry was born first thing Monday morning and he, Mom and the rest of the Spalitto family are doing great. Congratulations Susan, Pete, Olivia and Anna on the birth of your healthy son/little brother!!

Also on Monday, Nathan had a head ultrasound and EEG as a follow-up to his surgery. We received the initial results Monday night regarding the ultrasound revealing more potential concerns than before. We couldn't get any concrete information until talking with the doctors Tuesday. Nathan underwent a MRI Tuesday for further results that showed a cyst and an enlarged fourth ventricle. The cyst is a new development and it is not clear whether the fourth ventricle has been enlarged this whole while and we are just now seeing it since the shunt has decreased the other two ventricles, thus revealing the fourth ventricle or if it has grown in size recently. Nevertheless, EVERYONE is keeping an extremely close eye on Nathan. We are watching and responding to Nathan day by day to see what is yet to come.

Nathan is doing better with his feedings post surgery and continues to gain weight. Our little one now weighs 7 lbs 1.5 oz!! His breathing is also improving with his nasal cannula at the absolute lowest setting possible. It will be great once there is one less tubing/wire coming from Nathan!!

Andrew has been such a good little boy throughout this constant state of change and unexpected circumstances. Unfortunately, he is now under the weather too, with a high fever and ear infection. He woke up in the wee hours Friday with a temp and we have been battling it off and on all weekend long. We are told it's viral and can last from anywhere from 3 - 5 days. We hope Andrew will be back to himself within a day or two!!

While our boys continue to keep us more than busy, we've had some hindrances that keep us from slowing down any. Just to list a few - our basement flooded so we had to rip up the majority of our carpet and cut out some of our drywall, a tree fell down in our backyard and Steve's cell phone shot craps. These are all minor nuisances in the grand scheme of things, but just adds to the list of everything that needs our time and attention.

Steve and I somehow are still holding strong, but ask that you continue to keep all of us in your prayers. We are looking forward to a much less eventful week.

Happy Easter!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We started out early this morning and didn't stop until late this evening. Andrew had fun with all of the festivities throughout the day and Nathan had a quiet and relaxing day at the hospital for his first Easter.


Andrew wrestling with his GIANT stuffed rabbit.

Quick pic with one of our boys :)

Showing Daddy the findings from his Easter egg hunt.

Nathan down for an afternoon nap.

Two Months Old!!

We can hardly believe Nathan is two months old today!! It has been the most incredible two months of our lives, but we have made it through and most importantly, Nathan is growing and taking all the right steps forward.

Nathan is feeding from a bottle like a champ and averaging about 3 out of every 4 feedings from a bottle rather than the feeding tube. He has also come down one more setting from his nasal canula :) Our little guy is now up to 6 lbs 7 oz - just one ounce shy from doubling his birth weight!! Check out those cheeks -

Sleeping away.

Snug as a bug.

Daydreaming :)

Back at St. John's

Nathan was discharged from Children's Hospital this morning and made it back to St. John's safe and sound :) We were once again welcomed with open arms and everyone was glad to see Nathan back from a successful surgery. We are happy to be back knowing we are just this much closer now to actually coming home. So far Nathan is healing well from his surgery and his shunt is working properly. Nathan has to continue to gain his endurance with bottle feedings and come off the slight bit of breathing support before discussing details about his discharge from the hospital. We can't wait for that day, but know we still have a bit to overcome. We appreciate all of the well wishes!!

Second Surgery Down

Nathan made another trip to Children's hospital just fine yesterday and underwent a successful surgery this morning. Everything went as expected and now we are just waiting for our little trooper to come out from under the anesthetics. Nathan is resting sound asleep and hopefully gaining his strength to continue his road to recovery tomorrow. We were able to see a couple of winks this evening and can't wait to see his big blue eyes in the morning. Please continue to keep the prayers going for our family!!

VP Shunt Surgery

Nathan will be transferred to Children's Hospital tomorrow and undergo surgery Monday to remove his reservoir and replace it with a permanent Ventriculo-Peritoneal (VP) shunt. This is the next step to manage the fluid on his brain without external taps three times a week. The shunt will automatically drain the fluid for Nathan and keep his ventricles from swelling. We hope to be back at St. John's within a couple of days so we can keep progressing with Nathan's feedings and ultimately be able to bring our son home. Please say a few extra prayers over the next several days for a safe and successful surgery and quick recovery.