Grandma Visits...Take Two

Hello everyone. Jack is still doing very well, he has put us on a schedule and is very vocal about keeping us on it. He wants his food and he isn't shy about telling everyone. Grandma Christi flew out from Oklahoma today. It was her first time seeing him in person since his first few days in the NICU. So even though she thinks he is still small, he has at least doubled in size. It's good to have her out here. Especially nice with the extra help since we're still figuring this baby thing out.

Tomorrow Jack has his first appointment with his pediatrician. He is going to be bombarded with questions (at least from me he will). Hopefully there will be some suggestions on his constipation. We'll see how things go.

Having Fun

It sure is good to have our little guy home. We have been enjoying every minute. The Passalaqua Grandparents left today, they had a great time hanging out and helping us adjust. He also got a visit from Aunt DeAnna, Uncle John and John's mom Rhonda. They went out to Kaiser to pick up their trailer (THANKS!) and tow it home. Tomorrow Jack will be getting a visit from Grandma Christi who is flying out tomorrow afternoon from Oklahoma. Mary thinks that she just may hold Jack the entire time she is visiting... we're good with that.

Home Sweet Home

So today was the big day. Jack is finally home!!! He was episode free for 7 days (he got sent home with an apnea monitor anyhow, which helps us relax). We went in picked up his meds (vitamins & iron) that he gets once a day then hit the NICU to sign the papers and take our baby home. We are so excited to have him in his own house/room/crib/swing, etc. Sierra (our Lab)gave him a few good sniffs and I guess decided he was good to go she's just chilling & watching him. Sassy (Der wiener dog) just wants to lick hi face and is whining trying to get into the swing with him. He has had some food and is happily resting in the swing now, he seems to love it. I'll try to get a few more pics through the day since this is such a big day.

We really want to thank all the doctor, nurses, therapist, counsellors and staff at Kaiser Roseville. We owe our baby's life to you folks. Thanks for being patient, answering our questions (I'm sure most have been answered numerous times) and putting up with us stressed out parents. You made what was an unthinkable situation manageable, and got our son home to us. I hope at least one person that works at Kaiser Roseville will read this blog and forward our everlasting appreciation for the work you folks do day in and day out. It takes a special kind of person to do the work you do....Thanks.

Also thanks to all our friends and family that have been following Jack's Journey. It really gave us a place to release stress and keep everyone in the loop. Thanks for all your good thought and well wishes. Don't worry this is not goodbye from Internet world, is more like a new chapter. I'll still be updating this blog so stay tuned for news and pics from the World of Jack.

At home in the swing....he appears to be content.

Jack and the Swing

We had a great day today (well aside from being very tired). Jack is doing well, no apnea episodes and everyone has told us we're bringing Jack home tomorrow. He had his discharge hearing exam and passed with flying colors. At his feeding time around 12pm he decided he wanted to stay up a little while, so we put him in a swing. Not his swing, the one he has at home is a little fancier. Oh boy did he love that swing. You could see his eyes getting heavier by the second. So, we're at home trying to get things finalized for Jack being home. We are going back out to Kaiser tomorrow morning and will start the discharge process. It's been a long road. Oh yeah, sorry about only one photo and the poor quality. Somebody (me) left the memory card in the computer reader...you're welcome!

It'a Slumber Party

Tonight we get to sleep over in the hospital parents room with Jack. He is hooked up to the apnea monitor that he is going home with, otherwise it's like a test drive. Hopefully all will go well overnight and we'll be that much more ready to have him home. We both figure that we will be a little sleep deprived but a lot more prepared. He is still episode free (knocking on wood as I type). He also gained some more weight and broke the 7 lb mark (now 7 lbs 0.2 oz yes the 0.2 counts). So we'll see how things progress. It's 7:49pm right now and we have him in the room. Mary is feeding him and he seems content. Depending on how I feel I may update through the night and give you all a status of our sanity... I know we haven't even had him by ourselves for an hour yet.

11:30pm--- Jack is awake for his first feeding of the night. He has been grunting and talking a lot with some gas pains. So far everything is going well, now hopefully for some sleep.

4:00am--- Well, all is still going well. Jack woke us up around 1:30, he was pretty hungry. I guess he didn't get as much milk from Mary as we thought he did. Now it's about 4:25 and he is hungry again.

8:00am--- Time for Jack to eat again. Wow we made it through the night. No episodes, we didn't end up rocking back and forth in a corner and Jack seems to be no worse for the experience. Mary and I are a little sleep deprived, but glad we got to spend the night with our son. We can't wait to get him home!

Scarface

So Jack decided he was tired of all the nurses saying how cute he was. He said, "I'll show you!!". Now he has a wonderful scratch right across his nose (Say hello to my little friend). We immediately cut his finger nails when we saw the damage he could inflict on himself. When he gets gas pains he grabs at his face, and I think that's when he scratched himself. Other that Jack is doing well. No episodes and he's still gaining the weight, now up to 6 lbs 14 oz. Tomorrow night we are rooming in the hospital. They turn us loose to take care of Jack by ourselves. Of course the nurses are right outside our room should we have questions. We are resting up tonight because when sense a little sleep deprivation coming tomorrow. Between worrying about Jack and him grunting with his gas it will be interesting (we're a little nervous too).

The plan that I've heard is that they are going to train us on the apnea monitor. Have us do a sleep in night and then Jack will go back to his nursery pod for one more night. If things all work out he could be coming home on Thursday. We will keep knocking on the wood and keep our fingers crossed that our little guy will be home this week.

