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!