Original Update Posts

The little guy is looking pretty good! The nurse last night thought he looked a little pale, and his hematocrit is down, so we might be giving him some red blood cells or a transfusion from the blood daddy already gave at the hospital last week. Grandma B. came in Monday night and had the chance to meet him and hold him, and Mom and Dad held him last night for a while. He really seems to recognize when we're there—he strains to open his little eyes and look at us when we talk to him. He's doing very well with his oxygen—they expect to take him off the CPAP entirely soon and monitor how he does. He's also been eating more and more daily, and he's keeping it down and digesting it, so that's very encouraging! Have a happy Fourth, everyone!

Boy, little Jacob had a busy day yesterday! First, he had a blood transfusion from his daddy's donated blood to get his red blood cell count back to where they like it, and it was apparent in his coloring and activity last night. He was pink, alert, and very wiggly during his diaper change! He had to have his catheter reinserted for a short time so the doctors could get a urine sample, but he still seems to be passing urine well. He may have an infection from the IV that was in his arm supplying his body with electrolytes, fats, sugars, amino acids, etc—so they took the IV out and will use the less permanent IV's in different parts of his body, so the poor guy may have a few more bruises around his body. They'll do a blood culture to check for infection, but they've already started him on antibiotics just in case. After all of that, we didn't want to add to his stress by taking him out of the incubator and holding him, and the nurse agreed that was a good idea. But we still were able to talk to him and touch him and let him know we were there.

We had a very nice visit with Jacob tonight—we finally were able to provide some "kangaroo care"! We forgot our camera but the nurses in the NICU have a Sony Mavica that they use to take pictures, so we got a few that we'll upload as soon as we have enough for a full page of images. Deb was able to kangaroo with Jacob for a good while, and he really seemed to enjoy it. The doctor stopped by to speak with us, and he seems encouraged with Jacob's progress. They're going to keep upping his feedings—he went from 6cc to 7cc tonight, and they're going to try and get him up to 10cc soon. We also found out that Jacob's nurse tonight lives in the same townhome development as us! Amazing. . .we'll have someone to go see really close by if we need to once Jacob comes home!

So far, there's no sign of infection from his primary IV line, but they'll keep trying to grow the culture. He was really feisty tonight—very active and very pink! They took the CPAP off, and just have the little cannula helping him out a bit—it's so nice to be able to see most of his face and to get that snorkel off his head!

We just got back home from visiting Jacob—tonight it was Daddy's turn to do the kangaroo thing. Jacob had a new wardrobe accessory tonight—a Presbyterian/St. Luke's T-shirt that fit him like a dress. He looked great tonight, and was up to 12ccs per feeding. He's been keeping it down and digesting it well, so that's right on track. He had a rather uneventful day other than seeing mom and dad, so that's about all to report, other than we've uploaded some new pictures, and his eyes are open in a lot of them!

Another good visit with little Jacob tonight. Mom and Dad were able to hold him for quite a while. He had a couple of apneic spells (where he stops breathing for a bit) but all you have to do is just rub his back or chest to get him going again. They've upped his feedings to 12cc's every three hours (instead of every four hours) and they took him off of one of his antibiotics. Still no sign of infection in his culture—we'll hope it remains that way! He's looking great. We didn't take any pictures—it's getting to the point where we don't see the point of posting another picture of him in his isolette or us holding him. We'll just post special pictures as we take them. Don't forget to sign up for update reminders on the main page and sign the guestbook if you haven't already!

Great news! Jacob now weighs 2 lb, 5 oz! I was amazed when I found out what he weighed—I knew he was gaining weight, but didn't think it would be at that rate. He's doing very well with his feedings—he's up to 15cc's every three hours on a mixture of formula (higher caloric content) and breastmilk. They may take his IV out soon if he continues to do well on his feedings. He gets his last dose of antibiotic tonight—he didn't have an infection as previously feared, so that's yet another blessing!