Happy Valentine's Day

Jack just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. He gained another ounce yesterday and is at 6 lbs 13 oz (I guess growing is what babies do). He did his carseat challenge today also. Basically they just test to see if he tolerates sitting in it without problems for 1 hour. He passed with flying colors, the nurse said he just fell asleep in it. We got a telephone call from the patient coordinator and found out that his apnea monitor will be in tomorrow. They will give us all the training to operate it tomorrow, then we will do a in-hospital stay with Jack overnight on Tuesday. It just us & Jack in a room with all the necessities and no monitors (except the apnea monitor). Obviously if there is a problem (which there will not be) the nurses will come in to assist. Then we are hoping for a release later this week, around Thursday or Friday.

Jack is still episode free since last Thursday morning and he is eating like a champ. We've been told that Jack is the most popular baby in the NICU right now. We won't tell him though, cause it might go to his head. I also included a video of his latest bath time. I meant to do it on Friday, but forgot, and the connection out in the trailer is too slow to upload anything that big. For those that can watch it...enjoy.

Chug Chug Chugging Along

Jack is still doing very well. Hasn't had an episode since his minor one last week. He gained some weight overnight. He has officially surpassed Mary's birthweight. He's now up to 6 lbs 12 oz. Jack still has a little ways to go to catch me, but he also has about 3 weeks before his predicted due date. He is also eating alot more now, and he's getting very good at breastfeeding. We are very proud of all the progress he is making. Every once in a while a nurse comes in who hasn't seen him in a few weeks and they are amazed at how big he has gotten.

At the evening care time a group called the "binky patrol" came by a gave us a homemade blanket. They go around and donate handmade washable blankets to families/babies that have serious illness or prolonged hospital stay. I put a link to there site on the side if anyone wants to check them out. Anyhow, Mary and I would both like to say thanks to them, Jack will surely love his new blanket. Jack also had a visit from Mary's friend Olivia (she's the person that's not us standing over him in the pictures).

Oh So Close

Just 18 hours from making it to the one week mark Jack had another apnea/bradycardia episode. We were getting ready to leave for the hospital when the doctor called us. It really took the wind out of our sails. We were getting used to the idea of having him home soon, and really happy he had an end in sight. Well, he will be in the NICU for at least another week. When he goes home they'll send him home with an apnea monitor. They aren't sure what could be causing him to have these episodes, hopefully he will just outgrow them, and soon. Other than that 1 episode he did fine. He is eating all his food and is now 6 lbs 8.6 oz. He is getting so big. Especially when compared to his first pictures. So, the timer starts over again, we fully expect him to make it the full week. We've had a talk with him. We are very glad it happened at the hospital and not at home, we probably would have panicked.

36 Weeks Old

Jack is still doing well, still episode free. Tomorrow we can talk to the doctor again, hopefully he will have some good news for us. We think that Jack might get his developmental discharge eval. He may also become a Kaiser star, the therapist wants to video him getting his bath, for instructional classes. We'll see what happens. He gained some weight also, now up to 6 lbs 6.5 oz (hard to believe he has tripled in size since being born at 2 lbs 1 oz). We are very excited that he is doing so well, but a little nervous about him coming home where we don't have nurses there to field our questions or check on him. We probably won't sleep for the first few nights (I have to get back to graveyard hours sometime). All that Jack needs now is to make it episode free for 2 more days, pass his car seat challenge (which should happen on Friday), and have his hearing test. Oh, that and we have to fill out all kinds of crazy discharge paper work, and double/triple/quadruple check that his room is ready.

Getting Closer

Hello, sorry for another late post, and lack of photos today. Jack is still doing well. He is episode free since last Friday. Still keeping our fingers crossed that he has outgrown that part of his stay at Kaiser. He tipped the scales today at 6 lbs 5 oz (well 4.9 oz, but we round up). He had another eye exam, which he passed with flying colors (no not the which line can you read on the chart type). He won't need to have his eyes checked for another year.

The doctor came in and checked out Jack, but we found out we are on the no talking list until Thursday. Not really a serious thing, it's all because that is when Jack will be re-assessed for going home, and the doctor jokingly put us on the silent treatment. Jack also played musical rooms today. He got switched twice, it more of a good sign because they tend to move the more stable babies. It also seems that all the nurses know who Jack is, he is very social for having no social skills.

Full Steam Ahead

Jack is still doing well. 3 days and counting since his last episode, we're hoping it just keeps on going. Today, they coaxed another poo out of him. He is still all blocked up, possibly due to all that iron (he gets extra in some formula and a special side dish of it as well). He did put on a little weight yesterday. Now up to 6 lbs 4 oz, Grandpa Dennis says he's an Italian eater. The nurse talked to the doctor today and they came up with a plan to re-evaluate his situation on Thursday to see how close he is to making it home. They moved him back into his big boy crib, he was in an infant warmer, because if he had an episode it was easier to work on him. They also took off the oxygen saturation monitor. So, everyone keep their fingers crossed that Jack behaves and can make it home very soon.

Finally a Poo

Jack is still chugging along and so far episode free. Last night after we left Jack had a nice poo, 4 diapers worth. It must have been a relief after about a day and a half of constipation. He weighed in this morning at 6 lbs 1 oz, that's up about 1 ounce from yesterday. We were surprised he gained at all after the poo he had. He did have a little choking incident while he was eating (per the nurse it doesn't count as an episode of apnea/bradycardia). He just tried to take too big a gulp of milk and started coughing. The nurse helped me out and told me how to correct it, now we know what to do when or if he does that at home.

So for those keeping track at home, it's almost been 3 days without incident. We are keeping are fingers crossed while we knock on wood, that this trend continues and he can come home very soon.