Yummy to my Tummy!

Jaxson has had lots of fun experiences since my last post. He had a sleep study done on August 21, which went really well. The staff at Children's Hospital was wonderful, and the doctor said everything looked great! He got to watch his first Auburn game, and he loves football! We had his baby dedication at church September 16. He was so good! He has had several follow-up appointments with his doctors. He saw Dr. Lytle, his pediatrician, last Monday. Dr. Lytle decided to go ahead and start him on baby food. His favorite is sweet potatoes. I don't blame him. I've tried the same ones he has, and sweet potatoes are, by far, the best. He followed up with Dr. Cavender, his GI doc, last Tuesday. He decided to start weening him off the medicines for reflux, since that's not an issue he has anymore. Last Wednesday, he followed up with his physical therapist, and she said he still shows a little tension in his neck. She gave us a few more exercises to do. He weighed 12 lbs 4 oz at his 6 month check-up! It's hard to believe he was down to 1 lb 15 oz just 6 months ago!!!

Finally, an update!

It's been a while since I posted, because we are still living in the dark ages with no internet at home! Anyway, Jaxson came home July 1, and he is doing great! We are so excited to have him home. He sleeps so good at night. He usually has his last bottle around 10:30 and wakes up between 4:30 and 5:00 in the morning. We changed his GI doctor and are now using Dr. Cavendar and love him! He allowed us to start giving Jaxson breastmilk! He also told us we could give him rice cereal too!

He has seen Dr. Lytle (his pediatrician) several times since he's been home for check-ups and to get his 4 month shots. The home health nurse was still coming out to check his weight, but yesterday was her last visit. He weighed 9 lbs 14 oz! I'm surprised he doesn't weigh more than that, considering he ate 32 oz Wednesday! That's right 2 lbs of food! That would be the equivalent of me eating like 35 lbs of food in one day!

Jaxson loves his swing and he loves his tummy time. He has also began to enjoy his bathtime, even though he doesn't like getting lotioned up afterwards. He is definitely turning into a camera ham too. He usually looks right at me when I'm trying to take his picture.

We've did a 5k a few weeks ago, and I discovered that Jaxson loves riding in his stroller outside. We are trying to run a couple of days a week now! He has also visited the library since he loves reading stories with Mom and Dad. His most unfavorite place is Wal-Mart. I don't blame him though. He usually screams the entire time we're in the store, but hushes as soon as we leave... Smart kid!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

By the way, Annaleece and Baxter (Jaxson's old podmates) are home now too!

Love,

Lisa, Eric, and Jaxson

Happy 3 Month Birthday

Jaxson turned 3 months old yesterday! He weighed 8 lb 1 oz. He is getting so big! We were looking at some pictures from when he was first born, and it's amazing how much he's changed! We took him a balloon and a little poster to decorate his "room" for his party, and I made some yummy cupcakes for the nurses. He's such a party pooper! Literally, he slept and pooped through his whole party! Little stinker!

He passed his hearing test and finished getting his vaccines yesterday. They also swapped him back to Alimentum. We didn't want him to go home on the EleCare, since it was going to cost us so much. They're planning to keep him on the Alimentum for a couple more days and try him on NeoSure. Then, (fingers crossed) they'll try him on breastmilk. Dr. Bruce told me today that if they put him on breastmilk, we'll have to add breastmilk fortifier to it which costs $1 per ounce! We will pay for it up front, and insurance will reimburse us at 80%. It's a lot better than the EleCare!

His head ultrasound came back clear today, so that's definitely positive. He is not showing any signs of cerebral palsy! Other big news this week is his platelets. They are 138k! That's so awesome! His c. diff is also back to normal. Dr. Brasfield, his pulmonologist, saw him today and doesn't want to make any changes to his oxygen.

He is on track to go home this weekend. Eric and I have to spend the night at the hospital Friday and Saturday night, and Jaxson gets to come home Sunday!!! He will be on oxygen for at least a few weeks, as well as Actigall (for his liver and to help lower his biliruben), Reglan (for gastroesophogeal reflux), and Poly-Vi-Sol (iron drops).

He loves swingin' in the little swing in the NICU. It's so funny to walk in and see him sitting there in his little swing in the floor!

