Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Gerson's birthday and we decided to go see Jayden. What could be more special than that? 
Jayden felt right at home in Daddy's arms. He was as relaxed as could be.
Although Jayden now weights 6 lbs 13 oz, he still fits cozily in Daddy's big hands.
Daddy's present from Jayden? Three BIG smiles while we played with him with his soccer rattle. No kidding. It really happened and we captured all three smiles on film!!! It was a great birthday gift to Daddy!

Jayden continues to do well. He is up to 10 ml/hr. on his feedings. He has 5 more ml to add before he's to his full feedings. Please pray that he will continue to digest this formula and adjust to the added ml(s). 

He is still on oxygen, but it's a very low percentage. He was on 6 liters of flow, but the doctors have dropped that down to 4 liters, which is where he is staying for the time being.  We are seeing improvement each time we visit him. Thanks for your continued prayers. He's such a strong, little guy! We are praising the Lord for touching his body and we thank you for your love, prayers and support during this time. We love you all.

Let It Snow!!!

Winter has welcomed us to Indiana! I am thrilled (although fellow Hoosiers probably aren't!) that we are having a hard winter. Gerson has never seen so much snow and I haven't seen it for a long time. We are enjoying it and have taken time to be out in it when the temperature has cooperated.
We have a small pond on the church property where we are living. When it froze over, we walked out onto it; Gerson was thrilled that we were able to do such a thing! Using a shovel, Gerson carved out "Betsy, I love you!" in the snow. What a romantic! 
Then we both worked together and carved Jayden's name in the snow. Of course, the whole time we were doing all of this, one of us was using the video camera and filming it all. We're making great memories!
Just a few days ago we got a huge amount of snow -- about 7 inches!! Once again, Gerson was amazed. By this time, we had bought him coveralls, so he was ready to go out in the cold and do the shoveling.
He shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled. He had a blast.
Then we went on a walk through the snow. As with so many things, it was fun to see this experience through Gerson's eyes.

On a side note, here's a funny story, but it will also help you realize what a challenge it is to learn a new language. We were in a WGM meeting and the man speaking said, "If you have any questions, LET US KNOW." Gerson turned to me and started singing, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." I gave him a puzzled look and he said to me in Spanish, "That's what he said --- 'Let it snow.'" It is when things like that happen that I realize how difficult it really is for him as he tries to learn English. Please pray for him as he adjusts to this culture and continues to learn English. I can honestly say this -- there is never a dull moment! He does keep me on my toes!

Training Has Begun

I was resting in my bed when I looked up and saw I had company! Mommy and Daddy had walked into the room. I was so happy to see them! Little did I know what they had in store for me.
Daddy came to me and after loving on me a little bit, gave me a pep talk. Since the occupational therapist had just left, Daddy thought it was HIS turn to help me "work out" my muscles.
We started by warming up. Daddy held my arms and helped me lift them several times. He explained that he didn't want me to pull any muscles or hurt myself. I guess warming up is VERY important before doing any kind of exercise. I'm glad my Daddy knows his stuff!
After my warm-up, Daddy put the rattle "barbells" in my hands. Whooo. It was tiring to try to lift them. Notice the soccer rattle. I think Daddy is trying to tell me something.
I soon wore myself out. Holding onto rattles and trying to lift them is hard work!
I was glad to be done with my workout. My reward was to get to cuddle with Mommy for a little bit. 
Ohhhhh. This is wonderful. I think I might just fall to sleep in Mommy's arms . . . . 

Yet Another Update

Jayden is doing very well!! Although his skin remains with a tint of yellow due to the continued levels of billiruben in his liver, his coloring is slowly returning to normal. His billiruben levels continue to go down as he tolerates the formula milk he is currently receiving.

He is up to 8 ml/hour of milk and so far so good! Please pray that he continues to digest this formula. The doctors are SLOWLY increasing his feedings and the goal is to get to 15 ml/hour. We are at the level of feeds now where always before he has developed problems. We are praying and trusting that this time is able to digest with no problems. 

He continues to grow at a normal rate for his age. He is currently about 6 lbs. 6 oz. He's getting to be a big boy!

His airway is doing remarkable well! It has been about a week and half since he had his last "blue" episode --- where his breathing rate and heart rate drop dangerously low. He continues to be on the two nasal cannula, which is on a high rate of air flow to help keep his airway open. He also sometimes has to have oxygen, although he remains at low levels  ---  any where from room air to 28% oxygen. 

He is still receiving nitric through his cannula to control the high blood pressure to the lungs. The doctors will begin weaning him from the nitric as he continues to tolerate his feedings. Then they will give him another medicine that will go through his stomach to help with the high blood pressure. All his heart tests have shown that the blood pressure is completely under control and that no permanent damage has been done. We are so thankful!

So, all in all, he is improving every day. Thanks for you continued prayers and words of encouragement. We are thrilled! We know he still has some hurdles to overcome, but we remain hopeful. Thanks for continuing to follow our journey.

Resting Easily

Adorable. Enough said.

Jayden now gets "sit up" time. This chair belongs to the hospital and he's supposed to spend some of his awake time in this chair. As you can see, he hasn't figured out he's supposed to stay awake!

Aunt Jamie finally got to hold Jayden yesterday!!! He's was as thrilled as she was! He even honored her by waking up and showing off his beautiful brown eyes!

Lots of snuggling happened as he snoozed, as happy as a lark.

And Mommy got to get some loving in as well. I got to hold him for a LONG time. I also changed a very dirty diaper (which we all get excited about!) and gave him a sponge bath. I also got "baptized" during his bath when he decided he had some unfinished business to take care of --- and of course he was without a diaper! Lots of bonding took place. I think we wore him out! He was back to snoozing before we left the room.

The Hospital Hilton

This week Jayden moved to the Hospital Hilton!! He now has a private room! He loves it and is now even more convinced he is a prince.  He still has the same soccer jerseys scattered around the room for decoration.

The room is more spacious than his last "room." He even gets his own refrigerator --- it's tucked back in the corner behind me.  There's also a window so he can look outside. He has now seen the real light of day!
The doctors and nurses decided this would be a good move for Jayden since he is getting older. In this room, it's possible to control the temperature and lights, so it will be easier to get him into a sleeping schedule and allow him to adjust a bit more before coming home. It's a good move! Hopefully he won't be in there too long, though. We're still anxious to bring him home!