Settling In

Hi everyone!  Sorry we haven't posted a blog in a while.  We are a busy family!  A lot has happened in these past two weeks.  

Jackson had an eye exam and a weight check.  His eye exam went great.  His vessels are almost fully developed.  We have to go back to Children's Mercy in February for (hopefully!) the last time to make sure his eyes are completely matured.  Jackson's weight on this past Monday was....6 pounds, 13 ounces!!!!!  Can you believe it?!!!  It hit me this week how much he's grown and how he is beginning to fill out everywhere.  Nick and I talk about how he doesn't look like a preemie anymore.  He is looking so healthy and handsome!  He continues to roll over.  One day he did it three times in a row.  I finally captured a video of it! 

 Jackson has been improving on his nursing, too.  He definitely is beginning to build his stamina when eating, and is becoming quite demanding when he is hungry!  He wakes up about every 3 hours to eat.  He still needs supplements with the extra calorie formula after nursing.  I am hoping at his two month check up we can reduce his supplements.

We are enjoying Jackson's awake time.  This past week he has become more alert, looking around checking things out, and making eye contact.  I still tear up when he looks up at me with his sweet blue eyes.  It is such a wonderful feeling!  I love being his mommy!!!  

Here is Jackson's 7 week photo.  He loves his bouncy seat.  Thanks for my handmade blanket, Marie.  And thank you for my guitar blanket, Lisa!  I am a little rockstar!

Last week we also celebrated Uncle EJ's birthday.  He is 14 years old and way taller than me, and just about as tall as Nick.  It was nice having Grandma Mari, Grandpa B, and Uncle EJ over for the day.

Grandpa B holding Jackson.

Jackson spends most of his day sleeping, but we've noticed he is much more active in between feedings lately.  Thanks for my quilt, Marlina!  You are very talented!  And thank you for my blanket, Heather.
   

Aunt Crystal, Sami, and Isabella came to meet Jackson.

Sweet Sami and her cousin.

Love love love him!

The weeks at home with Jackson have flown by.  I cannot believe he is 8 weeks old.  He is almost full term!

Tummy time.  It's definitely not Jackson's favorite thing to do!

Tummy time wore both my boys out!  Nick went back to school and work this week.  His anticipated graduation date is in May!  Whooo-hooo!  We are so proud of him!

This week my sister Katie and nieces, Adley and Ella, came to visit.  We are having so much fun together!

This is an old photo, but new to the blog and one of my favorites!  Jackson's cousins showing their support while he was in the NICU.  Their shirts say 'Team Jackson'. Thanks, Kate, for making them for the girls and being such awesome supporters during our stay in the hospital!!

Some quality time with my Papa.

Cousins!

Baba and Papa with their three Grandkids!!  Oh boy, what a handful!!!

We love you Aunt Kate!  Thanks for helping my mommy out this week!

Thank you for your continued support and checking in on us!  We are so blessed and thankful!

There's no place like home...

2012 began with a little sorrow.  Grandpa Ed was laid to rest.  We are thankful he is no longer in any pain or discomfort, and is now reunited with Grandma Darlene.  We are also so happy that Grandpa got to meet his Great Grandson just a day before he passed.  Although he will be missed dearly, we are looking forward to sharing Grandpa Ed stories with Jackson as he grows up.

We are settling in at home as a family of three, building lasting memories.  We love having our little boy home.  We've had a couple of doctors appointments this week.  Jackson had a medical procedure done~everything looks good.  We also had a few weight checks.  He currently weighs 5 pounds 13 ounces!!!  His preemie clothes are starting to get to be a little snug on him.

Here is what we've been up to:

Jax sleeping on his Daddy.

Jackson loves to be swaddled, arms in.

Baba time!

First time in the bouncy seat.

Mommy's new favorite picture!

We love our Papa!

First bath at home...he was not a fan at first~but loved getting his hair washed.

Getting warmed up after bath time.

Tummy time is definitely not one of Jackson's favorite things to do!  He rolled over twice this week, from tummy to back.  Yup, we know he's gifted.  ; )

Grandma Mari came to St. Joe to visit and spend the day with us.  YAY!

On Daddy again.  

Jackson is six weeks old now!

Look at those hands!  Jackson has big hands and feet like his Daddy.

Thank you for continuing to read about our sweet baby.  We are so proud of him and he continues to bless us everyday.  Thank you for your continued prayers for Jackson.  We hope the New Year blesses you and your family.

Home Sweet Home

We are home and LOVING it!  I cannot even begin to describe the feeling I had leaving the hospital; this time WITH my baby.  It was a wonderful feeling!  All the way home (of course I was staring at Jackson in his car seat the entire way!!) Nick and I kept saying how excited and surprised we were at going home so early.  We were expecting to stay in the NICU for 1-2 more weeks.  Like Nick said, what a wonderful Christmas present!  St. Lukes NICU was incredible.  We are so thankful that they took such great care of Jackson and us.

The transition to home has been fairly smooth.  The first night was a little rough.  Jackson was adjusting to a new environment, a quiet one!  No beeps from monitors or other crying babies.  He would only sleep if we were holding him.  Now he is a great sleeper and eater.  We even have to wake him up most of the time to feed him.  We definitely take advantage of his awake time to play with him.