We are so excited for him to finally be coming home! Once he comes home, I will be off work for several weeks and won't be able to post as often because we don't have internet at home. I'm going to try to go somewhere and post updates with pictures of him at home! YAY!!! I know he's going to miss all of his fellow podmates at the NICU, and we will continue to pray for them once he comes home! Jaxson asked me to give a special shout out to Annaleece and Baxter!

Thanks for continuing to pray for us!!!

The Best News!!!

This weekend Jaxson made some huge improvements! He hit the 8lb mark on Saturday, got his PICC line removed Sunday, and moved to a crib! He is eating 3 oz per feeding from a bottle! We are so proud of him for doing so good with everything! Dr. Bierd said the goal is for him to come home next Friday!!! We're a little nervous because she wants to send him home on oxygen. He hasn't had any A's or B's in a long time, but she wants to be sure. He's also going home on Albuterol, EleCare, Vitamin D, an oral version of Sincalide, and Reglan. I'm going to have to come up with some kind of system to help me keep up with it all! Hopefully, he'll be able to come off the EleCare soon and swap to breastmilk. We have around 900 bags stored, and I've been dumping it out for the last 3 weeks since we are out of storage space!!!

We are so excited that our little buddy gets to come home soon! He is getting to wear clothes now, so I've posted some pictures of him. He is such a big boy! It's not only been an exciting time for us, but many of our family and friends! Everyone is excited to finally be able to hold that little cutie!

We also celebrated Eric's first Father's Day this weekend. We went out to eat after church Sunday. Jaxson and I got Eric an Auburn diaper bag, a sweet picture of the two of them together, Rick and Bubba's new book, and a huge tub of bubble gum. It was a wonderful weekend.

Thanks to all of you who are continuing to pray for us! We are so pumped up! It's starting to feel like we're really parents now! Especially, with all the clothes we've been washing lately!

Love,
The soon-to-be-sleeping-under-the-same-roof Grays!

A whole ounce!

Jaxson is still eating! He is up to 1 oz every 3 hours! YAY! That's the most he's ever been up to. He is still eating from a bottle when his breathing is slow enough. His nurses say he loves his bottle. He sucks his food down so fast! His platelets are still in the 70's. They are supposed to be between 100-130, but we are happy they're up to the 70's. They were in the 30's for almost 2 months! They also decreased the amount of IV fluid he gets, since he's eating more. He gets his last dose of antibiotics at 2:00 in the morning.

It really seems like he should be getting closer to coming home soon... The doctors say it will still be 6 weeks or so. It's hard to see him doing so good, and think he's still going to be there for that much longer! We were hoping he would be home for Easter, then Mother's Day, then Memorial Day, then Father's Day, then his due date, then 4th of July, then Eric's birthday... Now we're just hoping he'll be home for our anniversary the first week in August. He already weighs 7 lb 12 oz! He is going to be so big when he finally comes home! My stepdad said we should tell his nurses to call us when they get him potty-trained and we'll come pick him up!
We treasure the things many people take for granted, like hearing him cry. It's so sweet! We are sad that we haven't gotten to do the things most parents get to do, like giving their baby his first bath, taking him on outings, and rocking him to sleep at night. We know 6 weeks isn't that long, but it feels like forever! We try so hard to be strong, but it's so tough sometimes! Thank you all for continuing to pray for the 3 of us. I don't know what we'd do without you!

We love you all!
Lisa, Eric, and Jaxson

Day 79

Jaxson is 79 days old today. He weighs 7 lbs 9.2 oz! He is my little porker! He has continued to get good reports the last few days. He is getting a special formula called EleCare. The pharmacy in the hospital makes it for him. It costs $100 a day, which we don't have to pay now since it will be included in his hospital bill. However, we are hoping he doesn't have to come home on this formula. I talked to our insurance company yesterday and we would be responsible for paying for it up front. We have to buy it by the case, which is $600 weekly. They will reimburse us 80%, and I am calling to talk to someone about the possibility of Medicaid covering the remainder. He is getting 15cc (=1/2 oz) every 3 hours. Yesterday, the doctor decided to try giving it to him through a bottle if his breathing was less than 70 breaths per minute. The doctor said he would like to try to have him up to enough food by the end of the week to remove his PICC line (the IV where he gets his supplemental nutrition). We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying extra prayers for that to happen. He is going to continue giving Jaxson antiobiotics until Thursday, but says he shows no real symptoms of infection/sepsis. His platelets are continuing to increase on their own. They were at 77 yesterday. His GI doctor came by today, and said they are starting him on Reglan to help with his reflux. Reglan is the same medication they use with many pregnant women to help with acid reflux. It was the first medication they tried me on when I was having morning sickness. Essentially, it moves food through your body faster, so it doesn't just sit in your tummy and make you feel sick. The thing I'm worried about is it doesn't allow your body to time to absorb all the nutrients it needs. Hmm... maybe the reason I continued to lose weight while pregnant... I don't want Jaxson to miss out on valuable nutrients. I sure the doctors know what they're doing, and lots of babies take Reglan. I guess I'm just worrying about it a little too much. Anyway, I asked his GI doctor about the possibility of him starting on breastmilk, since we have almost 900 bags stored up and counting. Dr. Mestre said they are just going to watch him for the next 3-4 weeks and see how he does on the EleCare, and maybe they'll switch him to breastmilk before he comes home. If I understood everything correctly, he might get to come home by the last week in July or the first week in August! At least we have some sort of goal now! It makes me excited! He will be about 18 weeks old, and if he continues to grow about the same rate he's been growing, he'll be 12 1/2 lbs! It's a good think I left the tags on most of his clothes. Looks like I'll be taking some more stuff back to exchange for big boy stuff!!!

They also turned him down to 1 liter on his oxygen. If he had to come home on oxygen (which we're praying he won't), this is the kind he would come home on. He was completely off oxygen for several days before, so we hope he can prove himself again! He hasn't had any A's and B's for almost 2 weeks now, so he has already completed the 8 day countdown. Preemies have to go at least 8 days without dropping their heartrate and having apnea episodes. He won't have to complete another countdown for that, so now we're just waiting on his feeding to get better!

We bought him some toys this week. That gives him something to do during the day. Many people think babies who are born early are often developmentally delayed, but I think it's because they're not stimulated enough. Even full term babies can be developmentally delayed if they don't have any think to stimulate development. We took him some toys and the nurse said I could bring his bouncy seat and his Bumbo for him to sit in. We don't want to limit his potential because he's in the hospital. Lots of smart people were preemies... Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton are two great examples!

We love you all so much, and thank God for each prayer that is prayed. From young to old, we know He hears them all! We hope our little sweetie continues to touch your lives as much as he's touched ours. He continues to impress us every day! Thank you so much for following Jaxson's story.

Good reports!

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Jaxson is continuing to impress us with his weight gain. He is 7 lbs 2.2 oz! By the way, he's still not eating. After a scary weekend, he has definitely had some big improvements. He was put back on a ventilator Friday because he aspirated. They took him off the vent Saturday afternoon and put him back on his canula. His blood cultures came back positive for infection last week, so they are continuing to treat that with gentamycin and ampicillan. He is also getting lactobacillus to replace the "good bacteria" that is being killed. He also had a positive test result for clostridium difficile. This is because he's on so many antibiotics. But they are treating his c. diff with Flagyl. His CBC showed that his platelets were up to 71 today, which is a huge improvement. That's the highest they've been without him having a transfusion. Hopefully, that's because everything is starting to get better! He also had good reports on his KUB today (tummy x-ray). Dr. Bruce said he was impressed with Jaxson's numbers today.
I just spoke to his nurse a few minutes ago. She said his eye exam came back clear, and he no longer has ROP (retinopathy of prematurity). We are very thankful for that! Now, he won't have to have another eye exam until he's a year old. Dr. Bruce is not planning to feed him today, and Dr. Bierd will be here starting tomorrow. We're not sure when he'll get to eat again, but he doesn't seem too upset or hungry.

The never ending roller coaster ride!

