June 23rd - Face Time

Today was a really big deal for Landon.  I walked in for his 9am cares and they were setting him up to switch ventilators!  His oxygen levels were still high and he wasn't getting the volumes his little lungs needed so time for a change.  Instead of pulling out his current breathing tube and replacing it with a bigger one, they are going to let Landon try CPAP.  CPAP is a type of ventilation that pushes air through prongs that rest in your nose instead of a tube down your throat.  It is stronger than the normal oxygen prongs you think of for adults, but a step down from the current vent he was on.  While they got little man all prepped for his change, they let me snag a quick picture of him without anything on his face!!!!  There is still some tape residue and his poor little upper lip is smashed down from having the tape/tube there for so long, but he still looks so cute!  This is the first time I have seen his full face since he was born.

Come on, he is a handsome man!

So the new ventilator has prongs that go up his teeny, tiny little nose and then the tubes need to be secured to either side of his head.  It looks way scarier than the previous vent, but is a big step for Landon.  He has to initiate all of the breathing on his own and the nose prongs will just supplement those a little bit.  He is still pretty small and young to be on this vent right now so we will see how he does.  The doctors did warn that we are asking a lot of him right now and he could get really tired from working so hard.  He may end up back on the conventional ventilator if his body just isn't strong enough for CPAP yet.  Here is a picture of what he looks like now.

His poor little mask kind of makes him look like Hannibal Lector, I don't think Landon is a cannibal though :)

 Another thing we have been warned about is that Landon may continue to lose a little bit of weight. They gave him another dose of medicine to reduce the excess fluid he has, which can cause weight loss, and the fact that he is working so hard to breathe means he is burning a lot of calories.  When it was time to weigh him we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.  Guess what?  Landon gained weight and is back to 2lbs 0oz!  He is at 920 grams which is the biggest he has ever been!!!  Who knows if the weight will stay on in the next few days but I am hoping that it does.  Landon is having a few test done in the morning to see how he is doing on his new vents, I will keep you all posted!

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 20th - 22nd

Once again I am running behind on posts, go figure!  We have had some fun little things happen the past few days but nothing major.  Here is a quick update of the past few days for you.

June 20th

Landon got to wear his hat that Becky got him for the first time!

June 21st

Landon has been gaining weight slowly but surely.  Tonight, we hit TWO POUNDS!!!

June 21st

Today has been a little rough on Landon.  His oxygen levels are climbing a little bit which we don't like.  His breathing tube is now too small for him so they are debating putting in a bigger tube or changing him to a different type of ventilator.  The doctors are debating making this change over the weekend hopefully.  They also decided to give him some medicine to get rid of the excess fluid he has.  This will hopefully help his lungs a little bit, but may also cause him to lose some weight.  We did kangaroo time and afterward he was really awake.  I love hanging out with him when his eyes are open!!!

I had to miss my first night cares tonight which sucked but Jason got to go hang out with him, pray over him, and change his diaper, etc.  Jason treated me to some Britney Spears Concert tickets since we took back my birthday present (prenatal yoga lessons which I no longer need).  I had a great time even though it was hard to ditch our little man.  Please pray for Landon and his lungs still.  We have a ways to go and I am praying for the doctors to know when he is ready to switch ventilators.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin 

June 19th - Father's Day

Today was Father's Day and Jason got to celebrate his first as an actual dad!  We got to the hospital in the morning and Jason got to Kangaroo for a few hours.  Unfortunately Jason had to cut "roo time" a little short because Landon was getting a little grumpy towards the end.  His oxygen levels were up higher than normal and he was stats were dropping.  The doctors decided to order a chest x-ray to see if he needed a larger breathing tube or not.  They decided to just adjust Landon's ventilation settings instead of replacing his breathing tube.  We were happy with that, but were hoping that he wouldn't need either of those options.  The nurses and doctors have reassured us that vent changes happen all the time but we worry regardless.  We are just hoping this isn't a backslide for our little guy and that his lungs continue to get stronger and stronger.  Here are some pictures of Jason and Landon today:

So... this may not fit for a little while still

This was waiting for Jason when we got to the hospital this morning.  That tiny little hand print is Landon's. so cute!!!

They measured and weighed Landon tonight.  He stayed at 880 grams, we were REALLY hoping he would get to 2lbs for Father's Day but it just didn't happen.  We did learn his measurements today and he is now 14" long, almost a full 2" longer than when he was born!  So he is actually getting bigger, it is not just us getting used to his size.  We are really proud of our little guy, just hoping he continues to get bigger and stronger.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 18th - Shower time!

