JACK-O-LANTERN

Yo my peeps! JD here, sorry I haven posted in a while but I have been busy noshing and snoozing (like you do anything more productive). As you can see this is the first of many holidays that my parents torture me by dressing me up in some ridiculous outfit. Is it too much to ask for a tee shirt and a comfy pair of designer jeans. As you can see by my face, I put up the best fight that I could, but hey I am less than 3 months old and have limited motor control.

Anyway, in the vein of halloween and the TRICK-OR-TREAT spirit, I have a little trick planned for my parents tonight. Yup, revenge is not best served cold, rather 4:00 AM works just fine. So, my plan will start in the wee hours of the morning when my parents are so tired that they can barely stand. This is when I hit them with my first strike, I will start screaming and crying at the top of my lungs. Now, this is good revenge in itself, but the crying and screaming is just to set the stage for my second wave of attack. Yup, you guessed it, when one of my parents goes to change me (barely awake) I plan on giving them an early morning wake up shower. They are so out of their league, but I will have fun messing with them for years to come.

Happy Halloween! - JDP

My First Trip

Okay - we didn't leave the state of Wisconsin but we did go on a road trip this weekend to take in the beautiful fall foliage in Dodgeville. We had a lovely visit with Brindi touring the family farm and snapping lots of photos of leaves, oh yeah and Jackson too. He did well on the four hour drive round-trip so here's hoping he's a good traveler.

Healthwise Jackson continues to do well and this week is up to 7 lbs. 11 ozs. Because he is making good progress this will likely be our last week with the home health nurse which means the end of the regular weight gain updates. This week's photos should get you in the spirit of the season. Although Jackson likely won't trick or treat this year mom and dad still plan to torture him with seasonal clothes. Stay tuned for Halloween pictures soon.

Due date?

Tomorrow, October 21st was Jackson's due date and we can't believe he will be ten weeks old! He continues to grow at a steady pace now weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 ozs. He is still getting regular visits twice a week from his friendly nurse. This week he'll get a follow up eye exam to make sure he has not developed retinopathy a common but treatable issue for preemies. And Jackson still wears a belt around his chest connected to a monitor to alert his parents of any issues breathing or with a slow heart rate. Thankfully there have only been a few middle of the night alarms causing us to jump out of bed and check on the little guy.

Besides doctors appointments Jackson has been keeping busy meeting family and friends. Last weekend he got to meet his Uncle Billy and venture out of the house touring the museum and eating at some Milwaukee hot spots. Friends stop by to meet Jackson and get in some quality holding time. We look forward to introducing him to all of you sometime soon. Until then enjoy the photos.

Life at Home

With Jackson home now we are all adjusting to life with an infant. The nurses spoiled us and he is trained to eat every 3 hours. He's a good eater continuing to gain weight. As part of his follow up care a nurse comes to visit twice a week to check his weight and vitals just to make sure all is well. Today Jackson weighed in at a hefty 6 lbs 8 ozs continuing to make up for his preemie birth weight very nicely.



It's a relief to be home after the two month hospital stay and enjoy the trivial routine of a new baby. We have become quick studies at bottle washing and sterlizing, mastering the diaper change without incident and negotiating bathtime. And Jackson even got out this weekend with a brief stroll around the neighborhood. It's getting chilly so he was all bundled up to check out Tosa.

Homecoming

Big news - Jackson came home yesterday! Today he is two months old and just over six pounds which is tremendous progress. Our journey began August 12th when he arrived early at just 30 weeks gestational age. At a mere 2.5 pounds with issues maintaining his heart rate and breathing on his own he is now a strong little boy. Just to be safe doctors did send him home with a monitor to make sure he doesn't have any alarms and so far all has been fine.



Needless to say we are grateful to be home after eight long weeks in the hospital. We snapped some photos of his first ride in the car and getting settled at home. Dad spoiled him today with a giant teddy bear to welcome him. We are so grateful for the support of family and friends who have been rooting for him since birth. Now comes the sleepless nights and time to be a family.

Countdown is On

Progress is steady but slow. This week Jackson had his feeding tube removed since he is taking almost all his feeds by mouth. Speech therapy worked with him the past two weeks on his sucking, swallowing, and pacing skills and now he is doing just fine. He has quickly become a hearty eater and the last step in his feeding process is to move down to a lower calorie formula. As a preemie it's important to make sure he continues to gain weight at a good pace. His most recent weight is 5lbs. 12 ozs.



Jackson must really be liking his new space because he keeps extending his stay. Twice this week he has had a brady that required intervention so instead of coming home this week the current plan is for him to come home early next week assuming he does not have another bad brady again. The last few days in the hospital will be busy for Jackson as he has his last developmental exam, follow-up eye check-up, car seat trial, and a circumcision. We are counting down the days till discharge and hope Jackson is homeward bound soon. In the meantime we spend a lot of time with him and this week introduced him to the bouncy chair. We think he's still undecided about this one.