Day 53

Day 53

Jackson Day 53: 1545 grams or 3 lbs 6 oz. Jackson is doing great. If he keeps growing at this rate, he'll be graduating from his giraffe isolette to the big boy crib before we know it. He has to be 4 lbs before that can happen. It's amazing to see the transformation he's made from being so fragile in the beginning. He's just getting stronger and stronger everyday. Today he tried breastfeeding for the first time. He did really good at first, then got too snuggly and sleepy. He will now try breastfeeding once per day and bottle once per day. We had fun playing dress up again today. Here he is in his Utah State outfit. Go Aggies! FOJSP!!! 

Big and little Hunter

Dad's home and we're so happy about it!

Day 52

Day 52

Jackson Day 52: 1515 grams or 3 lbs 5 oz. Breakfast time! He took 7 cc this morning and was so bright eyed! I think it was the new bib. :) He's doing great today! FOJSP!!!

Day 51

Day 51

Jackson day 51: 1485 grams or 3 lbs 4 oz. a little bit of weight loss but not concerning. He has been very sleepy all day so we're thinking he is maybe having a growing day. He was not interested in the bottle at all today. We will see how he does tonight. He has been having more apnea and bradycardia episodes, so they have gone up on his caffeine dose. The nurse also said it is common for preemies to have a lot more episodes between week 34-35, they are not sure why. But Jackson is 34 weeks, so this may go on for a couple weeks. They weaned is oxygen rate again down to .8 liters per minute. He's doing great! FOJSP! 

He's been quite the wiggler lately so the nurse "bubble wrapped" him in with blankets. He's not going anywhere!

Hunter had to go back to work this week, so we've been doing FaceTime with him. Jackson looks very interested in what Hunter has to say in these pictures:

 

Week 7

Week 7

7 weeks old! Jackson has grown and changed so much this last week. He has had two big growth spurts and gained 7 oz in a week. We expected more like 3-4 oz a week for his size. But he has taken this growing  thing and ran with it! We are onto our next struggle now with learning how to eat. They have told us to be prepared to be patient. Sometimes this can be a real struggle for babies his size. But so far he's doing great, and after 7 weeks in the NICU we're learning a thing or two about being patient. We're so proud of how far he's come. He's still having some apnea and bradycardia, but it's getting less frequent. We're feeling like we can finally start to breathe more. He has so much personality for xmsuch a little guy. He has always been able to tell us when he was mad, even when he couldn't cry, and show his personality that way. But now we are starting to get more of the sweet side with smiles and coos. We love this little boy so much! FOJSP!

Giving mom a hug

Loves cuddles with Dad

Big boy sitting up trying to stop his reflux

No more pictures mom!

Day 50

Jackson day 50: 1500 grams or 3 lbs 5 oz. Jackson maintained that huge weight gain he had yesterday. We honestly didn't expect him to, because 4 oz in one day is pretty unheard of for a baby his size. But since he maintained it, it's an accurate reading. Way to go Jackson! He is also 7 weeks old today! He is still taking the bottle twice a day. Last night the nurse wanted to give him his second bottle so she could evaluate how he was doing. He took 8 cc for her last night, which is awesome! His total feeding is 28 cc. This morning he did not want to wake up to eat, so he only took 2 cc. At this point, we are just trying to get him interested in the bottle and keep it a positive experience, so we are not pushing him really hard on it. But he's doing great with it! They are continuing to wean his oxygen but slower now. They lowered the rate from 1 liter per minute to .9 liter per minute. He will stay on the vapotherm until it's lowered to around .5 liter. This is better for him because the air is not so dry so it is easier on his nose. He was a very happy baby this morning! FOJSP!! 

Day 49

Day 49

Jackson Day 49: 1515 grams or 3 lbs 5 oz. apparently Jackson has this growing thing down now! Gained 4 oz last night! They reduced his oxygen flow from 1.5 liters per minute to 1 liter per minute. He's doing great on it. And Jackson tried his first bottle today!!!! He did great with it. He ate 4cc, just shy of a teaspoon (5 cc). He did really good with it too. He only dipped in oxygen saturation once. Learning how to bottle feed will be his next big challenge: suck, swallow, and still breathe is a tricky talent. He will get to try bottle feeding twice a day now. He's doing great. We're so proud of the progress Jackson has made. FOJSP!!! 

Day 48

Day 48

Jackson Day 48: 1395 grams or 3 lbs 1 oz. Jackson has done great on  the lower oxygen rate, 1.5 liter per minute, so far. Likely tomorrow we will try him on 1 liter. He is still spitting up some, so they are trying giving him his feeding via gravity instead of using the IV pump. It went in faster this way though, 15 minutes vs. 45 minutes, so we will see how it works. He's doing great though. FOJSP! 

Day 47

Day 47

Jackson Day 47: 1385 grams or 3 lbs 1 oz. gained another ounce even after that huge jump in weight yesterday! Dr. Nold is going to increase his feeding from 25 cc to 28 cc every 3 hours, a whole ounce is 30 cc.  Dr. Nold is also decreasing his oxygen flow from 2 liters per minute to 1.5 liters per minute. This is excellent as he needs to be down to 1 liter per minute before they can try bottle feeding. Tomorrow he is 34 weeks gestation, this is when they like to start bottle feeding. So we are hoping by the end of the week he will be trying the bottle. He also needs to be down to 1 liter before he can come off the vapotherm and switch to a low flow nasal cannula. This will be a lot better for Jackson, as the vapotherm causes moisture to build up and occasionally a drop of water will get through into his nose causing him to hold his breath and his heart rate to drop. His airway is so small, that one little drop gives him the sensation of drowning so he stops breathing to protect his airway. We will be happy when he is done with vapotherm. He's doing great, and we are loving the many good days in a row, 2 weeks off the ventilator! FOJSP!!! 

Day 46

Day 46

Jackson day 46: 1350 grams or 3 lbs! Our little boy is getting to be a big boy! He had a really big jump in weight last night, 2.5 oz so we'll see what his weight does tonight. Last night Jackson started having a lot of bradycardia where his heart rate would drop, so Dr. Nold tested his hematocrit and he was at 25. They don't like them to get below 30, the lowest he's been is 28.  Last Monday when they tested his blood he was at 33.  They were letting him get low to see if his body would start producing red blood cells. But he's had a huge growth spurt this week and his little body just couldn't keep up. He's doing much better since getting 20 cc (4 teaspoons) of blood last night. He's got his energy, and his attitude back. He has a lot of personality for such a little guy. That feistiness has gotten him a long way, and he's doing great! FOJSP! 

Day 45

Day 45

Jackson day 45: 1285 grams or 2 lbs 13 oz. Gained another half ounce. This is good that he is maintaining this amount of weight gain as we hold him more because holding burns calories as he tries to maintain his body temperature. Dr. Nold and nurses can hear a slight murmur intermittently. Dr. Nold still says it is nothing to be worried about, probably just the anemia. He is still acting great. Nothing too new today, and we are just fine with that! Jackson just needs to eat, sleep, and grow for a bit before we ask too much else of him. FOJSP! 

Day 44

Day 44

Jackson Day 44: 1270 grams or 2 lbs 13 oz. another half ounce gain! Jackson had quite the busy morning. At just before 8am he spit up all over himself and needed a bath. As soon as the nurses got him all clean and tucked in, he blew out his diaper and needed another bath. Poor boy is extra clean now. His nurse thought she could hear his heart murmur again this morning, but Dr Nold said it is just because he is anemic so his blood flow sounds different. His hematocrit was 32 on Monday. They will check again this Monday and likely give him a blood transfusion. They want his red blood cell count to get low so his body starts making red blood cells. So far his retic count, which measures his ability to make blood, has been zero. He is doing so well, Dr Nold today said it was ok to start holding him 4 times a day! He's getting bigger and stronger every day, and much more active. Little stinker tried to squirm off his bed today. FOJSP!!! 

