8/26- Jaxon's a big boy now! He is dressed in real baby clothes! He is a tiny little guy, but the outfit fits good:)

8/29- Jaxon is 3weeks and 3days old!

Jaxon is doing pretty good overall! He has been having some issues with his oxygen saturation's dropping and having some heart rate drops. This could be related to prematurity. The medical team also thinks it could be related to him still being on a fentanyl continuous drip. He has been on it for only about a week, ever since surgery. The doctors have been unsuccessful in weaning the dosage. They have tried but he gets really agitated so they had to turn it back up! They started another medication today that he gets every 6 hours and they are hoping to start weaning the Fentanyl, I am hoping tomorrow. They also are thinking that his breathing tube is being positional and causing him to have the heart rate drops.
He is also wanting to hold on to the vent support. They have been able to make some weans but are currently stuck. The DR today said that maybe next week they may talk about starting a few doses of steroids to help decrease inflammation and give him that little push to be able to get off that vent. So basically he is just being a bit stubborn. He is keeping us on our toes and keeping mom from getting sleep!

8/27- Jaxon is 3weeks 1 day old!
Sorry it has been so long since an update! It has been a busy week. Jaxon had surgery to close the PDA on Monday. He tolerated it very well and only required a few adjustments on his vent. The surgeon told us that the PDA was very large and no medication would have ever closed it. So surgery was the best thing we could have done. He also told us that after a few days we should start seeing improvements. Well yesterday he had a great day! They made a few weans on his vent!!! And he tolerated them very well. He is in about 45% oxygen (this is good compared with the 70% he was in after surgery). We also got to dress him for the very first time yesterday! So for the past few days he has just been cruising along, nothing really significant has happened. On Wednesday the NICU made the BIG move to the new unit in the Milestone building. I was there when they moved Jaxon to his new room. It is awesome. He tolerated the move and we are loving the privacy of his own room. Before the unit was 4 big rooms with about 8-9 babies in each. Now its individual rooms within a neighborhood. Its awesome. So much more quite. He has tolerated feedings as well. Right now they just feed him through a feeding tube and when he is about 32weeks gestational age they will offer him the bottle. Babies don't develop the suck, swallow, breath coordination until about 32-34weeks. Sorry the post is not more detailed but really he is doing pretty good. We still have a long bumpy road ahead of us, but we will get there! Thanks again for all the positive thoughts and prayers. PS, if anyone wants to come see Jaxon, let me know and we could arrange something (just stay away if your sick, and no kids!!).

8/17- Jaxon is 12days old!!! Jaxon has been having a pretty good week so far. He is still on the ventilator. but has lower settings. They tried to take out his breathing tube last Friday and trial him on CPAP. However, after three hours he tired out and they had to put back in the breathing tube! My thoughts are that by the end of the week he will be on CPAP (at least that's what I am praying for)! He has an infection, ecoli multi drug resistant, in his tracheal aspirate and in his blood. They started him on a stronger antibiotic that he will get 14 to 21days. The infection is probably the reason why he was tiring out on the cpap. His jaundice level is finally down and he is no longer sunning under the blue lights!!! We get to see more of his face and see his eyes more frequently. Jeff and I both got to hold him for the first time this past week! It was awesome! We loved it and I think Jaxon liked it also!!! I am hoping to hold him again tonight! He is slowly gaining weight. He bounces back and forth between his birth weight and a few grams one way or the other. They rechecked yesterday to see if his PDA was still open (the fetal pathway that would close on a term baby after birth). Well it was, even after one round of meds. So they started another round of IV meds yesterday, hopefully that will close it! They are also rechecking his head sono at some point today, just to make sure nothing has changed! Thanks to everyone for all the positive thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to all three of us to know we have such great friends and family!

Sorry the post took so long...sometimes my computer and I fight!

8/11 - Jaxon is 6days old, Almost a whole week:)
Jaxon has been having pretty ok days the past few days! He still is having some blood come up from his breathing tube, but not at much as before. He still does have a large PDA (that open fetal pathway the would normally close right after birth on a term baby). When the pda is still open, the blood shunts through the body different. The doctors seem to think that as soon as that PDA closes, the bloody stuff from the breathing tube will stop (hopefully). So today all his lab work was good, and they are going to start IV medication in hopes to close that PDA! He was having a hard time keeping his platelet count up so he has had to receive platelets a few times. His head sono has been good as well. He has a small grade 1 on the left side of the brain (which will normally go away on its own) and normal on the right!!! They probably wont recheck the head sono for a while (this is normal practice). He is being treated with antibiotics for 7 days just because I was ruptured for so long. They are also hoping to do a spinal tap this afternoon, just to make sure no infection there. He is looking better each and every day! He is no longer swollen and the bruising is getting much better. We just need his jaundice level to go down so he can come out from under the blue lights and we can see his face and eyes more. We are being very patient though! We just want what best for out little guy. Jeff and I are going to be going up to see him tonight! We can't wait. Hopefully in the next couple weeks he will be off the vent and we can hold him! I am anxious to hold him, as I have not got to at all yet. But again, I want to do the best thing for my precious boy! Thanks to everyone for all the positive thoughts and prayers! Jaxon still has a tough road ahead of him, but he is a strong little thing!

