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!

Those Night Nurses Strike Again!

He is starting to get a really expressive face! My mom loves how his eyebrows move!

Obviously you have to do something to keep from falling asleep if you work the night shift. Jaden has many many admirers among the night nurses! He is already a hit with the ladies! I am SO in trouble when he grows up!

We are still in isolation. His cold is almost gone and you can tell that he feels much better. He is now up to 4 pounds 10 ounces! We had our first successful breastfeeding last night - he still can't extract milk on his own but he is latching much better.

Jake has a house for us in North Chicago! 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths with a dishwasher, washer/dryer hookups, garage, and shed. Now we have to buy a washer and a dryer and a freezer for all of my milk! If you know of a good deal, let me know. :) Jake has a key, but can't move in until Jaden and I do. These last few days have been torture - I think now that we have somewhere to live out there I am going stir crazy in the NICU! I am ready to be done. I am ready to be gone. All Jaden really has to do is to eat to get out of there, so pray that he figures it out soon!

The Progression of the Yawn

Banished Into Isolation

Jaden caught a cold, so we were put into an isolation room. That means that any nurse or doctor that comes in has to first put on a robe, gloves, and a mask before they can work with him, then they have to throw them all away when they leave the room. It's quite the hassle for a cold. He doesn't seem to feel too badly from the cold, so it's not affecting him too much. It definitely isn't affecting his weight gain - 4 pounds 5 ounces!

Hopefully we'll be out of isolation soon, and then maybe we'll get a spot next to a viewing window. Because he's sick, he's back on high-flow at 2 liters per minute but handling it really well. He is way more alert lately - he loves looking around and staring at everything! It is so fun! They say he should get a mobile soon to focus on! We just love him!

4 Pounds 2 Ounces!

Those extra calories sure are doing their job! He is gaining about an ounce a day! He is doing absolutely wonderfully! He is tolerating his feedings so well, although he does have acid reflux so he is getting Prevacid to help that.

He is now down to 1.5 liters of air, and they will probably move down to 1 liter tomorrow. He is still on about 23%-28% of oxygen. Because he is over 1800 grams (1872 as of last night) he can now go into an open crib. It's weird to think that after two and a half months in his little Giraffe Isolet that he will move to a new home, but also exciting! Two things need to happen before he can move - he needs to hold his body temperature better on his own and a large open crib needs to become available. We also might be moved to the less critical side of the NICU soon - and we have requested (in a sort of demanding way) to have a spot by a window so everyone can marvel at his little white boy fro.

(he is yawning in this picture, not screaming)

Jaden is now the "Grandpa" of the NICU - he is the oldest boy in the whole place! There are two twin girls that have him beat by about 5 days, but he is definitely the Patriarch of the babies!

The breastfeeding isn't really happening - he is munching rather than sucking - but it will come with time and experience so we keep trying twice a day. This is a picture of his favorite thing - having his head scratched! You combine that with "You Are My Sunshine" and the kid is defenseless!

He's Growing Up So Fast!

He has tripled his birth weight! 70 days ago, he was born at 1 pound 5 ounces. Now he weighs 3 pounds 15 ounces! I am so proud of him!

Grandma loves to hold him. Too bad I trump her! I get to hold him for hours every day!!!

Jaden is working on breastfeeding. Monday was the first day, and he did so well! He latched on, did a lot of sucking, and was just so cute! The lactation specialists were amazed! Yesterday he was so exhausted from all of the fun that when I took him out to try again, he just fell asleep. So we tried again at night, and even though he has been sleeping the ENTIRE day, he was apparently just too exhausted with just the thought of it and fell asleep. So we'll see what happens today.

And the big news is: he had his first real bath!!!

After he figured out that it was like sitting in a tiny baby hot tub, he settled right in and zonked out. In other words, he loved it! It was fun to see him progress to a real bath, rather than the sponge baths he's been having. And I didn't swaddle him up for modesty's sake, but that is how they wash him in the tub - they just uncover the parts that need to be washed and then cover it back up and move along. Of course when we were done, I had to do his hair, so I gave him a proper missionary part: His is now "eating" 30 mL of milk every 3 hours. The 26 extra calories they are fortifying with are obviously working (he is getting fat! Well, fat for an almost 4 pounder) and he is tolerating it well. He had to have another blood transfusion the other day because his count was low, but it made him feel better and gave him better color. He is so cute!

Jaden's Kryptonite

You will never guess what will calm Jaden down almost every time. It's amazing - he will be getting agitated and turning red and I just have to use this simple trick and he will calm right down. What is it do you ask? What could possibly knock him out like this?I just have to sing You Are My Sunshine. It works like a charm.

Well, they moved us from our prime spot. We are now shoved back in a far corner not near any window, so if you wanted to come and see my beautiful son, you are out of luck for the time being. Soon enough (in about 2 weeks) he should be moved again to somewhere more accessible.

We are on an air flow of 2 liters per minute. And the extra calories going into my milk seem to be working - he is now a whopping 3 pounds 10 ounces!!!! Just 5 more ounces and he will have tripled his birth weight!

We are starting real breastfeeding tomorrow. We don't expect him to get much, but he was getting really frustrated the past few days because he was sucking but not getting anything so we are going to let him try the real thing. What a big boy!

I love holding him twice every day. It is so fun to just look at him and watch him! I feel like I notice something new about him every single day! Here is what I noticed recently: Jaden has a slightly down-turned mouth.

He has recently started to figure out how to move his mouth muscles, so every now and then he will lift one side repeatedly, then the other, then purse his lips, then pout, then smile, then repeat it all over again! It is fun to just sit and stare at him.