Update on little J

Tony and I drove down to Little Rock this weekend and visited Arkansas Children's Hospital. It really is a neat place and I'm so proud that we have something like this hospital near by. Jaxson is doing really good and from what we heard the doctors are really pleased with his progress. Since Amber was doing elephants with Jaxson's baby stuff we decided to take him a little present. I tied a little ribbon around his neck and made a little bow. We couldn't take it back to him in the NICU because they have very strict rules about what can and can't be around the babies (and for good reason!) but he'll have it when he gets out.

We both got to go back and see him - one at a time of course - and he is a little doll. It's hard to see a little baby hooked up to so much stuff tho. Something that surprised me was that they put his IV in his little head. His head! I meant to take pics but when I went back I left my phone with Tony and didn't think about getting my camera out of my purse. I guess I was just nervous about going back there. There were lots of families up there with other sick babies. I don't know what all they're having to go thru but watching those mothers, who had just given birth, have to sit in a waiting room while their little ones are hooked up to machines down the hall ... it just hurts my heart.

I have to say I'm really proud of Amber. She's handling things so well. I was worried about her but I think motherhood is going to mature her - and I mean that in a good way.

So here's what's been happening:
They did the surgery on Jaxson and removed the cyst. There were no nerves in the cyst it was mostly fluid (that's a good thing). The plastic surgeon worked on his little back to graft the skin and cover up where the cyst had been. They had to move his little back muscles up to where they needed to be since the cyst had moved those down on his spine. Tony's mom said she was there when they changed the dressing on his back and she says it looks really good. He was on oxygen and being fed by a feeding tube. They were able to take him off the oxygen Saturday night and soon they'll remove the feeding tube and Amber will be able to nurse him or feed him with a bottle. Feeding maybe a little tough tho since they told him he would need to be on his stomach for at least 6 weeks just so he can heal properly. They're trying to keep him as still as possible but he wants to move. They have him laying on a little horse shoe type pillow since he's on his stomach all the time. It looks like of like a mini-boppy pillow. He's ticklish and when you barely touch his little feet it makes him mad and he'll stick his butt up in the air, lol. Since the cyst in his back was mostly fluid they're keeping an eye on his head because they said sometimes SB can have extra fluid on their brain or swelling of the brain. But so far there has been no sign of that happening. They haven't really told them how long he'll have to be in the hospital. But they do know when he goes home they'll have to use a special car seat since he can have any pressure on his back right away.

So that's what is happening now. There's still a ways to go but so far we have a lot to be thankful for!