8/8- Jaxon is 3days old! I am HOME, but not Jaxon...
Jaxon had a very rough day yesterday..he had some bleeding from his breathing tube, but that seems to have cleared up. All his labs had come back ok, but they gave him some plasma for preventative measures. Then late in the night they gave him some platelets and regular blood for low blood counts. His was up in oxygen and they talked about switching him to a different ventilator. His chest xray was looking a little crummy also. Well later that night when I called they had done a repeat xray and it was looking slightly better and they were just going to keep him on the same vent! YAY! Today was a bit better for him! All of his blood gases were fine and no changes were made on the vent. He is still requiring a descent amount of oxygen but are able to turn him down at times. He is peeing good and is not as swollen as he was before! His bili levels are coming down, slowly, but getting there! He is still under two blue lights for the bili level! My precious boy is a fighter. He just need time for his lungs to mature. They are going to repeat the head sono tomorrow (praying for no change), and recheck his heart to see if that PDA has closed (praying it has). Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers. It means a lot. Jaxon is going to need many prayers for a long time to come.

8/6- Jaxon is 1 day old!! He is having a pretty good day so far! His brain sono was just immature but no bleeds! YAY! Were are both so excited for that one. They will recheck the head sono at some point, hopefully it stays good! He is still on the vent but settings are fairly low and he is not requiring very much oxygen. Go Jaxon:) He does have a moderate PDA (the duct that has to be open in order to sustain life in utero, but should close right after birth in a term baby, a common issue a preemie deals with) they will just watch it for now! He will get 7 days of antibiotics, because I was ruptured for 29days. They are also hoping to do a spinal tap sometime after Monday! The little stinker had to get blood today for low counts, but they came back up this after noon after the blood! His bilirubin levels (the jaundice level) was up a bit so he gets to suntan under the pretty blue light! Poor little thing got a cut during delivery (prob just from the OB helping during delivery, not a knife cut or anything) in his left armpit, so he got 4 stitches. What a rough start to life! He is still on the Dopamine for blood pressure stabilization (hopefully off in the next couple day) and on an insulin drip because of high blood sugars (hopefully off tonight or tomorrow). He is a bit sleepy because of the MAG that I got, but he was starting to come around a bit later today! We love him very much and cant believe that we are really parents. We love it!

8/6 -- Baby arrived yesterday! 30days in the hosp (but no longer on bed rest!!) Well it all started a few nights back. I had a sono Tuesday and started cramping later that evening (the maternal fetal doc said she thought it was just irritation from the pressing during the sono). Well come Wednesday evening the cramping continued and they were a bit more intense. So the resident on call checked to see if I was dilating anymore, which I was not!! She then called my OB and discussed the plan. The OB said she just wanted to watch me and see what happened. I told my RN I thought that plan was unacceptable because that was what they said the night before, and this time the pain was worse and pretty regular (about every 5-10min). So the RN got ahold of my OB and decided to start magnesium (the medication to hopefully stop the contractions). That night was terrible. The mag makes you feel just awful and the contraction hurt really bad and kept waking me up throughout the night. Well Thursday morning rolls around and the high risk OB came to see me and made the decision to move me over to the labor and delivery unit. Good thing because I was dilated to a 4!! Well at about 4:30pm my OB checked me again and she said it was time to deliver, the baby was right there! So after about 10 minutes of pushing, Jaxon Edward was born:) He weighed 2lbs 2oz. He is currently on a ventilator with pretty low settings, he needed some blood this morning, a medication to help support his blood pressure, and just a smidge of insulin. He just needs to wake up and smell the coffee and get his act together! We have a long bumpy road ahead of us, but we will get there!

8/4 (25 5/7 weeks) 28 days in the hospital!!! Very rough day today... Started to feel some cramping last night, they checked me to see if I was dilating any but I wasn't. The pain was only about every 20 minutes. They started me back on the IV fluids and just kept an eye on things. Then this evening the contractions were becoming more regular, about every 5 minutes. The checked me again, no more dilation! The monitor was not picking up any contractions, but I'm told it does not always. So long story short, they started me on Magnesium Sulfate (the med to stop contractions). So now the contractions are anywhere from 5-10 minutes apart and hurt! Hopefully in the morning things will be better, maybe giving the med the night to take affect. Baby looks good though! Sono yesterday looked really good. Baby weighs approx. 1 lb 12 oz! And the fluid level was at 4.9 (I'm told normal is about 10), and there was a nice pocket around the face, this is good for the lung development!! The doctors were very very happy and very pleased with what they saw!! Thanks to every one who is praying for us! And thanks to everyone who has visited!!
Got some very cute sheets for my bed, a wonderful coworker of mine got them for me! It brightens up the room, not so much white!!! Bed rest stinks, but again totally worth it. I have to make the right decisions for my baby since baby cant make decisions for its self!

8/1 (25 2/7 weeks) 25 days in the hospital. Overall a pretty good weekend. Had some very mild cramping on Friday and a few contractions showed up on the monitor. The resident checked to see if I was dilating any more. She said no more that a 1-2!! They went ahead and gave me a one time dose of a medication to calm the uterus down and stop any contractions. I think it must have worked, because no more contractions since:) The doctor said today that the baby's heart rate on the monitors are looking really good, more matured. It was even mentioned that the strips are looking so good, it appears as if the water never broke (even though ours did, the strips are just looking that good). Hopefully the baby can keep up the good work:) I got moved to a much bigger room, they call it the princess suite! Its much bigger, much nicer! Well another weekend passed and hopefully many more to come:)