An Update

Jacob is doing fine.

One of the doctors made the comment that he was very pleased with how quickly Jacob was able to come off the ventilator.

It was a bit of shock seeing him yesterday. He was on an oxygen tube to help sustain the oxygen in his blood. It was a small thing that wrapped around his head and was inserted into the nose. When we went to see him yesterday, they had removed the small tube and replaced it with a huge monstrosity of a thing that has to be held in place by a cap that he wears. When I expressed my shock, they said it is actually a step up from what he was on before. I've noticed it myself. The first, smaller oxygen tube was held firmly in place. This larger one is much more loose, so that it easily falls out. The good thing is that when it falls out of his nose, his oxygen levels remain consistent for a good period of time.

They did find a "hole" in Jacob's heart. This "hole" is part of an unborn baby's normal circulatory system. For children who are born at term, it closes either right before birth, or right after. Because Jacob is so premature, they have administered a medicine to tell his body to close this hole. This hole allowed un-oxygenated blood to circulate back into his body. When it closes, all un-oxygenated blood will go to the lungs to receive oxygen, and then it will go back through the heart. This will also help him maintain his blood oxygen levels.

I mentioned earlier that he had blood in his urine, and that this is also normal for children who are born premature. Well, all blood is gone out of his urine now. However, as long as he is on the medicine closing the hole in his heart, he will continue to receive his nutrients intravenously. The hope is that he will be able to start eating within a couple of days, possibly Thursday or Friday.

He is continuing to maintain his body temperature with the help of a heat lamp. He won't be able to do this independently until he can eat, and put a little meat on his body, some fat to help insulate himself. His birthweight was 4 pounds, 7 ounces. He has actually lost weight at the moment. This is normal, as well. When born, his little body was saturated with fluid from being in the womb. As that fluid has been excreted through the bowels or evaporated from his skin, he lost fluid weight, but not essential weight. As I said, hopefully, he will be able to start eating on Thursday or Friday, and begin gaining fat weight, which is necessary and very cute.

You know it, we all love fat babies.

He is jaundiced right now, which is very common even for term babies. He gets to spend his days underneath a specialized "tanning lamp." It gives him all the good light of the sun without any of the harmful rays. So he really won't be tan when he's done, but he will be less yellow.

We got to hold him the other day, but only for a brief time. Until the jaundice is relieved, we won't be able to hold him again, but hopefully by then he will be off the supplemental oxygen as well, and able to eat.

Now, here's what you've all been waiting for: