Jordan is THREE weeks old!!!! 6-29-12

Jordan is three weeks old today!!  I am amazed at how far he has come and how much he has overcome and accomplished in these three weeks of life.  God is so awesome and has blessed us immensely with this little boy.  This little fighter born at only 23 weeks gestation weighing only 12.3 ounces has survived when all the numbers were against him.  You call this chance?  Definitely not! This is a miracle given to us by God.  God has great plans for this little boy and wants us to use his story to reach people for God’s kingdom.  If you are reading this I truly hope you will look toward God with us and join us in thanking Him and glorifying Him for His great and awesome power.  He is the one who sustains us, loves us, strengthens us, and blesses us. 

Jordan is doing great today.  His respiratory condition is slowly improving.  Yesterday he was having a few issues with urinating and low blood pressure.  Today those issues are improving from yesterday.  Last night, Jordan got his new feeding tube put in.  This tube sits just past his stomach and allows the doctors to feed him a greater volume of milk while lowering the risk for reflux.  Reflux of the milk is not good because it goes into his lungs and causes his lung condition to worsen.  There were no complications during the procedure of inserting the new tube.  He was so cute today (of course I think he is cute every day!).  I enjoyed my hand cuddle time.  At first he was squirming around a bit but then he realized that my touch was different than that of a procedure that needed to be done.  It was nice to just watch him relax at my touch and make faces at mine and Jacob’s voices.  We are so in love with him!  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that this would be our lifestyle and that we would be blessed so much through this journey.  We have about three and a half more weeks until the doctors will try to take the ventilator out.  I am so looking forward to this because once he is stable off of the ventilator, then we will get to hold our sweet bundle.  For now, he needs to concentrate on gaining weight and maturity for his body.  This still is a daily struggle for him and things can change at any moment.  He will have good days and bad days but we know that God is holding him in His arms and that God’s plans are perfect.  I pray that God would continue to strengthen him and help him to improve.  I pray so hard that Jordan would be able to live a long and healthy lifestyle.

Some of the things make me laugh with him being in a Japanese hospital.  We have been doing so great with communication and translating but sometimes it does get difficult.  Today I was asking the doctor if I was allowed to take Tylenol for a headache.  I know normally it is acceptable but since Jordan is so premature, some of the medications normally acceptable are not acceptable for our situation.  Well no one understood what Tylenol was.  This made us laugh since Tylenol is so popular in the states.  The doctor had to look it up before he could give me an answer.  I am so thankful though that the doctor cares so much about trying to find solutions for us even when he does not understand.  I am very happy with the quality of care that Jordan is receiving.  I hope that we can be great testimonies to the doctors and nurses. 

Jason had a great day today.  He played with some wonderful friends that offered to watch him today and we were told that he had a blast.  Everyone tells us how well behaved he is at their houses and then when we get in the car, not five minutes later he is throwing a tantrum about something.  We were starting to wonder if all the babysitters are lying about how well behaved he is being.  LOL.  Just kidding.  I am glad that he is so well behaved for others.  We took Lucy girl to the dog park this evening and Jason had a blast chasing the bugs and ants around.  He has also been slightly obsessed with Cars the movie lately.  He has a Lightning McQueen race car that he likes to play with.  He calls it “Fighting the King”.  Close enough right?!  He really is such a boy and we are so blessed to have him!

I am looking forward to having both of my boys at home.  It will be so nice when we can just all four be a family.  I am confident that God is going to continue to bless Jordan so that he will someday be able to come home.  It is crazy to think that Jordan is three weeks old already and we have never even held him in our arms.  I really ask for patience as we wait for that moment.  May God make it perfect and special for us. 

Lord, I glorify your name that Jordan is three weeks old.  I am so thankful that you have blessed us with this child and I hope that we make you proud with our testimony of his life.  We are so underserving of this miracle but so grateful for the chance to work for you in this way.  I ask that you continue to bless him and strengthen him.  Allow his body to mature and develop quickly.  Help him to gain the weight that he needs to keep his body warm and allow him to continue to grow and improve.  Bless his little lungs and work on those to allow him to breathe on his own sooner rather than later.  We know that your timing is perfect.  We ask that you would astonish the doctors with his accomplishments and your miracles through his body.  We also ask that you would give us the chances to praise your name in front of the doctors and nurses and that you would allow this to plant a seed in their hearts so that they may be able to know you.  We thank you that the new feeding tube was inserted with no complications.  Thank you for blessing the doctors with a steady hand and great wisdom.  Please be with Jason as he continues to be the silly little boy that he is.  Thank you for the laughter, smiles, and happiness that he brings into our lives.  We ask that you would give us patience in our lives and allow our attitudes to reflect a godly spirit of your love.  Provide us safety as we travel back and forth and give us strength as this process is physically tiring.  Lord, thank you so much for the amazing friends that have become family.  You have provided so much love for us through your people and we are so honored to know them.  Lord please be with us as we work on getting all the paperwork under control to get Jordan’s birth registered and get him all the documentation he needs.  You know what we need to do and when we need to do it.  We ask that you would help us to not procrastinate on these important processes.  Thank you for your grace, power, and love.  Give us rest and peace as we sleep and strength while we are awake.  You are an amazing God.  In your name we pray, Amen.