Hi, everyone! Been a couple of days since the last update—we've just been wiped out after visiting Jacob and driving back and forth to Denver. But he's doing pretty well. They've upped his feedings to 21cc's every three hours, and he's tolerating it well. They had been feeding him by hanging a big syringe full of breastmilk and formula from the top of his isolette and letting gravity just feed it through his feeding tube. A couple of days ago he was spitting up a bit and had a few apneic spells, so they decided to feed him more slowly, using a pump to feed the milk to him. Since then, he's had no problems. He's a little bit edemic—his little legs are swelling up, so the doctors are going to run a test tomorrow to check his sodium levels and try to figure out why he's retaining water. His temp was kind of low tonight (36.1 C—they like to keep him at 36.5 or even a bit warmer) so we couldn't hold him or kangaroo him tonight :(.
But Dad was able to kangaroo with him last night, which was fun! He's a little trooper. They're moving him to yet another room tomorrow—he'll have been in all of them now! We've got a few good pictures—we'll upload them soon, just too tired right now. Make sure you sign up on the home page and you'll be among the first to know when new pictures are uploaded.

Deb had a doctor's appointment in Denver at 3 pm yesterday (she's doing fine, by the way!) so we dropped by to visit Jacob, of course. We were too late for his 3 o'clock care, and too early for his 6pm care (and they had a surgery scheduled for another baby at 5:30, so we wouldn't have been able to be in there for his care, anyway) so we didn't get to kangaroo or hold him, unfortunately. But it's nice to go in there and just look at him, sometimes! He's still doing well—his apneic spells have dropped some, although he had two while we were there. There was a tiny bit of blood in his stomach, so they did and x-ray to be safe, and he checked out all right. We think it was because of his feeding tube change the other night. He's a little fighter, and he did NOT like that tube going down his throat, and gave the nurse a bit of a hard time. They were going to add 2cc's of caloric content to his feedings to add to his nutrition and weight gain, but they decided to forego that to save his stomach for a day or two. He's still retaining fluid, so they increased his sodium chloride intake. Poor guy, you can tell he's swollen around his eyes (look at the latest pictures) and his legs.

He's gained three centimeters in length since his birth (he was three weeks old yesterday—Happy Birthday!). You can really tell he's growing by looking at the early pictures and the new ones. It's hard to tell when you're visiting every day, but it's apparent in the photos. We'll be visiting him tonight at his 9 pm care, and we should be able to kangaroo and hold him for a while.

Just a quick update—we just came back from Denver and visiting Jacob. He looks great! He's up to 2 lbs, 12 oz now, and he's starting to lose some of that edema that's been swelling his little face and legs. We both got the chance to hold and snuggle with him tonight, which is always great! We'll be uploading some new pictures tomorrow, so check back again tomorrow evening. There's nothing really exciting to report, which is a good thing—he's growing, doing well with his feeds and elimination, and he only had one apneic spell today. He's just got to keep it up!

Another nice visit with Jacob tonight! His umbilical cord fell off today, so that's big news to us! :) He's had his feedings upped to 25cc's over a two-hour period, and they added a couple of calories to his feeding. His weight tonight was 2 lbs, 13.5 oz. Mom held him for a while, and he certainly recognizes our voices, as he opens his eyes and looks all around when we speak to him. He had two apneic spells, but they were both for good reasons—once, his head was bent back (he sure can wiggle!) which can close off his airway, and another time they fed him too fast, so that's when they decided to slow down his feedings to span two hours. Now, if he can just get off the airway tube, we'd be really excited! He's at 23 (room oxygen is 21) and they keep trying to drop him back down to 21, but his oxygen saturation drops—he seems to like it at 23 for now, which is still good, so we're not complaining! We are fully aware of the problems he could have, and are thankful that he's doing so well.