Landon is doing alright today.  They have been noticing that our little man has a heart murmur (not sure if I have mentioned it before or not) so they decided to do an echo cardiogram on him.  They want to see if this is something he will need surgery on or if it is possibly something that will fix itself.  The results came back and he does not have a PDA (good news), basically we will just watch to see if the murmur will fix itself.  There are not any major changes they are going to make right now.  His oxygen levels are a little more elevated still so they are also watching that closely to see if they can figure out what's going on.

I got to kangaroo with Landon today since Jason did yesterday and will tomorrow for Fathers Day.  Gosh, I just love hanging out and holding him.  Oh, we also brought Landon some new cloths to cover his eyes...

It might work better if we actually covered his eyes, he is just so cute though!

After Kangaroo time, we headed home to get ready for a wonderful evening.  A few of my close friends hosted a small baby shower for me which was absolutely amazing!  They decided to host it at night and prepare dinner for everyone.  I wish I had more pictures but they did a fantastic job.  We had a mashed potato bar (the mashed potatoes were served in martini glasses), Mac-n-cheese bites, awesome meatball sliders, and Cesar salad in individual won ton bowls.  The girls went above and beyond.  On top of all of that there was great sangria, fruit kabobs, and possibly the cutest cupcakes I have ever seen:

Sorry for the phone pictures.  I took these when I got home from the shower.  I will update with some better photos as soon as I can snag them from Becky

Look at these plates too... L O V E

The shower was absolutely wonderful and I am so thankful to everyone that was able to make it.  The generosity of everyone in attendance blew me away.   Just for kicks, here is a picture of "The Girls."  I have been friends with these ladies for many years now, they are amazing friends and great hostesses!

(Left to Right:  Teresa, Becky, Me, Jenny, and Ashley)  We have another counterpart but she was busy having a little boy of her own that night in Minnesota.  Congrats Lindsey!!!!!

We went back after the shower to hang out with Landon during his 9pm cares.  Landon was wide awake and hamming it up for the camera.  I just love this little baby!

Totally looks like he is waving, at least to me!  :)

He gained weight again tonight, we are up to 880 grams or 1lb. 15oz.  We are right on the heels of 2 lbs!  Today was wonderful, looking forward to Father's Day tomorrow.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 17th - Improvements

We have had another good day for Landon.  Dad (Jason) took off from work an hour early today so that he could get a chance to Kangaroo our little man.  He loved it even though Landon held on to his nipple the entire time.  :)  They hung out for almost two hours today which was awesome.

Landon is hopefully making strides in the right direction.  His PICC line (a central line, kind of like an IV) was taken out today after they gave him a round of antibiotics.  Infections can be pretty detrimental to babies his size so they gave him antibiotics just to be safe. 

This morning when I went in for cares we got to have bath time once again.  We scrubbed him down and got our little man to smell much better.  Also, big news... Landon got to put some clothes on!  He is still a little small, even for the preemie onesies but they put him in this:

(Sorry for the iPhone picture)

Jason's parents did get to swing by and see Jason doing Kangaroo time.  His mom got to pick little Landon up for the first time today and help with his cares a little.

Landon gained 10 more grams tonight bringing his weight to 840 grams or 1 lb. 14 oz.  He has been gaining weight slowly the past few days but we will take what we can get!  We are just so proud of our little man for the accomplishments, however small they may be.  Weight gain, poopie diapers, it is all great news for our little baby boy.  We will continue to keep you posted as always on any and all updates and thank you again so much for your continued prayers and support.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin  

June 15th and 16th - Late Updates

So I apologize for the delay in updates, things can get away from me pretty quickly.  On top of what is going on with Landon, there is some other family stuff going on so my brain is pretty much mush these days.

There have still been very few changes with our little man.  They have been a little more vigilant with Landon these past two day because he has a small heart murmur that they are watching closely.  I guess with babies this age this can happen, they just want to make sure it doesn't get worse as it can cause some issues down the road if it doesn't fix itself.  Landon's oxygen levels have stayed pretty low, he is still going up on his feeds and he has gained weight both nights.  We are so thankful that he is doing better but again, we are still concerned that things are a little "too good to be true" right now.  We do have some amazing nurses that are taking care of him and are very involved with his progress. 

In the NICU you can request primary nurses, every time they work they will be your nurse.  It is wonderful for us because we get to know them and trust them and it is great for Landon because they learn everything about him and become advocates for him.  They learn what things upset him, what side he likes to lay on, etc.   The nurses that have agreed to primary our little man are amazing and are making sure he is doing as well as he can at this point.   We have also just become friends with them and now get little surprises like this:

Yeah, we now get diaper messages!  (Thank you Julia, love it)  :)

Our little man has also been super awake lately when we do his cares.  We love seeing him open his eyes and look around.  He is just so cute, we can't help but take pictures of him.

Thanks so much for checking our blog and keeping updated on our little baby.  We still can't believe he is here and that three weeks have passed already! 

