Game Plan #2

Talked to the nurse today before going to see James. They did find some types of bacteria growing inside the endotracheal tube where James has been receiving his oxygenation. He is now given 2 antibiotics to see if his oxygenation will be better after the treatment. They think one of the reasons why James is having a difficulty to be weaned off of the O2 pressure & level is because he has some bacteria growing inside the tube. They also sent blood sample for blood culture to see if the same bacteria is found in his system. Anyways... so it all depends on how the culture turn out and how well James is reacting to the antibiotics.

Please continue to pray for James' health :) I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. James will be 2 months old on the 9th. So... hopefully 2 more months to go? Let's do this :)

Cheers!

Game Plan

We went to visit James for a little bit today. My parents said their good byes to James and took several pictures. A sister who visits and prays for James came today too. She was actually came to visit me when I was at the antepartum floor. The four of us chatted and prayed together. 

One of the neonatologists came today and chat with us. Maybe I never mentioned this before, but James has been receiving Pulmicort. It is a medication to treat lungs disease. Since James was born super early he needs help to develop those air sacs. He was pretty sick for the first couple of weeks being in NICU. Some babies do great after receiving Pulmicort, but it seems like James is taking his time to get well. The team really2 wants him to be off of the ventilator. Since the Pulmicort hasn't done much for James, they want to start a 7 day course of Decadron (corticosteroid). The decadron is to relieve inflammation in James' lungs and will probably relieve any other inflammation in his body. They did a check with James' trachea to see if he has any infection or not. If he does, then they will have to give James antibodies before starting the Decadron. Why? The doctor mentioned that one of the side effects of Decadron is that it suppresses the immune system. James won't do well without the antibodies if he has an infection while on Decadron. Other side effect that the doctor mentioned is James may not gain weight during the treatment. So... he'll be stunted for that 7 days. Not a biggie. We're looking at a better future for James - respiratory system wise. Our plan is really to not disturb James so much while he is on Decadron. 

Other than that.... I choose not to do kangaroo with James today. Not sure if it would be too much for him.. although I wonder if he actually wanted to do that. He kept going up and down with his saturation... maybe he wanted the kangaroo.... Well... after the Decadron kicks in.. hopefully we'll be able to do it again :) Stay strong James!

Please continue to pray with us for James:

- Infection free

- Tolerates the treatment

- Say good bye to the jet ventilator.

 

thank you :)

Sleepy Baby

James is still busy sleeping and gaining weight. Nothing much has changed from yesterday. He will soon receive a medication to help his lungs mature so that he may be off of the jet ventilator. It's a long way, really. James is taking this process slow. He's the boss, I suppose. Even though today isn't St. Paddy's day he is looking pretty handsome in his green onesie. It has a hippo wearing sunglasses with a caption "I am hip". 

The nurse asks if I wanted to do kangaroo with him. Well of course!!! The nurse let me have an hour of kangaroo and my oh my it feels like heaven! James starts to doze off for the last 30 minutes. It makes me want to fall asleep too. Sleepy baby is so content :) 

Oh, who would have thought that tiny babies have short yet sharp nails? James scratches my skin a couple times and I thought it was Ryan. I was ready to tell him to stop but when I look down....well... that's my baby's hand.. never mind. Har har har. Still no eye exam. They're going to do it next week. Please continue to pray for James. Pray that God helps James to grow and tolerates his O2 weaning, as well as good result for his eye exam.

Today James was busy sleeping and gaining weight.
His weight is now up to 1265 grams. Though he is requiring more oxygen and pressure.

James still hasn't had his first eye exam yet, but hopefully it will be this week.
Please continue to pray for James so that he can tolerate being weaned off his current ventilator.

Dear James,

You are the best anniversary gift we've ever asked for.
Love,
Mom & Dad

Sweet Sunday

Pictures day!

Ryan, Gabby and James

No longer going bonkers, God answered
Gabby's prayer.

The Gang. From L - R.
Greatgrandparents Jeanette & Francis Sutter. Grandparents Rick & Diane Kirk. Gabby & Ryan. Greatgrandma Rosemary Kirk. Grandparents Ricka & Thomas.

Rinse and Repeat

When I was told that life with a preemie baby is like riding a roller coaster I didn't quite grasp the meaning of it. Maybe I was in denial, or maybe, just maybe I wasn't riding one yet. At the time I was probably had just receive the "ticket" to ride one.

I personally dislike riding roller coaster. I rode one when I was in Junior High at a famous amusement park in Jakarta, Indonesia. It wasn't even the big one, it was the one for kiddies. I thought I wasn't going to walk out of the ride alive. Anyways, that was the first and the last roller coaster I've ever ridden.

It has only been 6 weeks since James was born. Don't get me wrong, I am soooooo beyond happy whenever I visit James. But boy o boy, what a ride. We'd have 3 quiet days or so, then day 4 we hear: they find something, or they don't find what they look for, or something is too low, too high, new diagnosis, bla bla bla bla. Day 5 is usually spent to digest the information we receive from day 4. Day 6 and 7 are spent laughing/ crying. Rinse and repeat.

James had his second head sono on Friday. Nothing has changed since the first sono. Let's just say they found a thing that shouldn't be there. I don't even want to write about the 'thing' because we're not finished with the journey at NICU. I don't want to define James based on the thing they see from the sono. We're still praying about the thing, that it will disappear, that God will take care of it.

Picking up from the last post, James has been doing about the same. He is still on the jet ventilator, at 25 pressure and 58% of oxygen. He has been teasing us with his weight. He was 990 grams 2 days ago, then down to 930 grams yesterday, and today he is at 1043 grams. He was NPO (nothing by mouth) and had 3 big poopy diapers the day he lost some of his weight. I wonder if his current weight increase means there will be several poopy diapers in the future. Brace yourself! ^_^

Today we went to a wedding reception open house. There were two little boys ( 3 and 5) sitting across from us. The younger boy was teasing me by blowing raspberry. The older brother was playing with the candle, suffocating it by placing a plastic plate over it. Mom then called him to stop. Well, guess what, his name is James! If you read the post from last Sunday, we saw a toddler at church named James, and today we saw a 5 year old kid named James. If these are the signs that we will be able to take James home and raise him, then we'll take it!

Please pray with us for James' health, that he won't have a major health issue. Pray that James will be able to get off of the jet ventilator soon. I miss holding him like crazy. They told me I should wait until James isn't on jet anymore to do kangaroo. Pray for patience.

Thank you, we love you all :)

Enjoying A Quiet Day

Today was a quiet day, so we don't have much information to share tonight. Though tomorrow James has another head sonogram to see how things up there are progressing. Hopefully it will be all good news. 

Since we don't have much to tell you, I thought I'd share some photos since they are each worth a thousand words that will make this one of our longer posts!

Talking to James

Reading "Goodnight Moon" to James

James :D

We went to see James around 4 PM. We took Grandma Kirk, which is James' greatgrandma to NICU for the first time.

James seems to be doing better today. They were able to lower the amount of oxygen they were giving him down to 53%, although the pressure remained where it was yesterday. James' x-ray of his lungs was also better today than yesterday as well. The other good news from today is that they are increasing the the amount of calories that he is receiving from his feeding to help him get big!

Another thing that was really nice today is that James seems to be doing better with company around. He doesn't immediately start to de-saturate the moment we get close to him or talk to him. Hopefully he will be up for some more story time with Dr. Seuss.

2 lbs and 2 oz later..

Hello!

Well, today is......Tuesday...... Not much to tell about James' health condition. The team did an X-ray yesterday and found out that the air sacs in upper right lobe of his lungs are collapsed. I guess it's really nothing new for the team to see in preemie babies. James is receiving Pulmicort (corticosteroid) to treat the inflammation in his lungs. He also has some sort of a tool that vibrates his chest in the hope to help open up those air sacs. Today is the official day of Spring, I pray that James' air sacs will bloom like flowers in the Spring :D The team will do another X-ray (he's got this so many times, grrrrrrrr) to see if there's any changes to the lungs.

Let's see.... yes he weights 2 lbs and 2 oz, or 965 grams. The doctor really wants James to grow big and strong for them to start giving steroid (I'll have to check again) to boost the lungs development and treat the inflammation/edema/ and or other lungs disease he has. Another goal why James may receive the steroid treatment is to get him off of the ventilator. Let's get the tube out!

James was doing so good when I changed his diaper. His saturation was between 90 to 97 when I changed him. This is much better compare to when we first arrived. He stayed at low 80s high 70s, setting off the alarm every 5 minutes.

James smiled again :) This time Ryan saw it. YAY! So that's official :)

Thank you Lord!

James Has A Sock Buddy

A nurse gave me a sock buddy that is made by a volunteer.
She told me to take the sock buddy home and lay it next to me in bed. The sock buddy will hopefully pick up my scent. Anywaaaaays. I've had the sock buddy for a week. Today I brought it to the hospital. Ryan laid it next to James. Hopefully he sleeps good tonight :)

Sleepy baby :)

Nite-nite

Be Still and Know That I am God

The past couple of days have been a rough one. A friend says that it's easy to focus on the setbacks than the progress that James has made. 

We were told what was found on the head sono, and what the team says what James is missing. I won't go into details because even the medical team isn't sure what all these will do to James. They gave us several diagnoses for James but nobody know what the end result is going to be. Until then, I will not stuck to associate those diagnoses with James. He is perfect to us, and that is all. We have been praying more, praising God for every minute we get to spend with James, and asking Him to heal James. At times I feel like nothing has changed for the better. But then I went to Sunday mass.

"Be Still and Know That I am God" is part of the message of Lent. I had my AHA! moment when I heard those words. It is only since 2 days ago when I feel that I absolutely have to let God takes care of James and that whatever happens to James is in God's plan. I will not stop praying for James' health and praising Him for allowing me to witness His miracles.

Ryan and I were walking towards the exit door after mass when we saw a 1 year old boy wandering away from his parents. We both smiled when we see the little boy. I told myself that one day we'll be able to take James to church and that things will be ok. The Dad walked toward the little boy and called his name. To our surprise the little boy's name is James. So far I am liking God's own way to remind us that He is still taking care of us. 

We went to the hospital to see James after church. James is still struggling with his oxygenation. He was at 80% at 8 AM but down to 62% when we arrived at the hospital around 1:30 PM. He has lost some weight, from mid 900 grams to high 800 grams. We're hoping that his weight doesn't continue to dip. Maybe it's just because he had a huge BM.

James was doing sooo good when I changed his diaper. He wasn't kicking me, his saturation was good as well. He opened his eyes so wide and oh they're beautiful. He had a couple of big yawns too :) 

And then....

He smiled.

My heart melted. 

He smiled again.

I couldn't contain myself. I started calling his name louder and louder :)

*Ryan missed the whole thing. James was teasing his Dad. As soon as Ryan turned his back, he smiled. Awwww, maybe next time :)

Be Still and Know That I am God. So that's what I am going to do. I won't stop praying. I will keep going. I will keep going to witness God's amazing plan for James.

Thank you for all your support and prayer :)

Dressed For Success

Big boy wears a onesie!!

This one has a giraffe driving a car. The other day he had one with monkeys on it. The team is still trying to wean him off of the jet ventilator. They lowered the pressure to 22 from 24, but James wasn't ready yet.  He received 2 doses of inhaled steroid to help with the lungs development. Praying that the little guy will cooperate. Did I ever mention that he is off of the TPN? No more IV, yippee!

We took the parents (Gabby's parents) to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield. Below is the proof of them having the picture taken with the family.

There was a parade going on by the museum, so parents posed with 2 guys that played the bagpipes.

Thomas & Ricka

Thank you for all your prayer and support. They keep us going :)

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Poopy Diaper

I don't mind the poopy diapers :)

Changing James' diaper and taking his temperature are usually the highlight of my visit at the NICU. Ryan gets to do that too, but he is so nice to let me get my hands on James :) Teehee. Today is no exception, I got to change the diaper. Poopy diaper. I cleaned him up real good, and then when I was ready to put him in the new diaper he pooped again. A lot. Usually he gets really antsy when I change his diaper, but not tonight. I guess he was calm because he knew it was coming and he wanted to surprise me. Well, he did a good job.

James is up to 62% of Oxygen around 9 PM with the pressure of 24. It may takes James a couple of weeks to finally get off of the jet ventilator. That's ok though, he is taking baby steps - no pun intended :)
James is on the continuous feeding. Instead of getting his diaper changed every 3 hours it is now every 4 hour. The team tries not to mess with James too often. They want him to sleep, eat, and poop. They want to fatten him up. That's ok with me :)

Alrighty, I am bad at uploading pictures.. so no pictures tonight. I'll post a bunch tomorrow :)

Still praying for James' health and for whatever he has now God is in charge. James belongs to God and I shall trust in Him.

James' Goals

1. To be off of the jet ventilator. He is currently at 55% of O2 with the pressure of 26. The team will lower the pressure to 24 at 3 AM. James will have a blood gas done at 6 AM. Praying that it will be good :)
2. To keep gaining weight. He weighs 2 lbs and 1 oz as of today. Wahoo! It's hard to think that he still has 2 or 3 months to go at NICU. I mean his weight has doubled.. so... I can take him home, right? Pretty pleaaaaaase
3. Tolerates feeding. He is at 16 mL of breast milk per feeding! That's a lot of milk for tiny little guy. The nurses have noticed that James is having a difficult time to digest all that milk. So they will be doing a continuous feeding. So.. James will receive 5.3 mL of milk per hour. Hopefully the little guy will be able to digest better.

