Recovery

Welcome back to those who still check in with Jack....that is whenever I post new updates. Jack's chin has been healing nicely since they drained the infection and gave him the new antibiotics. He no longer looks like somebody glued a giant red extension on his face. The wound is now nothing more than a bump at the bottom of his chin, and the redness is pretty much all gone. He is also back to his normal happy self. It seems that the chinfection made him understandably cranky (I know I would be). Yesterday he went to stay with Cousin Penny up in Applegate. I'm sure they're both having a great time....it's been over a month since Penny has gotten to babysit him and I'm sure they have some catching up to do. We are just glad the infection is almost gone and Jack is almost back to 100% healthy. Also, for those interested I put a pic of his chinny chin chin in this group so you can get an idea of what it looked like.

Almost 1

Hi all, thanks for continuing to read all about Jack. Just a few weeks away from his first birthday, and boy are we all excited. He is still getting stronger and surprising us with some new activity each day. His newest is clapping, he especially likes to clap while eating. He is still working on getting up on his hands and knees to crawl, but he get around plenty good doing his combat crawl. Jack is also getting over his first small cold, he has been a little stuffy and coughing for about 2 weeks, but he hasn't complained too much.

Over the next month we have a bunch going on. A few doctor's appointments, Thanksgiving, a birthday party, Christmas pictures, then out to Oklahoma for Christmas. Jack is now above the 21 pound mark, don't really know how long because we haven't measured him for a while. We will probably have more information at the end of the week, after he has his follow up at the high risk infant clinic.

Another Week Has Past

Well, it's been another week since my last post. Thanks to everyone that continues to check in on Jack. He's still trucking right along. Mary weighed him last night and he was 9 lbs 14.5 oz. (he's moved up from small bowling ball to medium bowling ball). This was Mary's first weekend all alone with the boy overnight as I am back at work and there were no visitors. So far she says things are going well. He is pretty good about going to bed at night, but does have his moments of stubbornness. Last week Jack had a follow up head ultra sound, we haven't heard anything and as all the doctors have told us no news means good news. We don't have any plans or appointments for a while so we can just chill at home. It is nice for each of us to get out of the house, even if it's only a trip to the store. It gives us a little recharge and fresh air.

Great Grandparents Day

Hello all. Today the family made the trek down to Vallejo to visit the Passalaqua-Jeffcoat relatives. Jack got to meet his Great Grandpa Joe for the first time, and hung out for a few hours while everyone got to know him a little better....outside of the hospital. Great Grandma Nan, Great Uncle Mike and Great Aunt Mary were alos there. Jack behaved himself for the most part, and was very content to be passed around and have the family hold him. Jack also seemed to enjoy his car ride (both there and back again). As soon as his head hit that car seat head rest he was out! It was very good to get down that way to see everyone, and it was a success as a first outing for Jack.

Tomorrow Aunt DeAnna is supposed to be stopping by to visit with er favorite nephew. Then Jack has a couple days of doctors appointments. One for a routine check up to make sure he is still gaining the weight (we'll also enquire about his possible reflux issue), then the next day for an RSV vaccination. Now if we can just figure out how to get him to sleep between 7 and 11 pm.

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.

He's Got Us on a Schedule

Jack is still doing good, he has his monitors, but so far hasn't set any off (that's the way we want to keep it). He has been sleeping a little better now that he's more used to his new surroundings. That allows us to get some better naps in, between his meal times. He is still having poo problems so we give him a suppository, today it kick in right when I was changing a diaper and I got a hand full of Jack's surprise.

Right now he's sleeping soundly and Mary is napping. Once he wakes up, I'll change him wake up Mary then take myself a nap. I think Grandpa Dennis might stay up for a while...he likes to watch Jack on the camera monitor while Jack sleeps.

Mmmm mmmm good.

Today Jack did his first official bottle feed. He did very well. I got to do it, and he took his whole feeding amount. We thought that he might get overwhelmed or too tired, I guess he was hungry. Jack weighed in at 5 lbs 9 oz, something is either wrong with the scale they had been using, or the one the used today because there's no way he gained half a pound in one day. Also, if you pay close attention to his little leg there is a monitor on it. No, he is not on house (err nursery) arrest, they put a monitor on all babies his age/size so nobody tries to snatch him. Think of it as a lo-JACK device for babies....yes pun intended.

Not much else is going on with baby Jack. The nurses all tell us he is doing wonderfully and he is making excellent progress. We like that kind of news.

Welcom Jack 12-05-2009

My wife Mary was rushed into have an emergency C-Section this morning. Jack Robert Passalaqua was welcomed into the world...a little early. He was 13 3/4" and 2 lbs 1 oz. He had to be delivered because Mary had a placenta previa that caused a large bleed. So large the doctors feared for both her's and baby Jack's life.

Jack's lungs were very underdeveloped and had to be placed on a ventilator. These are a couple photos from about 4 hours after his 8:12am delivery.