Miralax + Suppository = BLOWOUT!!!!

And wouldn't you know it, this was his first time in this brand new outfit. Of course!

I'm A Great Housewife!

For the past 3 1/2 months my life has been completely taken over by all things Jaden. Don't get me wrong - that is where all of my time and attention is supposed to be, but it does mean that other things, like my family, my calling, and my friends have all been seriously neglected. One aspect of my life that has been completely left out lately is my apartment. If you were to come over today, you would find: junk everywhere, dirty laundry piled high, clean laundry folded but not put away, a bed that isn't made, bills and other important papers that need to be paid and then filed away, a sink piled high with dirty dishes, a dishwasher full of clean dishes, a fridge that is almost completely empty, cupboards that are equally empty (I eat on the go most of the time), baby things all over the apartment, packing boxes both filled and empty, and just a general feeling of disarray. To prove my point, the other day I was actually cooking something on the stove when I found this: (and may I say it scared me to DEATH when my wrist brushed by it!)

I had no idea why this plant like thing was growing out of the cupboard (and if you look really close in the upper left hand corner you can see another one coming up too) so I opened the door and found this:

Apparently this is what happens to a bag of potatoes that is left forgotten.Very Creepy.

Now on to Jaden news: He did get the sore throat that I had so that explains why he didn't want to swallow. We gave him several days of no feedings to let him rest and get better. We started back up on the breastfeeding yesterday, and while he is not doing stellar, he is doing as well as I could have hoped. It's nice to just have that time back where we can bond again. He is still chunking up and is now at 6 pounds 8 ounces!!! Other than that, not much else has changed. So we just need to get him working towards eating, and then we can FINALLY come home!

Hold That Thought

So we roomed in last night, and it was exhausting. And then near morning, Jaden decided that he didn't need to eat anymore (or at all) so his feeding tube went back in. They are giving him 24 hours of rest to see if that helps him to eat better. It will be a few more days before we come home now, but after last night, and how hard it was to take care of him and his monitors and oxygen and medications all on my own, I'm fine with them taking care of him for a few more days.

Just Kidding

I woke up with a stomach bug, so no rooming in tonight.
:(
Hopefully we can room in tomorrow and he can come home on Wednesday.

So Much Good News, And The Best Is......

We may be coming home TOMORROW!!!!! Crazy, I know. I'm scared to death to take him home. I mean, I'm not a nurse. How can they expect me to take care of him 24/7? He will be coming home on oxygen with a monitor to let me know if he stops breathing for 20 seconds or if his heart stops, so that is at least a little comforting.
In other news, he passed his hearing tests! So as of now (and this can change in the future) both of his ears are all clear!He did his 12 hour request where for 12 hours they let Jaden tell us when he is hungry and he gets all of his feedings orally instead of through his feeding tube. We didn't expect him to do too well, but everyone was shocked at just how awesome he did! So the next day he did a 24 hour request (he has to get 4 bottles a day with fortified breast milk to keep up his weight gain) and he again, did amazing! We have now done 3 days of successful 24 hour requests without any problems! This is such a miracle!
We tried him on room air to see if he would need oxygen, and he failed, but we knew he would. Not a big deal. They have also pulled his feeding tube because he is such an awesome eater!

We also did his car seat test to make sure he gets enough oxygen when sitting in his car seat, and he passed!Even though he is huge to me, all you have to do is put him in a car seat to put his size into perspective. However, he is 6 pounds now! By the way, they put the towels in around him to help him to fit better.
He is getting his last rounds of immunizations today and then I will room in tonight, which means I will sleep at the hospital with Jaden in my room to make sure I can give him all of his meds and that I can operate all of his equipment and monitors on my own. If all goes well, Jaden will walk into the sunlight (unless it's raining) for the first time tomorrow! If you want to come see him just let me know since he will need LOTS of sleep once he is home, and be prepared now that I won't let you hold him. I will be the ultimate mommy bear - I'm not going to let very many people get close to him since he is still so fragile. We are so excited for him to come home!

My 2nd Heart and 2nd Soul

When I married Jake a little more than 4 years ago, I knew I was crazy in love with him. I knew that I was with someone who crazy loved me back. In those four short years, my love for him has only increased. I feel like there are times when my entire body is going to burst because there is just so much love for Jake inside of me. I can honestly say without any doubts that I love Jake with my entire heart and soul.

