Oxygen

Jack is coming off of his oxygen!!!  We found out this morning and are just beyond elated!   I took Jack for testing last Friday at Texas Children's- we had four hours of testing (called an OCRG) and he was hooked up to an oxygen saturation monitor.  He didn't have any desaturations, so they told us today that he no longer needs it... YAY!!!!  He has been on oxygen since he was born, so this is such a huge step for him.  No more tape scrapes on his cheeks and lugging around the can or machine... YAY!!!!!  We can't contain our excitement  :)

Jack will stay on the apnea monitor for at least another month, so that will be another big milestone when we no longer need that... but the apnea monitor is much more portable than the oxygen, so will be much easier to get around now!  I'll post some pictures this week of him without all of the tape and cannula on his sweet cheeks.

Oh, happy day!!

Pictures...

Jack and Uncle Matty

With Nana on Valentine's Day

Jack and his daddy!

Taking a nap with Opa

Tummy time nap

Wide awake!  Ready to get these wires off...

Happy Valentine's!

Happy Valentine's!  (belated). :). Things are going well at the Weigle household!  Jack has been sleeping a little better at night, so Matt and I have been able to get a few 4-5 hour stints of sleep in.
Jack is up to 10 lbs now... Getting chunky!  He got his 4-month vaccines last week and we are headed back tomorrow to get his second round of the RSV vaccine.

We went to the pulmanologist today and it was a good visit.  From the apnea monitor downloads, the doctor was able to tell that Jack is still occasionally having a few apnea spells.  He says that is completely normal for how premature he was.  He does think Jack may be able to come off of the oxygen soon- Jack will do a sleep study at Texas Children's in the next week to confirm if he's ready to be off the oxygen.  I'll go with him and we'll have a 4 hour study at TCH.  He said that even if he does come off oxygen, we'll keep the apnea monitor until Jack can go 5 days without having an apnea, and at least for another month once he is off the oxygen so they get enough time to monitor.  Matt and I are at the point where we do feel comfortable with the monitor, so we are ok with that.  It will be nice when all of the cords are gone though!

My brothers were able to come and meet Jack in the last two weeks, so that was lots of fun. Jack will be able to meet his cousins at Jack's baptism at the end of April, so we can't wait for that!

Will post some pics tomorrow!

Home Update

Sweet Jack is doing well!  We've been busy with feedings, Dr's appointments and trying to sleep, but it is so very wonderful having Jack home.  We are going to weekly pediatrician visits to monitor Jack's health and weight gain and all looks good there.  He is up to 9 lbs, 1 oz- he has been a great eater for us.  We've been on a schedule to feed him every 3 hours (and to keep waking him up through the night) but we got the go ahead this morning that we can have one four hour stretch at night.... wahoo!!  :)  He seems to be a pretty good sleeper, so hopefully he'll do well with the 4 hour stretch and mommy and daddy will get some more zzz's. 

Jack is still on the oxygen and the monitor- we are headed to the pulmanologist in 2 weeks to get a timeline for how long he'll have to stay on the oxygen.  We have a big machine for home and then tanks for when we take him to doctor's appointments.  I've also been able to start taking him on walks with the tank when it is warm enough- so that has been wonderful... love my walks  :) 

We had Jack's follow up for his ROP the week after he got out of the hospital.  They had seen mild to moderate ROP (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002585/) in his last eye exam in the hospital, so we had to follow up at Texas Children's in the med center.  The appointment went well and it looks like the ROP has resolved itself and no further visits are necessary!  Also looks like he won't need glasses anytime soon, so all great news from that appointment. 

Jack has been able to have healthy, adult visitors- so that has been fun.  He'll be able to meet his cousins and other children in a few months hopefully.  My parents have been in town (they left today) and have been a huge help.  Nana (Matt's mom) wasn't feeling well when Jack first left the hospital, but now she's feeling better and has been so helpful with feedings and letting Matt and I out of the house every once in a while.  We're hoping that my brother's, Eric and Matty, will be able to come to Houston this coming weekend so that they can meet Jack for the first time. 

Jack was able to be off of his oxygen for an hour or so and we were able to get some wonderful family and newborn pictures from Christi Cosper at Candid Chic Photography.  She posted a sneak peak on Facebook, but we'll post more when we get the rest.... she was just amazing and we are so very thankful to have these great photographs!

Some of our pics from the two weeks at home:

Jack's first bath (he only had sponge baths in the NICU)

Jack's first bath!  He'd only had sponge baths in the NICU.  He was very content!

Jack rolled over!

Strong little man!  Pushing up on Boppy

Sleeping peacefully :)