Update on sweet baby Cade

First of all, thank you so much to all of you who are praying so hard over our sweet, little boy. It's been a roller coaster ride of emotions these last two weeks, and it helps so much knowing that we have so many people supporting us. I sometimes feel funny about posting very personal things on here, as though people may read it and wonder why I would put such a private thing up for the world to see. In this case though, I feel like only good things can come from so many people praying for Cade, so the more people who know, the better.

We had an appt with a craniofacial/ plastic surgeon at Cincinnati Children's on Tuesday. He does not seem to think Cade's "problem" is related to the craniosynostosis. Only the front (metopic) sutures are closed, all others remain open, and yet his head is still not growing. Therefore, he thinks his "problem" could be neurological. I refer to the "problem" as such because the doctor kept indicating that Cade has a "problem"; however, nothing about him indicates any kind of developmental delay to us. He stated there was "obvious concern" mostly for three reasons: 1) Cade's height and weight continue to increase while his head circumference does not. If it was just a matter of him being small, he would expect to see his height and weight also below the chart. 2) Chris, Ella, and I have considerably large heads according to the growth scale, so he does not think it is just something inherited. 3) Cade was so much smaller than Ella at birth (only 5 lbs 7 oz compared to her 8 lbs 3 oz), which, once again, brings up questions such as IUGR. I guess IUGR and small head size are risk factors for other things. So because of all this, we are now being referred to a neurologist for evaluation.

There were two things we found positive about this visit. The first being that Cade doesn't appear to need major surgery, which is usually done if the child has major facial deformity or has multiple sutures closed. Cade has a small ridge in his forehead that the doctor thinks will smooth out over time. The second hopeful thing he said is that sometimes it takes a baby about six months before they "decide" what kind of brain growth pattern they are going to follow. He said that because Cade has not yet reached that six month mark, he may start to take off here in the next month or so, and everything could correct itself. Obviously, that is the hope we are clinging to. He seems absolutely perfect to us, and will remain that way no matter what. Thanks again for keeping us in your prayers. Please keep them coming!!