May 27th - Colton’s procedure is tomorrow

kylielehr
May 27
2 min read

Tomorrow is a big day for our sweet Colton. At 9:30 AM, he will be getting his trach.

A trach, short for tracheostomy, is a small tube placed in the neck that helps support breathing. For Colton, this is the next step in helping him grow stronger and hopefully become more comfortable long term. While hearing that your baby needs a trach is overwhelming, we truly believe this is the right decision for him.

Right now, doctors expect Colton will likely have his trach for at least 2–5 years, but the truth is nobody knows exactly how long he will need it. Every child’s journey is different. What we do know is that doing this sooner gives him the best chance to focus on all the important things babies should be doing… growing, learning, playing, communicating, and developing the skills he has been missing while needing so much respiratory support.

Our biggest hope is that this helps him get off the ventilator sooner than later, or at the very least allows him to need less support over time. We know this won’t magically make everything easy overnight, but we are hopeful this gives him a better quality of life and more opportunities to just be a baby.

Tomorrow will be hard. It’s scary. It’s emotional. But we also have big hopes for our little guy and believe this is one more step forward in his journey. Also we get to finally see his little face…. A small thing that many people take for granted, but something we have missed out on. It’s been 4 months and we have never seen our babies faces.

And of course, can’t forget about Mr. Declan, he is doing great. He’s letting his brother have the spotlight this week, but he continues to impress us every day. Tomorrow we’re potentially going to try starting some feeds again and hopefully let him eat. One more huge milestone we’re praying goes well.

Today is 4 months. See Photoshoot photos below 🥰🥰

One brave boy getting a new path to breathe easier.

One brave boy working toward eating.

And two boys who continue to amaze us every single day.

We love you boys, happy 4 months