I cannot even begin to tell you what a roller coaster ride the NICU is. Jaxson is 9 weeks and 3 days old. Friday, we celebrated his 2 month birthday! I can't believe he's already two months! We brought an apple pie for the nurses in labor and delivery and sugar cookies with sprinkles for the NICU nurses. Our friends Lee and Leah brought him balloons for his party. Saturday, when we got there they had taken him off his nasal cannula and his bed warmer. This meant he was breathing fine on his own, and he could regulate his temperature. They also had him dressed in clothes for the first time. He started bottle feeding last Tuesday too! His platelets were coming up on their own, and he seemed to be digesting his food with no problems.

So, yesterday we're back to square one. He's back on the cannula, platelets decreasing, back on his bed warmer, no clothes, and NPO (just fyi that means no food). The only reason they gave us for not feeding is that his stomach x-ray was not 100% normal. The doctors finally admitted, they don't know why his platelets are low. He has never been moved to an Isolette. Being in an Isolette is a step up from the open bed he is in now. Plus, it would keep him from being exposed to so many germs and bacteria and help eliminate some of the noise in the NICU. Babies usually spend most of their time in the NICU in an Isolette, and then move to a crib right before they get to go home. The doctors and still unsure when Jaxson will get to go to an Isolette. One of his nurses told us he may be there for a few more months. He will definitely be the biggest baby in there! He is already 6 lbs 6.4 ounces. I have taken back almost all of his preemie clothes and swapped them for bigger sizes. He is getting so big!

Last week, he got his second eye exam. The doctor diagnosed him with stage 1 ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) in zone 3. This is pretty common in preemies. Most likely it will clear up on its own and his vision will be normal. He will have a follow-up visit a week from today.

Since we know he'll be there for at least 6-8 more weeks, we've contacted a few other hospitals to see about having him moved closer to our house. We are driving about 200 miles a day! Also, at St. Vincent's we cannot visit with him at night until after 8:00. If we stay for an hour and a half, we don't get home until after 10:00. I should find out more info about whether or not we are moving him by tomorrow.

Please keep praying for our little sweetie! God has already answered so many prayers, and we know he will continue to answer so many more!

Not again!

Jaxson hit the 5 lb mark this week! He is 5 lb 2.5 oz as of this morning. It looks like I will be taking some of his preemie outfits back! He was up to 15 cc of the Alimentum formula per feeding on Monday. Yesterday, we got a phone call saying they were stopping his feedings again. Apparently, the doctor thought he was having too much food left in his tummy after each feeding. He was having 1-2 cc of residual after an hour and a half. The doctor was concerned because his white blood count is back up and his platelets are still down. He got two transfusions (35cc each) of platelets last night and today. They started him on antibiotics since they think he may have an infection. They think the infection he has is due to his PICC line. This is the line where he receives his lipids, proteins, etc. After doing a little research, I found out it is very common to get an infection in PICC lines and most hopsitals make you sign a release before they will start one. Hopefully, he'll get over this infection pretty quickly and can start moving on to the next step. A lot of people think Jaxson should be able to come home now, but it will probably be another 6 weeks to 2 months before he is able to come home. He still has lots of stuff to do! He has to slow down his breathing to less than 60 breaths per minute before they even start trying to feed him from a bottle. He has to be over the infection and off antibiotics. He can't have any slight decreases in his heartrate or oxygen saturation for at least 8 consecutive days. His platelets have to be above 100,000. He has to be able to maintain his own body temperature and has to be taken off the caffeine they started giving him when he was born. He also has to get his shots up to date, and be circumsised before he gets to leave. He has another birthday coming up in little over a week! I'm trying to figure out how to make this party bigger and better than his one month party!

I love you guys and thank God for every prayer that is prayed for our family!

Up and eating again!

Sorry it's been a little while since I've posted an update. My day is spent driving (4 hours), visiting Jaxson (4 hours), working (7 hours), pumping (4 hours), taking a bath and getting ready for work (1 hour), sleeping (4 hours). That being said, I don't often find time to update his blog or respond to emails and phone calls. I try to set aside some time each week for those things.

Anyway, Jaxson is growing like a weed! He is up to 4 lbs 12 oz! Pretty good for someone whose diet consists of lipids and proteins through an IV. They are starting his feedings back today, and we are praying everything goes well with digestion! On Tuesday of this week, we were told he might not be eating for another few weeks (until he was ready to be bottlefed), but apparently they changed their minds. He won't be bottlefed just yet. Instead, he will have the OG tube that he had before. It is a tube that feeds directly into his tummy. I think they are planning to start him out at 3 cc an hour.

