Happy Opening Day!

Who needs to be at Wrigley when you can cuddle with this little man

 It is a beautiful spring day here in the city of Chicago and a great day for a ballgame. I walked into JD’s room this morning and heard him singing “Go Cubs Go, Go Cubs Go, Hey Chicago what do you say, the Cubs are gonna win today.” I think this kid is on to something. Maybe after 114 years James is the one to help break the curse (after today’s loss, maybe not).

With the breathing tube -- BOOOOO

Mom & Dad SUPER happy the breathing tube is out

Thank you Nia/Aunt Katie for the best burpies any little man could ask for

JD's Stylish nametag

Connor showing some Cubbie love

Just a few updates

JD had a great night. Yesterday they mentioned he might need a blood transfusion b/c of all the blood they have taken has directly resulted in his hemoglobin levels being low. When JD heard this he said “try again Dr. Sooner” and every test since then has been better and better meaning .  . . no transfusion. We do have a bit of a problem with this doctor as Nate was wearing a Longhorn shirt yesterday and it was revealed that the doctor went to Oklahoma University for medical school (hence the Dr. Sooner comment). I told him I would need a second opinion on everything he tells us. J He has been great keeping us posted so I guess an OU grad will have to do.

But the best news of the day . . . his breathing tube came out – YAHOO! You can see his little face again (although it is a bit red from where the tape was located). With the breathing tube out they can start feeding him breast milk. This truly is the greatest news we could hear today. At 5pm today we fed him 5 ml of milk and he loved it! Right now they have to feed him via tube through his mouth but we are hoping to try a bottle in the next week or so.

Side note: Last night while I was pumping (in a bit of a sleeping haze) I was so excited to see how much I am producing that I shouted out “I am a machine” and the nurses thought that was hilarious. Pretty sure the nurses have a comment wall somewhere that I am now officially a part of. If it keeps them happy to watch my boy then I will continue to make ridiculous comments.

The new accessory you may notice is his neck brace. During the MRI while looking at the spine they noticed the top of neck is slightly curved. Without getting into lots of details just know the brace is to help the bones in his neck grow properly. Right now it is a lot of cartilage but as the bones grow we want to make sure they are straight. Nothing to be concerned about but you will be seeing the brace in some pics.

It might be getting old to hear but once again JD dominated the day. The orthopedic surgeon and the physical therapist are very impressed with his hip flexors, the symmetry of his legs, and the flexibility of BOTH feet. The clubfoot is very loose, unlike a Spina Bifidia clubfoot would have been, which makes treatment just a tad easier – more on that treatment another time.

With each day we are hoping for less updates and more feedings so we can get some weight on this kid. Less updates also mean less for me to write about so if I do not post something for a few days take it as a good sign that things are going well.

Once again, thanks for the love and support. Have a great finish to your Holy Week and a Happy Easter.