We have a lot of appointments scheduled to monitor his progress.  We had some doctor visits this week.  He had his follow up eye exam, which went well.  The vessels in his eyes are continuing to grow, but not completely mature.  The doctor said he looked great.  We have one more eye exam in a couple of weeks to make sure the vessels are completely mature.  We also met our pediatrician here in St. Joe, Dr. Evans.  He was surprised that Jackson was born at 30 weeks and did not have oxygen or have to be sent home on a monitor.  He commented that someone was really looking out for him.  : )  He got weighed there-he now weighs 5lbs. 4oz.  We also have Heartland Home Health that comes a couple times a week to monitor his vitals and weigh him.

It has been so special to share this time with my family.  I love my boys so much!!!  Enjoy the pictures below.  I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Christ.  Have a Happy New Year!  And thank you for your continued prayers and support.  Please continue to pray for our Jackson that he continues to gain weight and stay healthy.  We would also appreciate continued prayers for Grandpa Ed.  We love you all.

Jackson is five weeks old now!!  Looking a little bit bigger, huh?!!!!

Itty-bitty in his carseat.  No tears all the way home!  Go Jackson!!!

Family of 3 excited to go home!

Admiring my little boy!

So excited to go home.  Just waiting on transportation to wheel me out, which I thought was strange....I still had to be escorted out in a wheel chair with Jackson even though he was just about five weeks old!

We are home!!  And of course, Daddy and Jackson are watching the Mizzou game.

We came home to a welcome sign!  Thanks Baba!
And thanks, Mimi and Grandpa B, Baba and Papa for buying the necessities for us !

Baba holding her "little lump of sugar!"

A VERY special Christmas (hint, hint)

We're going home!!!

Christmas came early for us in the form of our favorite nurse. She told us early yesterday that she didn't think he needed to stay much longer and got the ball rolling for us. By yesterday evening we got the word that we would be rooming in tonight and, if all went well today, going home tomorrow. Well, he has done everything he needed to do and we will be headed to the Joe sometime tomorrow.

Needless to say, we're pretty excited and feeling extremely blessed. The nurse practitioner told us tonight that it is very rare for preemies to go home at 35 weeks, so we feel pretty special. I think Jenny's ready to enroll him in gifted programs. Overboard.

Thank you all for your prayers and support through all of this. God is good. Happy Birthday Jesus! and Grandpa Gilliam! Please keep my Grandpa Gilliam and family in your thoughts and prayers as well.

Papa and Baba came to wish Jackson a Merry Christmas and
they brought mom and dad some dinner!

Acing his car seat test. He looks tiny in it.

Mom had to take a picture of us moving out of the NICU.

His Santa that we got from Ronald McDonald House. 

Mom feeding him his first bottle. He downed 50ml!

Someone is a little excited about the thought of going home.

Mom's not the only one excited to go home. Looks like dad can't wait to sleep in his own bed.

Loved seeing a blank monitor. No wires connected to my boy.

Snuggly after his first bottle. 

34 Week Update

Well, I survived my first week back to work.  I went to the hospital every morning before work to see Jackson. The first day was rough, but it was so nice to see my friends and students and enjoy some time with them before the holidays.  Once again, Pathfinder friends, students, and parents were so supportive and made the transition an easier one for me. And it was a bit easier knowing that Daddy or Baba was spending the day with Jackson.  It was a good week!

Jackson is now 4 weeks!  He actually turned 4 weeks yesterday, but his eyes were so swollen from his vision test that we didn't want to irritate him with a photo shoot.

Thanks for making my shirt, Baba!

Speaking of his eye test, he did well.  It is not a fun procedure for these little guys.  The eyes are the last to develop, so we were prepared by the doctors to not be too surprised if his eye test results came back "immature".  The results come back as either Zone 1, Zone 2, or Zone 3.  The higher the zone, the more developed his eyes are, thus having the best looking, most blood vessels matured.  Jackson received a Zone 2 score.  So, not bad, but he will be receiving a second eye test in two weeks, either here at St. Lukes (if we are still here) or at Children's Mercy (if we've been discharged by then).  Jackson's nurse later told us that she heard the doctors were debating on whether to give him a 2 or 3, so the outcome was decided he is a "2, almost a 3".  He does have a blocked tear duct that will continue to get monitored, but it's nothing serious.

Jackson's transition to the crib has been great!  In order to stay in the crib and not go back to the isolette, he has to maintain his temperature and continue to gain weight.  When babies try to keep their body warm, they burn calories.  When preemies burn calories, they can quickly loose weight.  But so far, Jackson has had wonderful temperatures and continues to gain weight.  He is currently 5.1 pounds!  YAY!

Like Nick said, we are terribly homesick.  We desperately want to take our baby boy home.  We understand, however, he is right where he needs to be, getting phenomenal care and improving everyday.  He has several things on his checklist before we can go home, the most important (and often the only thing preventing these little ones to go home) being building endurance with feedings and continuing to gain weight.  He nursed 3 consecutive times today with me and the nurse said he did not need any supplements either of those times because of the length of time he nursed....I just hope he is getting enough!  How do you know mommies??   

I've enjoyed spending my evening with my boys. I love my family so much!  What a wonderful early Christmas gift, huh?!

Santa's Little Helper, that's right!!   

Check out my booty!

Dancing to Christmas music with my mommy.

Seriously, how cute is this?!!

Santa's little helper and Santa's big helper.