He came off the CPAP on Sunday and has been doing great on the cannula.

He hasn't needed any blood lately, so that is another plus. His platelets are in the 30's, but they haven't mentioned transfusing again.

Please pray for the 3 of us. Eric and I are getting so tired. And it doesn't help that we feel like nothing is being communicated clearly to us. We have tried to equip ourselves with as much medical terminology as possible, but apparently knowledge is offensive to some of the nurses. This is our son, and we want to give him the best care possible. Please pray that God will show us what he wants us to do. We have thought about moving Jaxson to a hospital a little closer to home, and it seems like God is pushing us to do that. We love you guys so much and appreciate everything you do for us!

We hope that we can someday be helpful to each one of you!

Day 37

A little update on Jaxson...

He is doing better. He is still on the ventilator, but will hopefully be off in the next day or two. When he kept dropping his heart rate last week, they decided he had to go back on something. They avoided the CPAP to give his nose a chance to heal. The nurse practitioner told us his nose is one of the worst ones she has seen. He's had these machines on there for so long, that his nose is like an open wound. It's starting to look better though. He is on several antibiotics to fight off his infection. They are treating him for NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis). They don't necessarily think he has NEC, they are just being prophylactic. His platelet count is still low. He's running in the mid 40's, but he seems to be feeling much better. He is up to 3 lbs 15 oz! He doesn't seem to mind the fact that he's not getting food again, seeing how he keeps right on gaining weight!

Please keep us in your prayers! He gave us quite a scare last week!

I was reminded last week of this song I learned as a kid:

He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars,

the sun and the Earth and Jupiter and Mars.

How loving and gracious He must be,

cause He's still working on me.

New Prayer Request

Baby Jaxson has a very bad infection. They are unsure what kind of infection it is at this time. He had a blood transfusion today. He was just put on a ventilator (he was breathing with a nasal cannula only). Lisa is unsure why he could not have gone to the c-pap instead of ventilator. She is upset and very concerned. He just turned a month old yesterday. We'll keep you posted on any updates.

Brent

Happy 1 Month Birthday!

Jaxson was a month old yesterday! It's hard to believe a whole month has gone by. People say time flies when you have kids, and they're right. We had him a party last night. We took some warm, chocolate chip cookies to the nurses, and I made him a party hat. He was moving right along, but hit a bump in the road yesterday. The doctor thinks he has an infection, so they stopped his feedings again. He was up to 10 cc per hour. His weight stayed the same from yesterday and is at 3 lb 7.9 oz. He is still at 16 1/4" long. He is now strictly on the nasal cannula to help him breathe. He is still having several episodes of apnea and bradycardia each day, but those should continue to decrease as he matures. We did get to hold him this week though. It was so exciting. I held him during my afternoon visit, and he just looked up at me the whole time. He is such a sweetie! Eric got to hold him that night, and he stared at Eric the whole time too! We love our little angel so much, and pray that God will help him to fight this infection off quickly!

A little chunk!

As you can see from Brent's post below, Jaxson is up to 3 lbs as of last night! He is still doing great! They started him back on his nasal cannula today, so hopefully he will do well with it. The nurse also received orders to increase his feedings to 4cc, which he receives over a period of 3 hours. We are so proud of our little man! We have not gotten to hold him again. It does make us sad, but also makes us excited to think about the day when we will get to hold him again.

He got another blood transfusion yesterday, and will probably need more in the next few weeks. His blood type is O+. If you would like to donate, let me know!

Also, the March of Dimes walk is coming up. I am walking in the Leeds area walk on April 28th. If you would like to walk or would like to donate, please go to our page at http://www.walkamerica.org/thegrays8605.

My friend Megan is also walking. Her page is http://www.walkamerica.org/meganpoe

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support!

Sorry for the delays - New Updates

Sorry for the delays in the updates. We have had some technical issues with the blog. Hopefully everything is working fine, now. Here are the latest updates:

Jaxson is up to 3 lbs. and is taking 1cc of breast milk per hour. He is digesting everything well and is "getting rid" of the waste as normal. Lisa says he has a good, fat face. She is doing well at work. Eric is starting a new job Monday, April 23, at an engineering firm. He will have a company vehicle (Nissan Titan), which he can also use for personal trips. I'm sure it will look great with a car seat in the back!

