It's Confirmed.

The eagle has landed.


Thank you, 1000 thank you's won't be enough to express how grateful we are to have great family and friends. You have been praying with us since February. We brought our sweet baby home. He has graduated from NICU. God has been working his miracles through James.
The doctors and nurses at the hospital gave James an excellent care. We're going to miss the hospital (mostly the nurses & the doctors), but we're so elated to finally have James home with us.

Please continue to pray for this journey outside NICU. We have many appointments to go for the next couple of months...years...
We'll post some pictures this week for sure. Now it's time to unpack and then relax for a bit.

Very happy parents,
Ryan & Gabby

James was struggling to keep his appetite during feeding. At some point on Friday he only ate 18 mL. Ryan and I spent the night at the hospital, just practicing getting up in the middle of the night to feed James and to change his diaper. I didn't get up for the 2:30 AM feeding because I had to get up at 5 AM to get ready for internship.

What. a. rest. less. night.

James had to get his feeding tube put back in due to the low milk intake. He cried, and cried, and cried. He had tears in his eyes, and oh how it broke my heart. I tried my best to console him. I gave him kisses, hug, and finally we both kinda dozed off on the couch. The nurse came in to make sure that I put James back in his bed. I was having a good time sleeping with him laying on my chest.

Anyways... Ryan and I shared a tiny couch to sleep for the night. Ha, never will we do it again. Hahahaha.

While I spent my day at clinical, Ryan and his parents were getting trained how to take care of James. I heard that his appetite is slowly increasing. He still needs help to finish his meal using the tube but not as bad compare to last night feedings.

So maybe he isn't going home on Monday... or Tuesday... whenever it is.... I'm hoping that he will be stronger compare to what he is now.

Please pray that James can get better....soon....

night-night..........

24 Hours

The past 24 hours has been a whirlwind.

While we are trying to get ready for James' arrival he has another plan. He was a little sleepy on his Wednesday 8:30 PM feeding. That continues until today, Friday morning. He hasn't been eating as much as we wanted him to be. We tried the car seat test late Wednesday - early Thursday in which he didn't pass. The test supposed to last for 90 minutes. James' saturation started to dip after 65 minutes. Even if he didn't pass I am proud of him to be able to stay for 65 minutes in his car seat. The next step will be to wait for 24 hours before doing a 2nd test. If he doesn't pass the 2nd test he will have to wait for 48 hours to do it again.

Ryan and I went up to the hospital on Thursday evening to watch 3 videos: car seat education, shaken baby syndrome, and RSV.

Ryan fed James before we watched the video... and he threw up all over. He has never threw up or spit so much milk in one feeding. I knew something wasn't right. He was also super sleepy. He needed lots of stimulation to suck the bottle.

I gave James a bed bath around 8:30, hoping that it'll wake him up a little bit before his feeding. It took 3 people (myself, Ryan and the nurse) to get James to eat 25 mL of his milk. His range is between 30 - 40.

I just called the hospital to check if they did a 2nd car seat test and they didn't. James had a couple of episodes last night in which he needed a stimulation to get his saturation back up again. They start to wonder if he has reflux.

In a perfect world we will be able to take James home on Sunday. However, looking at how he does for the past 24 hour makes me think that he may have to stay for a little bit longer in NICU. At least until we resolve  the feeding trouble and the car seat.

Please continue to pray with us for James' strength.

The Light at the End of Tunnel

There is a light... and it's shinning bright :)

James has been doing WONDERFUL for the past couple of days. He hasn't used his feeding tube for almost 24 hours. He continues to gain weight. His O2 saturation is good. Oh my, oh my, I can't contain myself. He is almost ready to go home. He's going to be so busy for the next couple days. Eye exam (please please pray with us for this one), car seat test, head sono (please no more crazy stuff), etc.

We are going to be very busy for the next couple of days too. CPR class, heart  monitor education, car seat education, mixing his formula with breast milk...

Please pray that this is it, that this week will be the last week James stays in the NICU. We have been waiting for so long. We are very thankful for all your support throughout this journey. Please don't stop praying with us.

Will write again later, I must go to class.

We love you all.

4 lbs and 12 oz

Congratulations to my fellow nursing classmates. You've done it! So very proud of you :)

Not much happening today with James.... ok, I lie.

He managed to pull out his feeding tube right before his afternoon meal. The nurse then decided to keep him awake and give him the bottle. We got there during his feeding. I got to hold him while he was finishing the rest of the milk. He took it all :) Yay! Oh, he also let out 2 big burps for us, that was entertaining :D

The doctor doesn't make any changes on his meds or oxygen setting. He is still without voice though. Based on the note they won't do anything until James is older. Hopefully in a couple of months he'll get his voice back.

James' next eye examination will be on Wednesday. Please pray with us for James' eyes.