I am pretty sure Dr. Javed mentioned 1000 other things that James should accomplish. However, I will stick to the 3 ones I listed. Let's do this James. We are praying that you will tolerate the weaning of the pressure. When you're off of the jet ventilator and use the conventional.. we can have more kangaroo time! Soooo looking forward to it.

Still praying.

What's A Cool Mammal?

Kangaroo.

Nothing can describe how I felt when I had James on my chest. He was very wide awake and looking at his mama. 30 minutes of kangaroo time went by so fast. James was looking sleepy toward the end of our 30 minutes. He did so good with the kangaroo. We talked (well, I did most of the talking) and I whispered to him the Lord's prayer in Indonesian and I told him how much we love him. What an amazing experience to be able to hold James in my arms. 

Thank you for prayers and support :)

2 lbs

The kid weighs 2 lbs and then...... lose 20 grams in the form of.. well, something brown and stinky found inside his diaper.

Remember the madness yesterday? Dear James has another one, not as long as it was yesterday though. We try to stay quiet while in the room to not disturb him. Someday in the future our voices won't be too much of stimulation to him and he'll keep his O2 saturation stable.

James is on feeding schedule, this mean he gets the same amount of breast milk for 4 feedings every 3 hour and then he'll go up on the amount of breast milk for 4 feedings.. and so on. He is at 8 mL every 3 hours then around 1 AM later he'll start at 9 mL. The maximum amount of breast milk he gets is 16 mL per feeding. If he tolerates the feedings then he'll be at 16 mL on March 14 late night. Whoah!

The plan right now is to hang out.... until whatever new drama comes...
Thanks for all prayers and support for James :)

Till then, we have 1000 piece puzzle to put together.

Feeding schedule does good to the body

890 grams and counting. James is getting bigger :)

We went to visit James for a couple hours. He was resting comfortably for a while. I read a book to him, an Indonesian bible story. The kid has to hear some Indonesian words, right? :)

I was able to take James' temperature and changed his poopy diaper today. He definitely doesn't like to get his diaper changed. His arms were flailing and he was kicking very much. He kind of gave me a dirty look while I was changing him. Oh how I wanted to take him out of the incubator and hold him in my arms!

Around 12:15 PM his O2 saturation went down to the 80s then at the 70s. The nurse suctioned the tube and repositioned James. Usually that takes care of the problem, but it didn't. The alarm kept beeping, and nothing changed. I asked the nurse if she planned to call the respiratory therapist. Well, she waited for what I felt like a lifetime, and there was my dad asking me why nothing was done to bring up the O2 saturation level. Madness I tell you, madness!

Finally, a respiratory therapist came and suctioned James' ET tube, assessed his lungs sound (which is OK), and checked if the tube was placed correctly (which it is). She left the room saying she's not sure why James' O2 saturation is low.
The nurse then increased the O2 level of the jet ventilator to provide a little more support for James. For an hour his O2 sat went up as high as 100 and as low as 78. Watching his number went up and down in a matter of seconds was really exhausting. After 1 hour he seemed to be doing better with his O2 saturation. I haven't called again to check on James. I am crossing my fingers that he behaves for the rest of the night.

Even Phoebe Buffay thought it was madness.

Thank your for the prayers and support :)

1 Month Old and We're Gonna Party Like It's Your Birthday

Pictures to come later.

James is 1 month old or 28 weeks of gestation. We are very thankful for God's amazing miracle. We went to see James today for a couple of hours. Boy he looks bigger, and my oh my he's beautiful. Ok, so this is a little subjective (a little) but yeah I'll say he's cute :).

James needs a little more O2 support today compare to yesterday. He is now at 62% compare to the 55% he had yesterday. The nurse hasn't weigh him yet because apparently the bed/the scale is a little wonky. Nothing much for today's plan. The doctor says we'll just hang out, and see if anything else comes up. James is on feeding schedule now. They'll give him the same amount of breast milk for 4 meals, then increase the amount for the next 4 feedings, and so on.