Also, Jaxson is coming up on another blood transfusion soon. He takes O+/-, so if any of you have this type of blood and would like to share with Jaxson you can contact Lisa via email at thegrays8605@yahoo.com or cell phone at (205) 281-5473 and let her know. Donated blood is only good for about a month, and because he is so small he can't use all of the blood from a donor before it goes "bad". And once you donate, you can't donate for another 8 weeks. So let Lisa know if you are interested in donating and she may contact you in the future when the need arises. Thanks for your prayers and hopefully Lisa will be up and posting again.

Brent

Exciting new events!

Well it's been a couple of days since I posted anything new, but we've had tons of new things happening. Tuesday, I got to change my first diaper! How exciting! I'm sure it won't be quite as fun nine or ten months from now, but I was very excited, nonetheless. Wednesday night, Eric and I got to help give him a bath! His biliruben is down to 2.9, so he is still under one light. They stopped his feedings again a few days ago because he had a little bit of residual (food that wasn't digested) on his tummy. They did another ultrasound of his belly today and will probably start feeding him again tomorrow. Tonight, Eric and I got to hold him for the first time!!! I think it was the most exciting moment since he was born! Unless you've been there, it's hard to imagine going almost 2 weeks without holding your baby. It felt so awesome! He is up to 2 lbs 5.7 oz, and felt so tiny when we held him! He just looked up at us the entire time we were holding him. I know babies can't really make out a lot of what they're seeing when they're that young, but his eyes were looking right at Eric and me when we held him. It was so sweet. I gave him his bath tonight. I love getting to interact with him.

Last night, there was an envelope in his bed from the NICU social worker. Inside was a free parking decal and a letter stating that since Jaxson was under 2 lbs 10 oz at birth, he was eligible for Medicaid and SSI benefits. The Medicaid would be supplemental to our insurance and would cover any co-pays that he has, and the SSI benefits would send us a check for about $30 a month. We figure that will at least cover us for a tank of gas! What a blessing! Co-pays can add up, and that is one less thing we have to worry about right now!

The last few days have been wonderful! One of the babies in his room got to go home today, and was exciting to watch the parents get to take her home. I can't wait for that day! Thank you so much for continuing to pray for us! We ask that you pray for Jaxson's health and growth, and for strength and energy for Eric and me. God has blessed us so much with such a sweet, healthy boy!

Time to eat again!

Jaxson is up to 2 lbs and 3.6 oz! We got several good reports from his doctors today. This morning the nurse told me they were weaning him off the CPAP tube and on to a nasal cannula. Once he is off the CPAP, we should be able to hold him! He also got a clean report from the cardiologist. The medicine they gave him to close the valve in his heart has worked to their approval. The valve is stil open, but just barely. They feel confident it will close up in the next few days on its own. They do not plan to give him any more medicine for that! What a blessing! His biliruben was down from yesterday. Hopefully, tomorrow it will be back down to a low enough level to stop the phototherapy. They plan to start feeding him again tonight, since they are through with his heart medicine. I know he'll be so excited to get to eat! They'll probably start out with 10cc again to see how he does. God is so good! We are so thankful for all your prayers and would like to ask you to pray for the other families in the NICU that we have met. Many of their stories make us sad. We are so greatful that God has given us such a blessing! I hope to have new pictures up soon! We love you all!

Weekend Update

I was discharged Friday afternoon, and I had some mixed emotions about it. I was sad to leave our little peanut, but happy to get out of the hospital. If I was there one more day, they might have had to move me to the psychiatric floor! Jaxson had lots of changes from Friday until now. His weight is back up to 2 lb and almost 2 oz. Friday, his biliruben count was low enough to stop the phototherapy lights, which meant we got to see him without his "sunglasses!" It was so exciting to see those tiny little eyes struggle to open up! They took out his umbilical line, which the doctors say is a good sign. The doctor also had a cardiologist come in to check out a murmur in his heart. The cardiologist confirmed that the murmur is from an open valve in his heart known as a PDA (patent ductus arteriosus). By the way, we are learning lots of medical terminology! Anyway, they have now given him medicine to help close this valve. The doctors say this is very common in preemies, and we shouldn't worry. We will find out this week if the valve has closed up. Saturday, we got to watch our little buddy have his first feeding. He got 10cc of formula through a syringe. They fed him a few times and realized he wasn't digesting his food all the way. They're going to try again tomorrow. Also, his biliruben went back up a little. He's back under one of the lights. Today, we went to see him and he had a blood tranfusion. He needed more blood to replace the blood cells that naturally die off, as well as the blood they have taken for labwork. We were excited because my mom got to be the blood donor. It's hard to find blood donors for preemies because they are so sensitive to certain viruses that many adults have had. We are very optimistic that the blood he received today will help him progress much faster this week. It should help with many things: his biliruben, his feeding, and his heart. We thank everyone for their prayers and hope you continue to pray for us throughout your day! God hears every prayer and is making our little sweetie stronger!
We love you guys!

From the Proud Parents!

I finally figured out how to get on here! I want to start by saying how wonderful Jaxson is doing! He is impressing lots of doctors and nurses in the NICU. His nurse said he is so fiesty! Every time they get him situated, he starts kicking around all over the place. All his extra exercising has caused him to burn off a few ounces of weight. She said that's perfectly normal. He is such a blessing! It's amazing how his strenth has helped Eric and I stay strong. If he was struggling, it might be a little harder, but he is doing so great!

Throughout this entire situation, we have been overwhelmed by the love and support from family and friends! There are not enough words to describe how greatful we are. People who we don't even know have called to check on us and let us know they were praying for us. We know that Jaxson is on prayer lists all over the country, and God hears those prayers. We may never know why he was born so early, but we do know that God has big plans for him. We are so thankful for each person who has said a prayer, brought us a meal, donated a dollar, called to check on us, cut our grass, and offered to do anything we need! It's been such a blessing to not have to worry about some of the day-to-day stuff! Every tear that Eric and I have shed has been a tear of joy, not a tear of worry! We know that there is nothing we need to worry about right now, and can focus all of our energy on Jaxson. We love and thank every person for all that you are doing for us!

My doctor just came in and said I can go home today! That is pretty exciting, since yesterday they told me I was staying until Saturday. I will be sad to be away from our little sweetie, but it will be nice to actually sleep in a real bed and use real towels to dry off after a shower!

I just called down to check on Jaxson. He is still doing great! He didn't need any oxygen all through the night. That little stinker burned off some more calories though. He weighed in at 1 lb. 15 3/4 oz. He is a little wiggle worm! His ultrasounds of his head have all came back clear, so that is great news! He continues to improve on something everyday! It's amazing!

I was also very excited yesterday, because a lady came by to ask if her daughter, Madelyn, could walk in the March of Dimes Walk next month for Jaxson. She heard his story through some friends of ours from church. How awesome that Jaxson's story is touching other children!

We love you all!
Love,
The Gray Family

Thursday Morning Update

Just a few updates this morning. I talked to Eric this morning. He is back at work today and sounded really thrilled about it (not really). I also just talked with Lisa. She will be in the hospital until Saturday. And she has resorted to READING...so you know she's bored. She has been fever free since last night, so that is good news. She, also, got to go see Jaxson yesterday evening. The little man is still plugging right along - doing great. I was, also, able to give her access to be able to post to the blog, so hopefully we will soon see her giving us some updates. I'll have more information as it becomes available.

I THOUGHT THIS PART WAS OVER!!!!!

From Stephanie:

Lisa will not be going home today. They think she has a bacterial infection. She started throwing up again last night. Lisa said, "Great. I thought this part was over!!". She is to start on antibiotics soon. She can't see the baby until her blood work comes back, depending on what it reveals. Eric took off today. Baby Jaxson continues to do great. He was off of his oxygen and breathing on his own all last night. They are to remove the breathing machine today. The next step is the plastic dome over his head. If this goes well, Eric and Lisa can hold him!!

Prayer Update

A quick update to let you know how faithful God is when his people call out to him: The NICU staff is amazed at the progress that Jaxson is making. They turned off his breathing machine this afternoon and he is breathing on his own. If he continues on this course they will totally disconnect him from the machine after 24 hours. Keep lifting them up in prayer and watch God pour out his blessing.

