Today is a big day for
Jordan…He is 100 days old ONE HUNDRED!!!
Seriously though the only reason I know that is because I have to list
how many days old he is on my pumping log.
But what a little blessing he is!
He has survived against all odds and is doing great and moving in the
right direction. We are so impressed
with him and with Gods power to sustain him.
I really did not imagine that my life would turn out like this but I am
so amazed at watching God work. My plans
for my life were not even close to Gods plans.
And guess what? Gods plans are way better anyway!
We have been pretty
busy the last few weeks. This past
Monday Jordan was transferred to an open bassinet rather than the
incubator. We spend a lot more time at
the NICU now. It is hard to walk away
and be without him. He is able to
interact with us so much more and we are able to connect with him. I know this sounds crazy but it is actually
starting to feel like he is a real baby.
Of course he has always been a real baby but the levels of connection
that we are now getting is the best! It
is so awesome to be able to cuddle him every day and to love on him. He makes those cute little baby faces that
everyone loves! You seriously just want to stare at him for hours. Especially while he is cuddled in your arms
and making all those very cute new baby noises!! I seriously just want to share him with the
world but I can’t. He has to stay in
that room for awhile yet. I can only
imagine how spoiled this little boy is going to be in the future. I mean Jason is really spoiled and he was
full term. I love my little boys so
much. They make my heart full and
happy. Beyond full and happy. Like overflowing!
Jordan’s issues the
past few weeks are with his eyes and his weight gain. He is has been diagnosed with Stage two ROP
in his left eye and stage three mild ROP in his right eye. They do not need to operate at this time but
if it gets any worse then they will need to.
It is as good thing that they don’t need to operate because since he is
still on the CPAP, he would have to go back on the ventilator for them to do
the eye surgery. This is because he
would need to be sedated. In other
words, it would be like taking a few steps back rather than forward. They will do this if it is necessary for his
eyesight but right now it is now. He
still has his eyes checked twice per week to make sure things are stable and
not progressing further.
Jordan is currently on
CPAP. He has recently moved to full CPAP
mode. Before he was getting occasional
mandatory breaths through the CPAP machine because he would tire easily with
trying to breathe on his own. He is
doing really well now with breathing on his own. His lung damage is severe. He was on the ventilator for such a long
time. But his lungs can and are healing
themselves. How amazing are our bodies
that they regenerate cells to repair organs.
God’s creation really is awesome.
Anyways, his lungs are healing but he needs to grow so that they can
heal more quickly. As his lungs heal he
will be able to take deeper breaths and will tire less often. His breathing has become pretty strong in the
last week and he is able to stay on just the CPAP setting most of the
time. His oxygen is down to about 26-28%
concentration. Room air is 21% so this
is fantastic news. Drs are hoping that
when he is able to come off of CPAP then he will not need any oxygen
support.
The main concern right
now is Jordan’s lack of growth and weight gain.
He has been gaining and then losing in a cycled pattern. He needs to be gaining steadily and
evenly. There are a few reasons as to
why he isn’t gaining. One, he is working
harder to breathe on his own and his body has been fighting infections and
inflammation. All of this takes energy
so he may be burning all his calories.
Two, he has been on antibiotics for awhile because of all his infections
and this can cause his body to not absorb the calories and nutrients as well as
it should. We just specifically ask that
you would pray over this issue and ask God to work in Jordan’s life. Weight gain is an all around benefit for
Jordan and necessary for his health. The
doctors have added a supplement to my milk to give it more calories. They are also giving him really large
feedings. He is getting 33 ml eight
times per day and this is considered a big portion for his size. I also think that it could partly be because
he may have inherited his daddy’s metabolism.
Jason and Jacob both have really fast metabolisms and eat a lot! I am looking forward to when we can begin
breast feeding because then Jordan can eat until he is satisfied rather than
just eat based on statistics. This week
we are going to try to get him to latch on.
I am really nervous about this but excited as well. We can’t let him try to drink the milk by
mouth until he is off of the CPAP but we can let him practice. The CPAP is a constant flow of pressure that
is opening up his airways. If he were to try to swallow he could choke. So it is best to wait.
The doctors have pushed
our transfer back a few weeks so that Jordan’s lungs can have extra time to
prepare for the flight. We are confident
that he is receiving great care where we are and we know that God has it all
planned out and these changes were necessary.
Jacob has been busy doing a lot of paperwork for his orders. There was a confusion last week where he had
new orders to a different place but those were taken care of quickly. We are still heading to McChord. We are really excited for our new adventure
but we know that God’s timing is perfect and we will get there when we need
to. We are working with the exceptional
family member program faculty to get things set up as much as possible to make
it a smooth transition. We are still
hoping to be there in time for thanksgiving! It really all depends on Jordan
and his progress so far.
Jason is doing
great. He has such an imagination and he
is becoming so good at communication. It
is really enjoyable to be able to have big conversations with him. It is also really adorable to watch him have
conversations with his little friends. I
love little people! This is why I want to teach. Kids are simply amazing and I have such a big
heart for them. Jason’s potty training
is going pretty well. I think that if we
were more consistent with it then he would have it down perfect by now but with
our schedules we tend to forget. He goes
on the potty pretty much every time we ask him to. Now we just need to work on him only going in
the potty and telling us that he needs to go.
Step one is good now on to step two.
He will get there. I just know
it! We are not in a rush either so that helps.
We also have some amazing babysitters that are so willing to help us out
with his potty training. What a blessing
the Wark family has been to us. I cannot
express how beyond grateful we are that they care for and love on our boy many
times per week. We are going to miss them
as well as our other great friends when we leave.
Jacob and I are doing
well. We get frustrated sometimes and
have our moments of “That’s just not fair!” LOL but for the most part things
are going smoothly. We are really amazed
by Gods miracles and the work He is doing in our family. We have been able to spend a lot of time
together that would not have been possible without our current situation. I really love how much closer we have
grown. All the mommies that were due
around the same time as I was are now starting to give birth. It is sometimes hard because I know that I
should still be pregnant. This is where
the “its not fair” moments come in. All
the babies are so cute though and I praise God that those babies are healthy. Every new life is a miracle and a
blessing. We just had the opportunity to
watch our baby develop on the outside of the womb and we are forever changed
and forever better. My heart is full and
my cup overflows. Gods blessings are truly
great.
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