Hi, my name is David Joseph Chiappetta and I was born on July 27, 2007. I was born with something called holoprosencephaly and it means that my brain was not divided and I don't really have much of a brain. I do have a brain stem which controls my heart and lungs so that's good. My hypothalamus doesn't work either though so I can get either really hot or really cold very easily and quickly. Mom and Dad have to be my thermometer for me though which keeps them pretty busy at times. I also have a feeding tube in my stomach so I can eat since I can't swallow and I have a trache so I can breathe since I only have one nostril and it's blocked. Mom and dad have to suction me out too since I get mucuous buildup and have acid reflux. Sometimes I can keep them busy with that too. I also have Diabetes Insipidus which is a water issue and so I have to be given a certain amount of water with my medicines. If my sodium level is too high then that will cause me to have more seizures as well as if my temperature gets too high. I already have a seizure condition because of my lack of brain so some things can make it more complicated like high temperature and high sodium. See, my normal temperature range is 94 degrees to 97 degrees. Anything above that can cause me to have more seizures. See, I told you I keep my parents busy. :-) The doctors said though that I may not make it to birth and if I did I would only live a month or so. They also said that I will not be able to talk or walk or crawl or any of those normal baby things. Well, I'm here to tell you that I am4 years old now and I am learning to pick my head up when on my tummy! I'm also learning to put some weight on my legs and I laugh and smile. Cool huh? I just wanted to add that although you see mom and dad in the description above...it has just been mommy and me for a while now since daddy passed away in January of 2010.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

November 4, 2008

Hi Everybody. Sorry it has been a while since I have written last but things have been busy around here again. Mommy had to have 7 teeth taken out last Thursday and boy was that a trip and a half. I saw her right before she went under and I was laughing at her. I know, that's not a very nice son but it was my way of wishing her luck and that I hoped she did ok. Boy, it was fun on the way home too 'cause grandma had me to deal with as well as trying to keep mommy awake but mommy doesn't remember half of the trip home. Daddy had to stay home on Friday in order to take care of me because mommy couldn't. We made it through though but I sure did miss mommy and I could tell she didn't feel well. She is doing better now and a lot of the swelling has gone down but you can tell she is still uncomfortable but is doing a good job at still taking care of me. And today Aunt Roofie had off so we ran some errands this morning and then came back to bake some cakes. In the meantime I had thrown up in the truck and then as soon as Aunt Roof sat me down in the house i threw up again and so I had to get all cleaned up and a bath before mommy and Aunt Roof could even bake a cake. And then to top it all off...while suctioning me out from time to time and trying to bake a cake they had a run in with a mouse. You should have seen the two of them. They finally trapped it and threw a bowl over top of it and then gingerly slid the mouse with the bowl on top of him to the steps that go up into the kitchen and mommy had a bowl full of water so that Aunt Roof could slide the mouse over to the step and then plop in the water. This was grandma's idea. Well, success...they did it and put the lid on the bowl and set it outside until the mouse had drowned. Way to go mommy and Aunt Roof. And then to top it off when Aunt Roof left and daddy had gotten in the shower this evening low and behold mommy go another mouse on a glue trap and so she had to put that one in a grocery bag and tie it up and throw it in the garbage can. And now we hear another one running around in the kitchen so hopefully we will get that one too soon! See, I told you it has been fun and crazy and busy around here lately. Hopefully soon I will have some new pictures for all to see. Take care everyone.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like this would make a good comedy show! Way to go Aunt Roof and David!

Anonymous said...

It sit here smiling picturing Mommy and Aunt Roof going after that mouse :-). I bet you would have loved having it to play with :-)

Give Mommy and Daddy a big hug from Auntie Foo

Love and Kisses