It was hard for me to say good bye to James today. Not because James is still in the NICU or sicker, but he looks more like... an older baby. I mean.. he looks bigger, his head is a bit bigger and the tape that holds the ET tube doesn't cover his entire face. He is opening his eyes more often, he is more expressive too. He yawns alot, he licks his lower lips, he moves his feet quite a bit too. All I wanted to do is to hold him, kiss him, sniff his head, tickle his feet and more. I can't wait until I get to do the kangaroo with him. Oh when will that day come?

When the day finally comes, it'll pretty much look like this:

Nants ingonyamaaaaaaaaaa bagithi Babaaaaaaaaaa

Thank you for your prayers and support. We will update the entry with pictures, pinky promise :)

The Jet Won

No... no.. not the New York JETS. Sorry to disappoint you all. Although... we're in Illinois.. so no Jets fans, right? right?


I am talking about the jet ventilator. This guy right here:


Picking up from yesterday's health status: James' blood gas lab result wasn't his best. It just seemed like he wasn't tolerating the O2 support the jet ventilator is giving him. The resident decided to talk to the doctor about switching James to the oscillator. However, before they did the switching, they'd like to maximize the O2 pressure on the jet to see if James will tolerate that --- and lo behold he did! So keep that oscillator in the closet :)

James stayed at 55% of O2 for the rest of the night. They did another X-ray and saw some improvement of his lungs. I am actually not sure which side of the lung that was looking kind of hazy and is now improving slowly. James weigh at 844 grams from 810grams the day before. Well, someone said I should convert the grams to lb and oz, so I will. 844 grams = 1 lb 12 oz. YEAH!!

Will post photos later :) They're on different computer.

Let's get the feeding schedule started, I want to see my baby grows a little bigger :)
toodles,
Gabby

What Day Is It?

Second day after surgery. James is still not sure where he wants to hang out regarding his need of O2. As of 8 PM today he needs 85% of O2 to support his breathing. I am not sure about the pressure, but the doctor decides to increase it to see if James will tolerate that. James' blood gas result aren't the best today, but they are a bit better than yesterday. If James isn't doing so hot with the current setting of the jet ventilator, he may goes back using the oscillator. It serves the same purpose of providing O2 for James, but going back to oscillator means James is having a setback. The doctor says the average time for babies to recover from ligation of PDA is about a week. So I am giving James about a week to recover.

Anyways, James' grandparents from Indonesia are here! They landed at Chicago O'hare airport at 9 AM. It took them 2 hours to get through custom. Some miscommunication related to which form to fill out. They finally got to see James today. Pretty exciting!

Things to be thankful today:

- Having my parents around, and that they had a safe travel to the US.

- James is now 810 grams (do I have to convert this into lb and oz? at this time? nah, we'll stay with the International standard. mwahaha).

- Wonderful news from nursing school. The lady at the registrar office has taken care of my summer classes registration. YEAH! And that my classmates asked the higher up people at nursing school if I could walk with them on May graduation. Not sure if this will be granted, but knowing that they think about me means the world for me.

-  Family and friends who have been supporting us. 

It's hard to keep going in these kind of days, but we'll keep swimming. Just like Dori. 

Tomorrow is a new day.  

R&G

Rowdy baby is a sleeping beauty

Yay for a successful surgery!

That 45 minutes of waiting went by so fast. We spent the whole time in the chapel, praying for James. All the sudden the phone rang and we heard that everything went well.

James was pretty much out when we went back to his room. James is usually a pretty feisty, rowdy little boy. It was weird to see him .......well... out of it. I was able to hold his hands without getting kicked, haha :)

James' grandma took a picture of him while he was having tummy time. The white tape is where the surgeon made the incision for the ligation of the PDA. 

James was up to 100% of O2 after the surgery. The team had to increase the pressure of the jet ventilator to support his breathing. James also had multiple chest X-ray to check his lungs. The nurse said they don't look that great but hopefully as the time goes on James' lungs will look better.







I went up to the hospital after work. The plan for James for the rest of the evening is to give him blood transfusion, fluid, pain medication, monitor his output, respiratory status, chromosome test... and everything else.

Hoping for a better recovery day, and thank you for all family and friends who have been praying for us.
Ryan & Gabby

What Was That Surgery About?

James' first surgery was intended to fix his PDA.

What in the world is PDA? It certainly not stand for Public Display of Affection. HA!

PDA here stands for Patent Ductus Arteriosus. I will let the staff of Mayo Clinic explain it for all of us.

Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a persistent opening between two major blood vessels leading from the heart. This normal connection, called the ductus arteriosus, is a necessary part of the baby's circulatory system before birth. It usually closes shortly after the baby is born. However, in some individuals it remains open (patent). When this occurs, it's called a patent ductus arteriosus.
A small patent ductus arteriosus often doesn't cause symptoms or problems and may never need treatment. Untreated, a large patent ductus arteriosus can cause too much poorly oxygenated blood to flow through the heart, weakening the heart muscle and causing heart failure and other complications.
Treatment options for repairing a patent ductus arteriosus include monitoring, medications, and closure by cardiac catheterization or surgery.

• The reason James had PDA is because he was born too early. As a pre-term baby, his body isn't able to close the ductus arteriosus.

Some of the treatments that the doctor gave for James' PDA were:

Medications. For premature babies, it's possible your baby's doctors may use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) or indomethacin (Indocin), to help close a PDA. NSAIDs block the hormone-like chemicals in the body that keep the PDA open. NSAIDs won't close a PDA in full-term babies, children or adults. Recent research has found that paracetamol — commonly known as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) in the U.S. — also may be effective in helping to close PDAs, but more research is needed to confirm this finding.

• The echocardiogram shows that there is a decrease in size of the ductus arteriosus, but they also found out that there is a diastolic backflow to his lungs. This won't be good for James in the long run. His body won't get the proper blood circulation and other complications if the PDA isn't treated... so the next step is to do a surgery.

Open-heart surgery. If medications haven't closed the PDA, and your baby's condition has caused health problems, open-heart surgery may be recommended.

Now, if you opted not to watch the video of ligation of PDA from the previous post, here is in written form of  how the procedure is done:

During the surgery, a surgeon will make a small cut between your child's ribs to reach your child's heart and repair the open duct using stitches or clips. After the surgery, your child will remain in the hospital for several days for observation. It usually takes a few weeks for your child to fully recover. Open-heart surgery may also be recommended for adults who have a PDA that's causing health problems. Possible risks include bleeding, infection, a paralyzed diaphragm and hoarseness.

I hope this will explain better as to why James had to have a surgery. Next post, the aftermath of the surgery, and more tribulations. Stay tune :)

Praying for a little miracle in each day,
Ryan & Gabby

This is James' first......

Surgery!

On Sunday morning I received a phone call from one of the neonatologist at OSF. He talked about the result of the echocardiogram on James' PDA. I had a hunch that a surgery might be needed, and I was right. The reason James needed a surgery was because they found a diastolic backflow to his lungs. While the size of PDA has decreased, they don't think the backflow will do anything good for James. Dr. Javed told me that he talked to a cardiac surgeon and that Monday would be a good day to have the surgery.

We weren't happy nor sad when we heard the news about the news. We both realized that it needed to be done, so we went for it.

So.. on Sunday evening we watched a similar procedure found on YouTube as a preview. We both found it fascinating, although Ryan had to leave for 20 seconds. He said he wasn't fainting, but who knew. haha.
If you're really really curious about how the procedure is done... click here. I dare you. mwahahaha.

So Monday is finally here....

I gotta sing.

Monday Monday... badaaaabadaaadaaa so good to me....
Monday Monday.. it was all I hope it would beeeeeeeeeeeeee................
*courtesy of The Mamas & the Papas.

James' surgery was supposed to take place at 2 PM, but it got pushed to 6 PM. So we just hang out the whole day by his side. The surgery itself only took 45 minutes and was uneventful. We were told that little babies tend to get sick after the surgery. It makes sense, someone just did something to the body, now the body tries to adjust with the new change. Dr. Hocker the neonatologist just came and said "He's looking pretty good. Hopefully he won't get too sick."

So, please continue to pray with us for James. Oh by the way, he'll be 1 month old on the 9th. YEAH!!

Until tomorrow,
exhausted and hungry parents,
Ryan & Gabby

Hi, my name is James

James Aragorn Kirk was born on February 9th weighing 510 grams or 1 lb and 2 oz.














James or Yakobus in Indonesian as we know in the Bible was one of Jesus' disciples. The reason we choose the name James is that we want him to love  God and be close to him just like James the disciple did.
His middle name "Aragorn" is taken from the character in the movie the Lord of the Ring. The character Aragorn shows leadership, strength, courage, determination, in which we hope James will inherit through this roller coaster of life in NICU.

We are very blessed to meet this wonderful little guy so early. We are praying daily for James for health and strength so that one day we may bring him home and shower him with love.

We welcome family and friends to join us on our adventure.

In Christ,
Ryan and Gabby