I was worried with the addition of our first child how the whole love thing would work, because my entire heart was already taken up with my love for my husband. However, I have found what most moms know - once you have a child, you grow a second heart and a second soul. I can now honestly say without any doubts that I love Jaden with my entire heart and soul. Every single day as I hold him, I just look at him and marvel at how much I just love and adore him! And yet, not only has my love for my husband not decreased, it has only grown! I love that our Heavenly Father has created such a plan that love can grow and grow!!

My first heart and soul are consumed with this boy:

My second heart and soul are consumed by this boy: How in the world did I ever get this lucky!?!

The Little Chocolate Baby

One of the things Jaden is known for in the NICU is Dove Chocolates. Early on in our stay there my mom decided it would be a good idea to have a bucket by his bedside that is constantly stocked with every kind of Dove chocolates imaginable. It has proved to be a very smart idea - Jaden gets more attention from the nurses, doctors, and therapists than any other baby in there because they come to get chocolate and then they peek in on him or ask how he is doing. They also tend to congregate around the chocolate, meaning if any his alarms go off, someone is always right there to check on him. So for his 3 month photo shoot, the night nurses thought it would be funny to put him in his chocolate bucket. Hilarity ensued:

Welcome Baby Jaden! Oh Wait...

Yup! Today is Jaden's official due date! And yesterday was his 3 month birthday! Crazy how life works. He is getting HUGE! And I mean HUGE! 5 Pounds 10 Ounces!!! He is also doing so well on his breastfeedings! Our last 5 feedings have all been full feedings (meaning he got all of the milk he needed for a single feeding on his own) and two of those were back to back! Usually, we do a feeding and then let him rest for the next one because feedings takes a lot of effort, but today we did our first back to back feeding, and he got full feedings both times! We are going to move on soon to introduce the bottle, and then there are only a few more steps until we get out of here! So here is where my son has come in 3 short months:

The NICU is a place where miracles occur daily, and I'm so glad my son is one of those miracles.

Just so you know, my son is very advanced (obviously). He is already playing peek-a-boo! Or maybe it's hide and seek.... So Cute!

Hello 5 Pounds!

It's nice to Finally meet you!

Lots of Catching up to do

It's the pits not having the internet for a few days, so I had a lot of catching up to do, so enjoy all of the new posts.

In the world of updates, Jaden is no longer in isolation but we got to keep our private room for now. We like our little room - it's much quieter, it has a window to the outside so Jaden can enjoy sunlight for the first time, and it has it's own temperature control. However, we still don't have a way for people to come and admire him, so we'll just have to wait on that.

He is down to 1 liter of air per minute, which is really good!

He weighs 4 pounds 15 ounces!!

We are doing 2 breastfeedings a day, and he is starting to get some full feedings, which means that he is getting all of the milk he needs for a feeding on his own! He just needs to keep doing that consistently, and then we can come home!!!!!

Our Fifteen Minutes of Fame

BYU just released a new study they did where they were trying to predict whether a woman would deliver preterm. Jaden was featured in their study (between our amazing story and Jaden's awesome hair, they just couldn't resist!) and you can find the links to all of the stories here:
For the BYU study, click HERE
For the KSL story, click HERE
For the ABC4 story, click HERE

Movin' On Up

First we were in our space pod:

Then we got moved into his little home:

And now Jaden is in his big boy crib (also known as the jail cell):

He can finally hold his temperature on his own, but only if he has his sleeper pajama's on, his hat on, he is swaddled in 2 blankets, and then a warm blanket is placed on top of him. But he can do it! And, he is just a few grams away from being 5 pounds!!!!! What a big baby!

One Of Our Favorite Things

Now I have to go buy one...

The Crazy Hair Kid

We L-O-V-E his hair! It is only fair that since I didn't get a girl for my first child, that I got a boy with LOTS of hair to play with!!

And then once we towel dry it, it goes CRAZY!!!

Our Family Pictures

Here is our very first family picture:Our newsest family picture:
Hopefully we can move to Chicago soon so we can get a real family photo!