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From Robin Guinn

We went to see Lisa this morning, she is doing good. The plans are still on for her to be dismissed tomorrow. Eric was going to go to work this morning. Also I talked to her again about the meal plan we started. I know that Eric takes his lunch to work so instead of taking them supper they may need milk, bread, lunch meat, and things like that. She bought groceries last Tuesday but some of the stuff may be bad. Just an idea.

Also she said if you are making yourself dinner to just bring them a plate and do not go and buy them anything special. Her cell # is 281-5473. Please call her before taking anything, she may be at home or at the hospital.

She mentioned Baby Jaxson is doing good! She also mentioned that the visting hours to see him is between 10:30 - 12:00 so if you go and visit you may want to avoid the times between these hours.

Thanks everyone - you all have been so patient through all of this!
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Also, I (Brent) talked to Eric about 11:00 and he is doing fine, still tired, though. Of course, he hates not being able to be at the hospital but he is making due at work.

Late Update

Stephanie and Meg just got back from visiting with Eric, Lisa and Jaxson at the hospital. I've got a few more pictures I've posted. I'm trying not to be redundant, but these few pictures, I thought, were pretty good. Lisa is still on schedule to go home Wednesday. Jaxson's most crucial time is his first 72 hours so please continue to lift him up in your prayers, as well as Lisa and Eric. Eric is probably going back to work Tuesday. He is staying at their house tonight and will plan on heading back to work in the morning. For now, I believe that Lisa will be going to stay with her mom, since she lives closer to the hospital. Lisa and Eric are extremely appreciative of all that everyone has done and is doing to support them.

A few more pictures

Hah. I beat Brent to the pictures.

Here are a couple of pictures. He is wearing a thing on his nose that is like a sleep apnea device giving him oxygen. He is not on a ventilator, though. He was very tiny, but he has the longest legs and feet.

Lunch Time Update

I know I promised pictures by now - and I have some - but I won't be ablt to post them until a little later. Lisa is doing excellent. If you didn't know any better you wouldn't know that she just had a baby. I just missed visiting hours so I didn't get the chance to go down and see Jaxson. Visiting hours are from 10:30am-12:00pm and 8:00pm-9:00pm. If things continue to progress as they currently are it looks like Lisa will be able to come home Wednesday. Jaxson is holding up really well. He still has not had to go in the incubator. They will have to give him some blood and Eric is going shortly to give blood for him. They are taking blood from his close relatives. Eric is doing well. I'll have another update a little later with the new pictures. Also, you can leave comments on the blog by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each posting. Forgive me if my spelling is a little off, I'm trying to hurry before the laptop battery dies.

Update from Eric

Eric and his mom got to see Jaxson last night. Then this morning Eric and Lisa both got to see him. The nurse said he would probably need some blood today, but he looks great so far. Now is the time to thank God for the prayers he has answered so far. Keep praying. I hope that your trust in God is renewed like mine is. Eric said he had trouble sleeping last night because every time he closed his eyes to rest, God reminded him of His goodness and he had to get up and pray. Lisa had a good night's sleep for the first time in a long time.

A little update.

After everything settled last night, the nurses corrected us that he was 2 pounds, 8 ounces. Not 2.8 pounds. Only 3 ounces different but they said that is a big difference with a baby this age. The Apgar test which is a test given to infants to test heart rate, breathing, activity, and appearance, he scored a 8.5. Full term babies that score a 7 or better are considered to be in good health. I will update again soon.

Here is the first pic of little Jaxson. Looks like Lisa ;0)

BABY JAXSON IS HERE!!!

Jaxson arrived late last night a little before 11:00pm. Eric called a little before 10:oopm and said that Lisa had dilated completely and then called back a little after 11:00pm and said that Jaxson was here and was doing fine. He weighed in at a whopping 2.8 lbs. I will be going by at lunch and hope to have some pictures posted shortly after lunch. I will post updates regularly so keep checking back in.

Thanks for Visiting!

Thanks for visiting Baby Jaxson's blog. We will keep this blog current with information on how Lisa, Eric and Baby Jaxson are doing. Check back often as we will post updates as often as they become available.