May 29th

We have been having a TON of friends and family asking us when Jett gets to come home and we have always been replying with, "we don't know yet, time will tell". Which is partially true. For a while we were never given exact times or days on when Jett could come home. Why? Well because he's a baby and baby's do things on their own time. Meaning, Jett could get sick again or something could come up which would keep him from coming home. Jett is driving the plane at this point and really, only he will tell us when he is ready.
BUT-yesterday, we had something called a "Care Conference" with all of Jett's doctors and nurses and we sat down and talked about where Jett is at health wise, what we for see happening in the following days/weeks and of course, when he can come home.
So far, Jett continues to be tolerating his full feeds and is still breathing with assistance from the nasal cannula. He is not eating from a bottle yet and is still being fed by a tube through his mouth or nose. We haven't moved to oral feedings because of ONE, yes ONE issue. That issue is his breathing. As you all know, Jett is now considered a full term baby or an ex-preemie. But he had been intubated (breathing with a ventilator) for majority of his life. When an infant is finally able to breath on his own it can be somewhat difficult to transition because of the damage the tube can cause to his lungs. A baby that is considered full term at 36/37 weeks plus and is still in need of breathing assistance, means that they have something called Chronic Lung Disease. Unfortunately, Jett does have this. This is not something that is life threatening and will not cause life long issues. It simply means, he's been intubated for too long and that damage from that is making it more difficult for him to breath without any assistance. Obviously, there is nothing that can solve this problem except growth and time. This can take up to weeks and/or months to go away.
In order to eat from a bottle or breastfeed you must be able to show the ability to breath without little to no assistance. If we were to start breastfeeding, Jett could aspirate and the milk could get inside his lungs. This happens when baby's do not know how to multitask while breathing, sucking and swallowing.

So what do we do now?

We wait. Everyday Jett is being weaned from his nasal cannula and is gradually learning to breath without it. Once he gets the breathing down, we can start feeding from bottles and breast. This is SUPER exciting news because we now know that Jett is in really good health and these are just the last minor things that he needs to learn how to do. In our eyes, there are no health problems with our little dude and that makes us SO HAPPY!

So when can he come home?
Doctors suspect that he can come home anywhere from 4-6 weeks! (This is no longer happy dancing, it's leaping through the air like we are 3 years old)

Jett's now 6lbs. 3oz. and 17 inches long. He stays awake for 3-6 hours throughout the day at a time and loves being cuddled by momma and daddy. He flirts with his favorite nurses, enjoys bath time, but dislikes having his diaper changed 

Keep praying for us! Our NICU journey is almost done and I know Jett needs a few extra prayers to help him get through this very last hurdle!

NICU momma

Jett's momma started a blog about being a NICU mom.

www.lifeofanicumomma.blogspot.com

May 17th

This little fighter is coming a long way! His broken arm is healing back up, yet he still needs to wear the sling for another 4 weeks. Sometime in the coming days all of his cords will be taken off (except for the nasal cannula) and Jett will be a free man! He's learning to keep his temperature without assistance from a warmer and eating like a champ!

Jett weighs 5lbs 5oz and is 17 inches long-growing like a weed!

Mother's Day

Isn't it crazy? How once before children you only seemed to care about yourself, because it was all you had. And then my little boy came along, and I realized I never loved myself before, in fact, I never loved at all. Until I met him. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you to Sophia's Saving Grace Foundation for making and donating these beautiful necklaces yesterday as Mother's Day gifts.

(Sophia is an ex preemie from Children's Hospital as of 2013)

Bless your heart. 

Thank you.

Due date

Today is Jett's due date. Today he would have born, or somewhere around this day  

Our little dude is officially 40 weeks gestation and a full term baby 
Happy Pretend Birthday Jett!

May 8th

We are officially on the home stretch! Jett had his breathing ventilator removed today and is now on the nasal cannula! Big boy is breathing on his own with little assistance and is on full feedings. 

And mommy's heart is melting hearing all his squeaking and coos. He's been wide awake for the past hour, looking around, smiling, and squaking away!

Ps: Jett has a left fractured arm from not being on feeds for several months, it weakens the bones and is somewhat common to see in preemies. He doesn't seem to mind or even notice it at all though, tough cookie 

May 4th

"We've been waiting on Jett's whole life for him to poop, and now he won't stop pooping!" Those are direct words from Jett's nurse today! YAHOO!
Little Jett is officially on FULL FEEDINGS (I've got about 100 happy dances left)!
We can't believe it either! He is about 2 1/2 week post surgery and is pooping his guts out (must be his father's child) and eating everything in site! We are so proud of him and how well he is recovering. Jett is also benefitting greatly from his edema massages he receives twice a day to help work out the swelling or "third spacing" from him surgery (Everyone swells after surgery, it's normal). He had lost quite a bit of the swelling and weight in his feet, hands, belly and chest and is almost ready for his breathing ventilator to come out!

...the time is ticking people! Let's pray for baby Jett to come home soon! 

May 1st

Thank you to the Siani Hospital NICU nurses for creating a scrapbook filled with beautiful pictures of Jett while he stayed there. What a surprise! It was beautiful, and brought on the most happiest tears I've felt in a long time.

Thank you ladies for all you have done, not for Travis or I, but for our son. You showed up everyday with smiles on your faces, you became mentors, teachers, and even friends. You took care of Jett as if he were your own, and made us feel involved even when we could barely touch him. And when things got bad, you even cried with us no matter how 'unprofessional' it may have been. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We wish that those words could be enough to show our gratitude.

You are all God's angels.