Well, there's lots of news this update! And all good news! First, Jacob was moved to the Graduate Nursery on Thursday afternoon! That's a big step, and a nice present for his one-month birthday. He's moved up four floors to a bigger nursery with lots of room. It's quieter up there, too. His oxygen was changed from high-flow to low flow, which is another big bonus—he's been switched from an oral feeding tube to a nasal feeding tube, which means we are now able to see his mouth unobstructed for the first time! He's a rather good-lookin' boy, if we do say so ourselves. Instead of the 3-hour feeding at 25cc's, they decided to go with a two-hour feeding at the same amount. He's still spitting up a bit, but he's gaining weight and he didn't have any apnea or bradychardia spells today. We've been holding him and taking lot's of pictures, as you can see from the latest uploads. And we managed to get his cry recorded and converted—it's on the home page. Keep checking back, folks!

Hmm, been a while between updates, so I'd better knock one out real quick. . .there's good news and not-so-good news. First, the good news—Jacob is off the low-pressure oxygen and is on room oxygen, and he's doing well with it—his saturation numbers are right up around the 100% range! So, no more tube in the nose, which he delighted in pulling out anyway. The not-so-good news is that on Monday the doctors and nurses thought he looked pretty swollen in the belly area, so they did a blood gas and an x-ray. The blood test showed elevated levels of (something technical) which indicates an allergy, and they're thinking the little guy may be allergic to milk! So they stopped his feeds completely while he recovers (he's getting nutrients through an IV) and they'll try the milk again when he's better and see what happens. The x-ray did NOT indicate NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis) but they are going to keep a sharp eye on him. They also started antibiotics again in case of infection, just to be safe.

Jacob looked very well last night, although he was understandable VERY fussy due to his hunger. He has quite a set of lungs on him! He calmed down quite a bit when we held him and helped him suck on his pacifier. We'll see him again tonight and report and post some new pictures later. Keep him in your prayers!

We've been visiting Jacob every night, and he seems to be getting much better. He's on a different formula now with very little dairy, and they've upped his feedings from 3cc every 3 hours to 6cc's, and he's been tolerating it well. His tummy is measuring right with no distension, so they'll keep upping his feeds a bit and then try him on the milk again and see if he tolerates it—they're thinking that it was either a fluke before when he had trouble or he is allergic to milk, so we'll figure that out soon enough! He's looking good, and we're enjoying the time to hold him and snuggle with him. We bought him a little preemie suit (see the pics with the blue onesie) and he practically swims in that, but he'll grow into and out of it soon enough! He's doing great on the room oxygen—they actually removed the sensor, so that's one less tube he's hooked up to. He still has the IV since they need to give him his IV nutrition and lipids, and he'll be on that until they can figure out what kind of formula he needs to be on. His apnea and bradycharia episodes are pretty few and far between these days, but he still has a bit of a problem regulating his body temperature. Once he can do that and can feed with a bottle, he should be ready to come home! Keep your fingers crossed!

Not a whole lot new to report—his feeds are up to 17cc's per hour, and he's still doing well. He's still kinda puffy from water retention, but he looks pretty good. His weight gain in the last few days has been incredible, which is why they think most of it is water retention. He was 3lbs, 9oz last night, gaining close to 150 grams per day! But he's been voiding well, so they'll just keep checking him out to make sure he's not having a problem. He's really cute when we hold him—he usually sleeps, and he gets these little grins on his face—of course, it's probably just gas or something, but we like to think he's having pleasant dreams and enjoys hearing our voices! We have a few new pictures, but haven't uploaded them yet. Check back soon!

Jacob is still doing well. His feeds have been upped to 30cc's every three hours, so he's back on a full feeding schedule. The nurse told us last night that he acts like he is ready to bottle-feed, so we'll be trying that soon! All of these are steps that bring us closer to taking him home! He's looking pretty good—still a bit swollen from water retention, but I've seen him looking worse, so we hope he's improving. His doctors do not seem all that concerned, so we hope that's a good sign. He's still filling his diapers pretty good, so we're just waiting for his body to catch up and start getting rid of the water. His weight is fluctuating pretty wildly these days, but he's right around 3lbs, 8 oz. He's gettin' big! :)