Enough rambling, photos of the day :)

The pictures below pretty much sums up what goes on when we get to hold James.

Giving him many kisses before he turns to a teenager :P
Kisses on the head, forehead, cheeks, ears, fingers, and belly.

Ryan tends to be a LOT calmer when he holds James. He lets James to rest. 

Ok, off to bed, tomorrow is a long day. 1st day back to school to finish my last semester of nursing school. Yeah!

Cheers

Lullaby

Let's turn on the mobile and see how James reacts to that.

whoaaa what's that?!

It moves... it goes round and round.. and what am I hearing? sound?

Eye Exam

James had his weekly eye exam yesterday. The doctor didn't come until about 5:30 PM. Last week James' left eye shows a little bit of improvement, while the right eye didn't. Yesterday the doctor says everything is still the same. He would like those blood vessels to continue improve, but they're not. At this time he is thinking about doing surgery - possibly, if things don't quiet down as James continues to grow.
Please continue to pray with us for James' eyes.

Other than that, James is on home oxygen, YAY! He is still working on his stamina to stay awake during feeding. He has outgrown 2 of his preemie clothes. He lost half an ounce yesterday but that's ok. He is still at 4 lbs and 11 oz. We're crossing our fingers that he'll be 5 lbs when we take him home - whenever that is.

Ok, time to hunt for a bassinette. Toodles!

We're A Little Slow...

Can't you tell?

James got a bath on Sunday :D It was Ryan's turn to give James one while I took pictures.

First we took his temperature. He needs to be warm enough to get his bath. Nothing under 97 F.
The outfit was a gift from friends at Lincoln Lion :)

We have a naked boy under the blanket.

Big yawn before the bath,

Carefully holding James so he won't slide down. The kid was squirmy!

Almost done!

Got Our Internet Back

The baby shower was fun :) Got lots and lots of gifts for James that I got to open, mwahahahaha. 

From L - R
Monica, Erin & Brooke (classmates)
Abby, Wendy, Stephanie (coworkers)

L-R back row - Liz, Kris, Alyssa, Emily, great grandma Sutter, grandma Kirk
front row - Lusi & Darrin, Darla, Lily, Sharon, great grandma Kirk
missing: Kristi & Ali

After the shower the family discovered... Rock Band and the loved it. I better ask for a permission to publish the pictures. They are gems, he he he.

Thank you everyone for making the day so special :D

4lb 11oz

Just wanted to share these two photos

Looking at the mobile

Baby Shower Part 1

Again, sorry for the lack of updates. The whole week went by so fast. I was mostly feeling jittery... and nervous because I wanted to get the house ready for the baby shower on Saturday. I will post several pictures later today.
Thanks to Alyssa & Emily for planning the shower. Thanks to hubby's family for helping to make the event went smoothly and to clean up. I had a great time with family and friends on Saturday :D James is loved by many :D He got many many clothes, a baby monitor, diapers, burp clothes, bibs, pacifiers, bottles, a car seat & the stroller and many many more!

After the shower a few of us went to see James. The boy is 4 1/2 pounds and looking good :D I tried to bottle feed him but he only took half and procceed to fall asleep.

Short update: His left eye shows some improvement, but not the right eye. The doctor will come again on Wednesday to check the blood vessels. Crossing fingers that it'll be ok!

Till later :)

4 lbs and 6 oz

We apologize for the lack of update for this week. We are trying to get the nursery and the house looking somewhat decent for Saturday. The sisters in law are throwing me a baby shower. Very thankful that I don't have to worry about a thing (well, beside cleaning up the house a bit). We're sorry if some of you in the area aren't receiving invitation, I am very behind on everything, but stop by to hang out if you want :D

James is getting bigger everyday. Yay! He is still at 2 Liters with 32% of oxygen. He breaths kind of fast lately... not sure why, but the nurse & dr. are keeping their eyes close on him. Today is another check up day for his eyes. We've been praying about those blood vessels to grow correctly. It will be a miracle if he ends up not needing the surgery.

We brought some clothes from home for James. Photos to come :-) Thank you for the cute outfits many of you have given to James :-)

Still praying,
Ryan & Gabby

Who Doesn't Like Monday?

Couldn't sleep at night because all I think about is James' eyes. 

Ryan went to the hospital around 10 AM - that's when the Dr. supposed to make a visit. I stayed at work until Ryan calls to tell me to drive to the hospital. 10 AM came...nothing...11...nothing... Finally around noon Ryan called. I thought I was going to faint. Anyways, so the Dr. checked the growth of those blood vessels and he thinks a surgery is not necessary at this time. He will come and check those blood vessels to see if there are any changes. Those changes can either be good or bad. Please pray that they will self correct. 

