Time to write again- Jackson is 9 lbs 10 ounces

I've been so busy with my 4 boys that I haven't taken time to write in the blog. Jackson is doing so well! He continues to have high blood pressure and calcium deposits in his kidneys. We go to Boise once a month to see the kidney specialist. It's kind of fun to have an excuse to go to Boise again. I don't miss being their in the hospital though. We have been so blessed!

Jackson is a great nurser. It was a long struggle, I thought he would never learn. Now I struggle with him to take his bottle for his supplement. He will sometimes gag and gag when I put it into his mouth, because he would rather nurse.
He is still on medicine for his blood pressure and reflux. He hates taking his reflux medication. He will gag and gag when I try to give it to him. I few weeks ago I tried giving it to him and he cocked his head back and the medicine went down his throat wrong. He stopped breathing and looked all pale. I was scared and thought I was going to have to call 911 and then I couldn't find my cell phone. He finally coughed and threw up his medication. I still feel uneasy when I give this medication to him. I've tasted it and it is horrible.

He is getting so close to smiling. He has cooed a few times, it's so cute. He's such a sweet little boy. I call him my little Jay. His daddy loves to hold him and do the supplement feedings at night. They are still hard on his stomach. Giving him lots of gas and constipation.

Jackson loves to look around and be carried in the baby sling, (I call it the happy pack)so he can be next to me. We could use some more sleep at night. Jackson likes to sleep all day and stay up at night.

I'm trying to keep up with the house work. I was washing my kids clothes and found carrot sticks in James pants. All this time I thought he was eating his carrots and instead he was putting then in his pant pocket. What a little stinker.

David is out of town this week in Denver. We will miss him.
Bryan turned three today. We had his birthday party yesterday with my family. I made him a dirt cake with worms in it. He thought that was so fun! He kept saying, "I'm the birthday boy." He's my little sunshine.

Jackson got his 4th RSV shot today. We are hoping to keep him healthy. James, Bryan and David have been sick. I got sick with Mastitis, but we are all feeling much better.

Jackson goes to PT once a week. We are trying to work on his neck muscles. He has a flat spot on his right side of his head from laying on his back too much in the NICU. We are hoping he doesn't have to wear a helmet.

Home for 6 days- Amazing Jackson

Jackson has done so well at home. He has overcome so much for being born so early. His last brain scan showed that his level 1 brain bleed was resolving and that there were no other issues developing. He still continues to have high blood pressure and is taking medication for it. I will be taking him to Boise next week (Wednesday) for an appointment with the kidney specialist regarding his BP. On Friday he had an eye exam with good results.

I took Jackson on Thursday for his first appointment with his pediatrician. He weighed 7lbs 5 oz. The doctor was impressed with how well he was doing. She didn't seemed too concerned.

He is becoming more and more alert. He loves to look around and eat. It's hard to sleep at night because he grunts and groans all night long. We have to give him glycerin shots every 12 hours to help him have a bowl movement. He's taking 3 different medications that I'm struggling to give him without them being spit out. He's not a fan of his medications. He makes the best faces when I try to give them to him. If I put it in his milk, he will not suck it down. If I give them after his feeds he spits them up.

I had a lactation specialist come over to my home to help give advice with getting Jackson to nurse. She was wonderful, she gave me some good advice and tips to help Jackson be more successful. If anyone needs help with this, I highly recommend Amy Peterson.

The boys were so excited when we came home. It was such a neat moment to watch how they reacted around Jackson. They have been so gently to Jackson, what great big brothers.

I'm so grateful for all the help that my family has offered to us during this time. My mom has been coming over after work to help fold the laundry . To watch the kids so I can go grocery shopping, to hold the baby and talk with me for support and comfort, she's been so great! My brother Blaine comes over and helps entertain the kids and do dishes. He's been helping me since I was on bed rest. Thank you little brother. My dad still continues to pickup James from Preschool and doing things around our house, like put up our new blinds, change the batteries in our fire alarms . Thank you dad! Thanks to all the friends that have been bringing us meals. Thank you Lisa for continuing to take the boys to school. I'm not ready to Jackson out into public yet. Thank you to my husband for always staying so positive and supporting me. He's a great dad and husband. I'm so grateful for all the nurses and doctors at the NICU. They were amazing. I'm very grateful for the many blessings the Lord has given to our family. He has been my strength through all this and has give me much comfort and hope. Jackson is our little miracle from Heavenly Father.

