Max Goes Home...

On Sunday we received great news, Max was ready to go home! Words that we had been waiting for for almost 14 days. After two days of being what Travis called "cordless", Max proved to all of us that he was ready to do it all on his own. Like we have said before he is a strong and determined little man. You all can imagine what a wonderful feeling it was to walk out of the hospital with little Max in hand, well in a car seat in hand.
Although we are home we are still not completely out of the woods (medically speaking), just outta the hospital. Max will continue to go through more testing over the next several months and will be monitored both here in the Fox Valley as well as at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. Hopefully the little guy likes to travel because we are in for a lot of road trips! As always, we will continue to keep everyone posted on his progress.
Travis and I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to all the Doctors, Specialists, and Nurses of Children's Hospital of Milwaukee that took care of Max as well as us. We will be forever grateful for the healing hands and caring hearts. They became family to us and we will never forget them. Here a couple of photos as we are getting ready to leave for home of some of the Doctors that took care of Max.


Mike Aberger and Max, Mike was a medical student that watched over Max every day. Travis and I are so grateful to Mike as he kept us updated everyday. He also interpreted the doctor-lingo for us which was so helpful. We wish him the best of luck on his future endeavours, we know he will be a wonderful doctor and his future patients will be lucky to have him!


Dr. Rachel Johnson, Mike and Max. Dr. Johnson was so thrilled to have Max go home! She kept a watchful eye on him while he stayed at the hospital and knew that little Max was ready to go home. To

Our Brave Little Max

Our brave little Max faced surgery Tuesday morning to remove the valve that has been causing blockage. The specialist felt that the surgery was a success and that 98% of the valve was removed. The little guy made it through recovery and slept most of day with the exception of eating a few times. We were told today that the catheter would remain in place for another 2-3 days. Lab tests came back revealing the levels in his kidneys are still not where they need to be for Max to function on his own. We are praying that the next couple of days we start to see more improvement from the kidneys. We were also told that we can expect to be here at Children's Hospital for another 4-5 days. Good news though, Max now weighs 6 pounds 9 ounces, he has gained 1 pound since we have been here. Each day brings new promises and the doctors continue to bring us hope.

Max teaches us every day how to be strong and brave as he continues to fight his battles. God has truly blessed us with a little miracle.

Today we were able to capture Max with his big beautiful eyes and we wanted to share our handsome little boy.

Again, thank you to all of you for your thoughts and prayers, we are so blessed!

Max's Fight...

After spending an evening home the Gust family received some bad news. News that we could have never been prepared for. After blood work and some tests that were performed Monday we found out that Max was sick. He had lost 16% of his body weight from birth (1 pound) and had low levels of fluids, especially within his kidneys. Max was diagnosed with Hydrofronosis, which affects the bladder, ureters and kidneys. We rushed Max to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Monday evening. Max spent his first night in intensive care. After endless pokes and to many cords to count we prepared for the fight of our lives. On Wednesday a test was performed and confirmed that Max had an extra valve between his bladder and urethra and was causing blockage and reflex of urine back into his bowel and kidneys. A procedure would need to be performed to remove the valve. As we write this blog, we are currently awaiting a larger catheter that is needed to perform the procedure as well as levels within his kidneys to lower.

We have been able to stay by Max's side throughout this painful and trying time. Max is one strong little boy, stronger than his mom and dad at times and is showing no signs of giving up. The good lord has given us the best place to go to with exceptional doctors and nurses, we know that Max is in good hands. We are not sure how long our stay will be here but we are willing to stay as long as we need to to get this little boy strong and healthy.

Thank you for all your love, prayers and support, it is what keeps us going each day. If you would like to get in touch with us you may do so by our cell phones or our direct room number is (414) 607-5224. We will continue to try to keep everyone updated through this blog.

The Early Arrival of Maxwell Alan Gust

Maxwell Alan Gust arrived a little earlier than we expected. Thursday, July 2nd Kelly was induced about 5pm. After almost 23 hours of labor we welcomed our 6 pound 13 ounce, 19 inches long little boy! Daddy did a wonderful job keeping everyone updated as mom delivered. The long wait was well worth it as were blessed with our precious Max. Here are some of the images from the big day to coming home. A special thank you to all our family and friends who came to visit, called or texted.

Getting ready to leave for the hospital...Jersey wanted to come too!

All that heartburn Mom while she was pregnant was he result of all that hair...check out those hands and the long fingers.

Proud Daddy


Going Home...

Jersey and Max meet for the first time...Jersey gave lots of kisses as she welcomed Max home!

Maternity Photo Shoot

We were fortunate to have one of Kelly's co-workers Tricia photograph some maternity images for us. Tricia came out to our home and had a chance to shoot in our four seasons room, which is where Kelly has been shooting. Its amazing when you have two photographers together, here are some of the creative shots that were done.

One of our many favorites!

Jersey even joined the fun

Of course we had to incorporate a sports shot, what a fun image!

Thanks again Tricia for your time and creativity. We will treasure these images forever!

Turba Weddings

Well, June was a month of Kelly's co-workers weddings. Congrats to Pedro and Susan as well as Roger and Shanna. They all had wonderful days and we were so lucky to be able to share with them their celebrations.