Chase's surgery...

Chase's reconnection surgery went well (11-8-07). His incision is still tender but the doctor did a great job. The incision will shrink up as time goes on. He will stay in the hospital until he can tolerate feedings and "poop" with ease. He is no longer in the NICU and has a spacious room all to his self. I go to the hospital after the other two boys are in bed to stay the night by my babies bedside and return before Jake leaves for school. It has been hard for Jake and I to not spend time together during this time, but I love being there in the middle of the night when Chase needs me. I also want to be sure to be the first one there when he "goes" in his diaper, I am actually driving myself crazy checking his diaper every 15 minutes! Once he does this, he'll be on the road to coming home...but I am trying to be patient.
We have been really blessed by those who have given up so much of their time to watch Tanner and Logan so that Jake and I can visit our baby boy together. We have been overwhelmed by the selfish service. Thank you so much.

Chase update

Chase is doing well and is now almost 2 months old. He is requiring a lot of maintenance, but I am really enjoying caring for him. There was supposed to be a home nurse coming every other day, but we've only seen her once! I kind of prefer to do it myself anyway.

He still has his ostomy bag which is simply a pain. The ostomy bag holds all of his waste. He "goes" out of his belly right now until his intestine is reconnected. We will both be glad when it is gone! He is on his TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition. A substance that is given intravenously and which supplies 99.9% of a person’s nutritional needs. This supplies nutrition until the he can begin to tolerate food by mouth) for 22 hours a day. I cherish the 2 hours that he is off, when he is "cordless". I can hold him more freely and take his out with out having to lug along his big TPN case. We don't know yet how much longer he will need to be on, but he is taking a little bit of milk by mouth every three hours. He is on a prescription formula and will need to remain on that until his first birthday.

He is scheduled for 2 more surgeries in the next few months.

These are his needed supplies...

I have to replace his dressing on his tube every other day, I change his ostomy bag about every 4 hours, feed him by mouth every 3 hours, give him his vitamins through his tube every 22 hours and take off TPN every 22 hours. I keep this info written down, otherwise I get it all mixed up!

Chase is home (for now)

While one of our routine visits to the hospital we were caught off guard when the nurses asked us if we wanted to take Chase home today! We were pleasantly surprised. I have been fighting and fighting with the doctors and nurses trying to convince them to release him. The only reason he was still needing to stay in the hospital was because of the TPN. When I found out that I was capable of doing those treatments at home, I felt there was no reason for him to remain in the hospital. The nurses told me they were shocked to hear me say that because most parents don't want to deal with home treatments so they prefer to keep there babies in the hospital until they are well. That breaks my heart.

Sean Young put up this banner in our apartment with some balloons to welcome our little guy home. Thanks, "Uncle" Sean, we love you.

Chase comes home soon!

Here are the pictures of Chase after the surgery on Friday to place the broviac tube through his chest (the broviac tube is a little like a feeding tube). He did really well and never even needed the pain meds. They took the picc line out of his head yesterday and has an awkward bald spot form where they shaved his head to put in the picc line. The poor kid has holes all over in his body…his head, chest and stomach. :) He comes home this week and we can’t wait! He will require a lot of maintenance, but at least we’ll have a family Christmas at home instead of in the hospital. He will need to be connected to the TPN machine for 20 hours a day (TPN is the “stuff” that goes through his broviac tube and gives him all his needed nutrients). He will have to go back to the hospital in January for 2 more surgeries and will then need to stay for about 2 additional weeks, but then (hopefully) we’ll be done with all this craziness! Thanks again for all you’ve done for us. We love you all and you’ll never know what your service and prayers mean to us.

William "Chase" Cragun

William Chase Cragun (Chase) was born, unexpectedly, on Nov. 5th. We had a scheduled c-section on the 16th, but he couldn’t wait. Chase was born with his intestine twisted which caused a blockage. He underwent surgery at only 3 days old and is currently in the NICU with a second surgery needed in January. The doctors said that it was a blessing that he came 3 weeks early; each day in the womb would have worsened his condition. It saddens us everyday to wake up to an empty bassinet, but we know that our Heavenly Father is keeping a close eye on our special boy.

Chase is improving everyday and that’s all we can ask for. There is still no word on his homecoming date, but we are hopeful for sooner rather than later. The nurses tell us that when he gets fussy, he prefers to just be held instead of another dose of pain meds. :)

Thanks again for all your visits, phone calls and most of all, your prayers. We will keep you updated with all the good news.

Jake, Celeste, Tanner, Logan and Chase Cragun


P.S. I know my husband has been e-mailing most of you with updates, so sorry if this old news! Here is what he sent earlier this week, in case you didn’t receive it.





Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for all your thoughts, prayers, babysitting, car rentals, bed rentals, dishwashing, patient calling, and just good-old fashion TLC.
Tanner, the oldest brother, finally met his new little brother tonight and he must of felt his presence as he woke right up for him. Tanner wanted to give him his UCLA teddy bear. Chase is still a little uncomfortable, but who wouldn't be with a hole in their tummy. I really appreciate all the love and support you've given our little growing family. I'm sure Chase will be fine, but he still has some recovery time and another surgery ahead.
Celeste gets out of the hospital tomorrow and is dying to hold her baby.

Anyhow, I'll keep you all posted on how things are going and again, maybe someday, somehow our family will be able to "Pay it Forward" as much as you all have helped us.

Chase-3 months

CHASE at 3 months old

William Chase Cragun (Chase) was born, unexpectedly, on Nov. 5th. We had a scheduled c-section on the 16th, but he couldn't wait. Chase was born with his intestine twisted which caused a blockage. He underwent surgery at only 3 days old and was in the NICU/hospital for almost 3 months. The doctors said that it was a blessing that he came 3 weeks early; each day in the womb would have worsened his condition. It saddened us everyday to wake up to an empty bassinet, but are forever grateful to our Heavenly Father for keeping a close eye on our special boy. We had a wonderful homecoming in January and are now savoring each moment. He is still undergoing treatments at home that are scheduled to be finished--if all goes well--by the summer. Sometimes when he is in a deep sleep his right eye will slightly open. We tease that he is just trying to survive the "love" that his older brothers constantly are giving him.

Tanner-4 years old

TANNER

at 4 YEARS

Tanner started pre-K this year and simply loves it. He thinks it's silly that he has a break from school on the weekends because "I need to get smart on Saturday and Sunday, too! " He is being just the perfect big brother and tolerates all Logan does to him. He absolutely loves his new baby brother and is now old enough that when he tries to "help" he is actually helping. He just finished his soccer season (and makes sure everyone that stops by sees his trophy), just started tee-ball and will start piano lessons soon.

Logan-2 years old

LOGAN

at 2 YEARS OLD

Logan definitely adds excitement to our house. He is constantly "performing" for anyone that will applaud! He is doing well with wearing his hearing aids and has gotten the hang of his sign language. He works with a speech therapist once a week and is starting to say a few words. He enjoys pushing Tanner's buttons and mimicking every detail of his big brother. He has adapted very well to having a new baby invade his territory! He still tries to make sure that all the attention stays on him. We tease that we'll give him all the attention he wants because right now he is the only one "bringing home the bacon" with the occasional modeling job!

Christmas 2006













Our trip to Seattle for Jake's 10 year H.S. Reunion-August 2006

Logan is very anxious to start golfing

with Daddy and Tanner

Tanner's first soccer game as a "Blue Whale"!

Logan has learned when Mommy is not happy with him and puts himself in "timeout"!

Halloween 2006

Our little Cop and his Jailbird!

Dad and Logan-June 2006