When I got to the hospital after work I noticed there is a mobile attached to James' crib. How exciting! I turned it on.. and it plays the music very slow.... and ...flat. Hahaha. We thought that mobile has entertained many babies in the NICU and about to retire :D

We are very relieved that James doesn't have to go through a surgery for now. We continue to pray for James' vision and voice. We want to hear his voice, or even a squeak. 

Daddy is changing my stinky diaper. More to come :D

The boy got some swag ;-)

Hi Laura, I am ready to eat :)

Mommy seems to be fascinated by my skill of drinking from a bottle.

How am I supposed to burp when the camera is on me?

3 more cc and then I'm out.

Where Did the Time Go?

I don't know about you, but Ryan and I have been on a zombie mode. It seems like time went by really fast especially for the past couple of months. I'm not sure anymore why this is May already. I don't really remember anymore what I did since the last blog post.

Well, enough rambling.....

Let's see... James received 3 immunization on Friday noon... he didn't feel good in the evening. Probably a side effect of the immunization, but not for sure. We went up there and James wasn't a happy camper. A night nurse called us on Saturday morning telling us that James was having a hard time breathing throughout the night. He had a couple of bradycardia and one of them required the team to use the bag (with O2). They got a sample of blood for culture.. a urinalysis... lab... and started a 2 day antibiotic treatment for the little guy.

We went to the hospital a little before noon to hang out with James. He was asleep most of the time. We didn't hold him on Saturday, just wanted the guy to have an uninterrupted sleep :)

~~~

James' lab shows an increase of a protein indicating an inflammation. Still not sure what though. Day 1 blood culture is negative, still waiting for result of day 2. I am not sure about the result of his urinalysis... He looks better today compare to yesterday. He took his bottle 100% at 11:30 feeding. yay!

James is still without voice, the neonatologist is going to ask another doctor to check on James sometime this month. We wonder if it's because James was intubated for quite awhile that the tube may have caused scarring to his throat..or vocal cords... or whatever (do I sound a little stressed out? Maybe I am?)

Monday is coming soon.... that means James is going to have his eyes checked again. Oh Lord I am asking you for a miracle. Let your child have a perfect vision. Help the blood vessels to grow correctly. Be with James tonight, tomorrow, everyday.

Thursday:

Sleepy baby

No more pictures Mama, no more I say. You're obsessed!

Mama... I don't think this is how people high five...

I am going to pretend to be asleep so this photo session  finally comes to an end. 

Friday: Immunization Day

Whispering to James that he'll be alright.

Feeling kind of cruddy.

Add caption

Sunday:

James is feeling better today :)

Thanks for the smile sweetie :)

How to retire without a debt? Uhm... Daddy, that's not a bedtime story...

Sleep tight my angel, we'll be by your side tomorrow. Good luck on the eye exam :)

Please pray with us for James' eyes and his overall health.

Thank you.

The Gift of Sight

One of many complications in a premature babies is vision problem.

Vision problems. Preemies born before 30 weeks may develop retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a disease that occurs when blood vessels swell and overgrow in the light-sensitive layer of nerves at the back of the eye (retina). Sometimes the abnormal retinal vessels gradually scar the retina, pulling it out of position. When the retina is pulled away from the back of the eye it's called retinal detachment, a condition that, if undetected, can impair vision and cause blindness.


James' eye doctor came for a couple times for the past month or so. He is concern about the development of the blood vessels in the eyes. He will check on James on Monday and decide the next step. Either it will be a laser surgery or a medication. Anyways, Ryan and I will be by James' side on Monday. 


Please pray with us for James' eyes. Pray that the blood vessels in the eyes will behave and grow correctly. 


I went to a choir practice at church on Wednesday night. One of the songs we are currently practicing is Ave Maria (by Kirby Shaw).  I have been humming & singing the song since I heard about James' eyes situation. The song has been keeping me calm and hopeful. 


Till the next post :)
Have a great weekend 

Busy Like A Bee

So... sleepy... What a perfect weather to take an afternoon nap.
I heard most adults don't get to nap. I wonder if they get cranky.  

Mommy is talking with the nurse... something about me being stinky after I made a huge poop this afternoon?
What? I am  adorable! .. and so not stinky.

Uuhhh... Mommy? What are you doing?

Washcloth?
Are you doing what I think you're doing?
Am I really that stinky?

Ok, phew... I think it's over.

Wait, no! What's this?

Hm.... I am wet, but.. it's nice and warm... I hope it's a good thing.

Oooh.. cover me up Mommy! A warm blanket would be nice!

Undershirt - check, onesie - check, diaper - check.

Meal time with Daddy. I am hungry and tired from all the commotion.
(James was only able to take 5 mL out of 25 mL. He was falling asleep).

My sweet new made up bed. 

Alright Mom & Dad, I am tired. Peace out. Don't forget to see me again tomorrow.