Jack Update

Hello all. Just dropping in to update everyone still interested in the little guy. He is getting bigger and bigger. Mary weighed him yesterday and he was 13 pounds 4 ounces. He sure does like to eat his food. He is all caught up on his vaccinations. I took him in to the injection clinic at Kaiser this week. He did not enjoy his shots, he cried and cried (just like his Dad). No adverse reactions to te vaccinations, and he is now completely free of his apnea monitor.

In the past week or so he has started smiling quite a bit. It's some fun to see his toothless smile. Mary and I can't wait to hear a little giggle come out of that mouth along with the smiles. He has also gotten a lot better at night sleeping. Usually he goes down for 5 to 6 hours between 8pm and 10pm, then eats and goes back down for another 4 hours. It's a lot better for our sanity when he sleeps. It means we can sleep too.

Jack has been on some good road trips the last 2 weekends. Last weekend he went to Lakeport to visit for Aunt Katie's bridal shower. This weekend he is up in Covelo with Grandma and Grandpa Passalaqua while Mary is visiting/camping with Katie and others. So far he has been very good about road travel.

Making Up Some Weight

Back again for another late post....sorry. We've had some company today and then I've just been resting at home. Well, after Jack's break from gaining weight yesterday, he gained a few ounces today. He is at 3 lbs 13oz (well again 12.something ounces, but I round up), I had to look twice at the computer monitor to be sure I had read the correct field. The doctor also lowered his liters per minute on the vapotherm machine to 2 lpm, down from 3 lpm. So, he is slowly but surely getting weened off of the machines, then to straight high flow oxygen, then room air. He still has the occasional bradycardia and apnea, but they seem to be getting fewer and further apart (we are very thankful for this).

It was Mary's turn to do some kangaroo care today, Ekota got to sit in with her for about an hour while it was going on. We also got a visit from our friends from Lakeport, Danielle, Ryan and Ryken Villanueva. They all hung out with us at the trailer, then Danielle went in to say hi to Jack. It was another positive day out at Kaiser. Jack is looking so much better and getting so much bigger, he just needs to keep all this up.

5 Weeks Old

Today Jack turned 5 weeks old. He is still doing well, and we think he is getting better at his breathing. When I went in for his 8:30pm care time the nurse said he hadn't set off any of the alarms all shift. Hopefully he can keep this up. We know he's going to have some episodes, but we like them to be fewer as the days go on. There is no weight gain to report today, so looks like the plateau has hit. Hopefully it doesn't last for long and he'll start packing on the ounces again. Everything else is pretty much the same as yesterday.

I did some kangaroo time with him today. As you can see from the picture we tried to coordinate for a little father-son bonding. Jack also got a visit from our friend Ekota (we made her an honorary Aunt). Well, sorry again for this late post, but we're back out at the trailer tonight and somebody else (Mary) had the computer occupied watching a movie.

Still Truckin'

Sorry for those that wait for new information for this late post. I was in at Jack's last swing shift care time helping out. Still not much different to report today. Yesterday Jack put on another 50 grams putting him up to 1550g or 3 lbs 8.4 oz. That's 3 and a half pounds, yippeee!!!

Jack had a couple visitors today also. His Grandma Patti and Grandpa Dennis stopped by for a quick visit. They got to go in and help Mary while Jack was having a care time. He is still eating the same amount and still has the occasional apnea episode. The doctors and nurses tell us he is right where he should be for his age and size.

Some Ups and Downs

Today Jack is 10 days old (27 weeks 5 days gestation age). He weighed in at 2 lbs 2.6 ozs (980 grams), that is up 1.6 ozs (40 grams). We arrived to do his care and he also got a visit from Great Uncle Mike and Great Aunt Mary. They were both surprised at how smaller he looked in person than in the videos, but said he was the cutest. Uncle Mike got to watch me change a very poopy diaper, still no more rejected feeding (hooray Jack way to digest!!). They have decided to up his feeding amounts from 2ml to 3ml per feeding. They're trying to get him all plumped up. Jack didn't do alot of fussing today during his care. Either he has gotten adjusted to us messing with him, or he was tired.

Jack has been having some apnea issues and had to be moved from his CPAP machine to a SIPAP machine. They are very similar. The CPAP kept a steady pressure inside Jack's lungs to keep them from deflating when he exhaled. The SIPAP does the pressure thing, but also aids him in breathing by assisting with little breaths. Not a ventilator, but should his apnea keep up or increase he would have to be placed back on the ventilator (fingers crossed he gets better). We also noticed a little yellow gunk around his eye. The nurse got it all cleaned up and we will watch for more to appear. Hopefully it won't come back, but if it does it might be an infection and Jack will need to get some antibiotics.

A Little Lighter

Today Jack weighed in at 2 lbs 1 oz (940 grams). It was down about 1 oz or 30 grams from yesterday. They think it was possibly due to all his excitement yesterday, and burning too many calories. So, we are going to wait until he gets a little bigger before we try to kangaroo it up again. But, Mary was very happy that she got to hold him yesterday. The doctor came in and told us that his sugar and sodium levels were right on the line for it to be considered high. So, they will adjust all of his IV/nutrients mix and it should bring it back under control.

Last night when we went in for his 9:30pm care time, he had a feeding in his tummy that he rejected. They decided to discard that feeding and try a new one. Good news, this morning we got positive reports that he digested all his feeding overnight, and he didn't have any issues all day. They also increased his feedings from 1ml to 2ml.
He was also taken off of phototherapy again. His bilirubin levels had come back down (but it is common for them to fluctuate). There has been talk of moving him from his CPAP machine over to a vapotherm machine (which is a step in the right direction). That would be at least 2 to 3 days away.

At his 3:30pm care time Jack's oxygen levels were up a little bit, still in the good range, but up from where he has been. Hopefully he was just having a tired/lazy day after all the excitement from yesterday. We are back at home for the night to reload and recharge, then tomorrow back to the trailer for the night.