Week 6

Week 6

Jackson has continued to make so much progress this last week. He has done great off the ventilator, his breathing getting better each day. He has stopped having stridor with his breathing and he has moved to the next step down on the oxygen support, from CPAP to vapotherm. He is getting older and bigger, and he is starting to show it more. He gained another 5 ounces last week. He is starting to have more alert times during the day. It is so great to see him looking around more. He is such a sweet baby and makes us so happy to see him start to do better. 

Day 43

Jackson Day 43: 1255 grams or 2 lbs 12 oz. little man gained an ounce and a half last night! They increased his milk to 25 cc per feeding now that he's starting to pack on the weight. His last blood gas was excellent! Better than they were on CPAP. Last dose of steroids will be in the morning. He's really starting to do great. Mom got an extra hour of snuggle time for her birthday this morning. And Jackson has been curled up sleeping sweetly since. FOJSP! 

Day 42

Day 42

Jackson Day 42: 1210 grams or 2 lbs 11 oz. gained an ounce! They were able to wean the CPAP support and have changed him to a high flow vapotherm cannula. This provides a high flow of oxygen to help keep his airway open and also heats and humidifies the oxygen. Another step forward! If he does well on this then they will wean him down to get him on a low flow nasal cannula. Right now he is getting 2 liters of oxygen per minute. It is likely he will come home on oxygen, but needs to be under 1 liter before that can happen. He is getting more and more alert everyday. And stronger too. They have encouraged us to start doing range of motion exercises with him to help his muscles and joints get strong and form correctly. It is a good day for Jackson! FOJSP!!! 

Day 41

Day 41

Jackson Day 41: 1180 grams or 2 lbs 10 oz. They were able to wean the support the CPAP respirator is providing quite a bit from 30 breaths per minute at the start of yesterday down to 14 today. When they tried to wean to 10 Jackson started de-sating a lot. So they are going to leave him alone today and let him take a break and catch up. They will try to wean again tomorrow. This is how it goes with our little bubba. We push him and sometimes he pushes back. But he is still making great progress. He will finish up his last round of steroids Thursday night. Jackson is doing great, getting stronger everyday! FOJSP! 

Day 40

Day 40

Jackson Day 40: 1185 grams or 2 lbs 10 oz. Another half ounce weight gain! He continues to do great with the extra calories and protein added to the milk. Today they are increasing his milk from 22 cc to 23 cc and adding vitamins. Often preemies who are breast fed become iron deficient and the vitamins will help with that. Dr. Berger is cutting his steroid dose in half again tomorrow, down to .045 milligrams twice a day for 3 days. This will be his last round of steroids. They have weaned his 'breaths' per minute to 25. They are going to continue to wean him today and tonight with hopes of getting him on a regular high flow nasal cannula tomorrow. This type of cannula is much less irritating for him, so it will be nice once he's off the CPAP cannula. This is also a step he needs to make before hopefully being able to try bottle feeding at 34 weeks (next week). He is much more alert while eating and still loves his binky, all good signs for transitioning to a bottle. He has a hernia in his groin. This was likely caused by all his fussing. Last night he was especially mad. This is very common in preemies. He will have to have surgery to fix this but not until after he is out of the NICU. Dr. Berger told us it is minor and not anything to worry about. Just one more little hurdle for our little guy. FOJSP! 

Day 39

Day 39

Jackson Day 39: 1170 grams or 2 lbs 9 oz. Half an ounce weight gain. He is doing great with eating. He has tolerated the extra calories really well and today they started adding extra protein. He loves to suck on his binky while eating, last night he stayed awake in Hunter's arms for 90 minutes. This is a great sign for when he starts bottle feeding, hopefully in 2 weeks. His breathing is getting much better too and they are starting to wean the CPAP settings. The cannula gives a constant flow of oxygen but the difference between a normal nasal cannula and the CPAP he is on is it also gives an extra puff of air every so often to remind him to breathe. They cut this from 35 times per minute to 30 per minute. Jackson had his first bath today and wore his first outfit. He was not as impressed with the whole ordeal as mom was. But he is one cute, clean, handsome little dude. FOJSP! 

He didn't mind the bath at first...

Until the shampoo came out!

So bored with dress up time

Didn't want to wake up

Our cute, tiny, little man