The First Weekend

Friday was Jackson's first day home. We were up most of the night with him since he was having trouble sleeping. (He sleeps great during the day.) We took him for a walk to the grocery store about a mile and half from the house. He loved the Baby Bjorn.

We also gave him his first bath.

Drew's mom and dad came up to spend the weekend with us. They cooked us Thanksgiving dinner for us on Saturday. We walked with the baby each day. He sleeps the whole time.

Monday was our first doctor's appointment. Jackson weighed 6 lbs and 0.5 ozs. Dr. Kocmond was very impressed with his health for being so early.

Homecoming - Thursday, November 26

Happy Thanksgiving! Our family has a lot to be thankful for this year. Jackson made it home 14 days after his birth. He is breathing and eating like a big boy.

Monday, November 23

Jackson has been moved to the Progressive Nursery. He has to take 45 mL of milk every 3 hours by bottle. Then, he can come home. By the end of the week, we should have our little boy at home.

Sunday, November 22

Jackson is breathing room air - no more "old man oxygen." His IV came out last night so now he is on straight breast milk. He is on the waiting list for the Progressive Nursery which is the final stage before coming home. Now, he just has to take most of his feedings from the bottle. He loves kangaroo care!

Can you tell the new parents are a little tired? My eyes are still blood shot from labor and delivery.

Saturday, November 21

Yesterday was a big day for Jackson. He got his first opportunity to try breastfeeding. He did a great job latching but it was a lot of work for him to get milk. He does not have to be able to breastfeed to leave the hospital. He just has to take all his feedings from a bottle. We are up to 32 mL every 3 hours. He has to take 38 - 40 mL every 3 hours to go home. They still have to feed him sometimes through the tube in his nose that goes to his stomach. It is a lot of work for him to breathe and drink from a bottle.

We also got to do kangaroo care with him yesterday. The medical world is highly promoting holding babies skin to skin with their parents. They say it calms them down and in this case will help him heal faster. It is so cute to see Jackson poking his head through the neck of our shirts. He loves it! He screams when we put him down. Probably not a good thing since I have no idea how we will carry him around in our shirts all the time.

Today, they weened him down to 1L of flow on his oxygen. That is the end of the line so we might be pulling that tube on Sunday or Monday.

He also gets to be off his IV today since his feedings are almost full feedings.

We should be moving to the Progressive Nursery at the beginning of the week if all goes well. That nursery will be our last stop before his nursery at home. The resident says that if all goes well we should have him home on Friday.

Week 2

Seven days ago today (11/18/2009) my water broke. It is hard to believe it has already been a week. It is truly amazing to see the progress that Jackson has made. The doctor told us one week ago that Jackson had to do three things before he could go home.

1. Regulate his own temperature which he was doing pretty quickly.



2. Breathe on his own which he can almost do. He is not getting any extra oxygen just a little flow to help him along. He should be off the flow pretty soon.



3. Digest his bottle feedings. He took his first bottle today and loved it. Now, we just have to work on what goes in must come out. They said that I could start breastfeeding on Friday if he took well to the bottle. Check out the pictures below of his first bottle feeding.

Week 1

Jackson Patrick Walters has been a surprise from conception so his birth should have been no less of a surprise I guess. On Wednesday, November 11, my water broke at 3:30PM and Jackson was born at 12:42 AM on November 12, 2009. He weighed 5 lbs 15 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. He was born at 34 weeks so his lungs were not ready to work on their own.

Jackson had to be put on several different respiratory machines. We are finally on what I call "old man oxygen" because I can never remember the name. He is breathing on his own and is just getting a little flow to help him keep his lungs open.

The latest "surprise" was jaundice. So, he is on a bili blanket and has two bili lights. His level had decreased from 17 to 10 in less than 24 hours so we expect that he will be off the lights by Wednesday morning.

He is getting 6 mL of mommy milk every 3 hours and is tolerating the feedings better now that the ventilator is not down his throat. These are considered "trophy feedings." We are just trying to get his digestive tract to function on its own. Hopefully, we will start bottle feedings in the next two to three days.

Drew let Jackson have Drew's very first Auburn T-shirt to use as a blanket. It is so holey that I can not wash it anymore for fear of disintegration. I bet it will become Jackson's security blanket.

We got to hold Jackson for the first time on Monday night. It was precious. We both slept a lot better. He loves to have his butt patted. It calms him right down. We read to him each morning and evening. We cannot wait to have our little man at home!