I met some neat families at the NICU and Ronald McDonald house that I will miss. I met an amazing family whose daughter was born at 23 weeks and passed away after 9 days. Please pray for the Swenson family. I will never forget them and my heart aches for their loss.

I went and bought a larger freezer yesterday to store all my breast milk. I need to get to bed, I average 4 hours a night since I've been home.

January 4th- 91 days - 7 lbs 2 oz- Going Home Today!

We are going home today and taking Jackson with us. I'm excited and nervous, I'm still feel like it's not real. I'm leaving my second home and finally coming home to my family with our last boy. What an amazing journey it has been.

Jackson passed his hearing test and care seat test yesterday.

Rooming in night #2 - Possibly going home on Monday!

Jacskson gained weight last night and ate all his feedings. We are looking at going home as early as Monday. David and I need to take a CPR class, Jackson needs his last head ultra sound, a hearing test and car seat test. Jackson is doing well, he's a perfect little baby. What a miracle he is. I'm trying to type this thinking he's going to sleep in his crib, but he's looking around instead. It will be wonderful to go home and be with my family again. It will be another change that I'm excited for and nervous about. My boys have so much energy. I'm so grateful for all the blessing the Lord has blessed us with. Ok, Jackson is calling for me to hold him or maybe feed him.

Feeding tube out- Rooming in with baby

Great news! Jackson's feeding tube was taken out this afternoon. The doctor asked if I wanted to room in with Jackson tonight to see how he would do eating orally. I called David to come to Boise to be with us. Thank you mom and dad for agreeing to watch our kids this weekend. My mother has been so wonderful, she has been watching my kids through the holidays. Thank you, we couldn't of done this without you.

I'm so glad David is here with me. He's such a good dad and he loves his boys so much. He's more relaxed than I am and so far since we roomed in at 6:00 pm he has taken 100% of his feedings. We switched the bottle from the breast flow to the slow flow and he is doing much better. This bottle doesn't require him to work as hard to suck the milk out. I haven't been trying to nurse Jackson for the last two days because I have developed an infection. It's been painful even to pump. I just want to get him home and then I will work on breast feeding when we get home. He doesn't get worn out when drinking a bottle and then we know how much milk he is taking in. He has to get 166 ml in the next 12 hours to keep his feeding tube out. He looks so cute. After his 7:00 feeding, Jackson was awake and alert for two hours just looking around while his daddy held him. I'm so grateful David is here with me. I think if I had to do this alone I don't think Jackson would do as well with his trial run because I would be too nervous. Now, I know he will do well because my David is here to help.

Getting Close to Going Home (I hope)

I'm being told that it is getting closer for Jackson to come home. I'm trying not to get me hopes up, but it's hard not to. On Wednesday I was asked to stay the night in a room in the NICU, so I could feed Jackson in the night. The Doctor wanted to see how he would do by letting him go 3 to 4 hours for each feed and see if he would wake up hunger and do all his feeds orally. Jackson stayed up from 7:45 p.m. to 10:30 pm just looking around. He was being so cute! But then he was too tired for next 2 feedings and didn't do as well. I was wiped out by 8:00 a.m. the next day (New Years Eve). I only got 3 hours of broken up sleep. The PA yesterday said he may be getting his feeding tube taken out today and then I would room in again tonight.

I've learned so much from this experience. I've met some amazing families that have babies in the NICU. I just met a family with a baby born at 23 weeks gestation. My thoughts and prayers are with them as they go down this long emotional journey. Jackson is grunting and groaning, I better go hold him now.

85 days in the NICU 38 weeks gestation

I'm getting very anxious to go home. I miss my boys and husband. I'm so ready to go home, it's been a tough week and it's only Monday. Jackson needs to eat more orally before his feeding tube can be taken out. He doesn't like to nurse, so I've been giving him the bottle to help increase his % of feeds orally. Once he reaches 80% his tube will be taken out and then this will get us closer to going home. I keep telling myself, I've been here 85 days, what's 14 more days.

Jackson is a feisty little guy. He's always grunting and groaning. All the fortification that is added to his breast milk is hard on his stomach. I'm off to go to bed.