Much love,

Jason and Kristin

June 14th - Better Days

I went in this morning not planning on doing Kangaroo time, Landon was scheduled for a bath instead.  When babies are that small you can only do one big thing like that in a 12 hour period.  When I got to the hospital, one of our Primary Nurses had me all set up to hold the little guy and said bath time could wait until that night.  I was really nervous because if Landon had "rejected" me two days in a row it may have sent me over the edge.  (By the way, I know he didn't reject me but that is how my crazy hormonal brain was thinking that morning)

We had a great almost 3 hours of Kangaroo time and he did wonderfully.  It was great to hold him and feel a little rejuvenated in my "mommy-ness."  I am just so thankful for our time together.

Tonight was bath time again, thank goodness... little man was a little stinky!  We nabbed a few pictures of him, of course I will share them with you below.

Julia (his nurse) wrapped his little head after bath time to keep him warm

Hospital lighting is not very nice to me, whatever!

Yup, sometimes I get to sneak a kiss on his tiny little head!

We have not had many changes the past few days but again, that is a good thing.  We are hoping for small, steady improvements.  Oh, like tonight!  Landon gained 50 grams and is now back up to 790 grams or 1 lb. 12 oz.   His weight fluctuates a lot right now, we are hoping for just steady increases from here on out.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 13th - Update

So although I had a slight breakdown, Landon did pretty well today.  There have been very few changes for him, we are still just trying to grow the little guy.  They have decided to up his feeds daily by .5 mL until they get him to "full feeds" which is 5mL. 

Jason and I went back to see our little man that night, pray over him, and hope that he had a nice, restful night.  We didn't want to pick on him very much since he had a rough afternoon. 

Thanks for all of the kind words on the post from that day.  I don't get a chance to thank everyone personally but please know that your support has helped both Jason and I so much.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 13th - Don't take it personal?

Landon is still doing well, I went up to see him this morning and nothing really has changed.  His feeds are going well, his oxygen levels are still pretty low, and he seems happy.  We decided to do Kangaroo time this morning like usual, I generally sit with him from 9:30ish until 12:30ish every day.  We started like normal and he was doing alright but about 20 minutes in, he started low-stating.  His heart rate dropped and he wasn't getting the correct amount of oxygen.  We tried a few things to help him, but he was not having any of it.  (Boys...)  We had to put him back in hopes of him calming down, which he did almost immediately.

I was really happy that he was quickly recovering once we put him back, but of course took it a little personally.  You know in your head that its not your fault, maybe he was hot, maybe it was too noisy, maybe he just wasn't in a good position, who knows, but as a mom you take it as he wasn't happy with you.  All you hear is how good Kangaroo time is for them, "its almost like medicine its so important" so when your little one is no longer happy doing it, it hurts your feelings.  I am just starting to realize how hard it truly is to be a mom of a preemie. 

The problems and hurts and struggles I face are that of a new mom... ish.  I had the baby, but I miss being pregnant.  I was supposed to get three more months with him, how do you not get a little sad about that?  I wasn't sick of being pregnant yet, I was just starting to really love it!  I am so jealous of pregnant girls... and guess what there is an abundance of at one of the busiest Labor and Delivery units in the state?  Pregnant girls having big, fat, healthy babies that they get to take home.

Jason and I are both so thankful that he is doing well and are absolutely blessed to have wonderful nurses and doctors looking out for him.  Even with all of that, leaving your baby every night at the hospital instead of getting to take him home sucks.  Our nights are still sleepless even though Landon isn't home yet.  If we are not tossing and turning because we are worrying about him, I am up every three hours pumping breast milk to keep my supply up for when he gets home.  Our lives have been drastically altered, we have been shoved into parenthood, but we don't "get a baby" yet. 

Sure, we get to hold our baby or bathe him, but we are limited to how much we can do in any 12 hour period.  When we hold him it takes two people to move him and we are taped to his ventilator and have tubes running everywhere.  We can change his diaper but its through the holes in his isolette.  We can talk to him, but at a whisper because he is still so sensitive to sound.  We get to experience things, just very differently.

Spending time with him is some of the most cherished time I have ever had.  That time having to be spent in a hospital brings back memories of my mom and the last hours I got to spend with her.  I think we are just finding that this is terribly bitter sweet.  We are getting to experience and celebrate things other parents take for granted (breathing on his own, opening his eyes, first baths, first time holding him, etc) but we are also experiencing parenthood in a vastly different way that most. 

Having Landon doing so well recently has been incredible but I think Jason and I are both anxious, feeling like the rug could get pulled out from us an any moment.  We are not trying to be pessimistic, but our little man is still 8 weeks early as of today and we have already spend 3 weeks in the NICU.  The journey ahead of us is completely unknown and that is terrifying.  Who knows what obstacles lie ahead for Landon.  We are constantly in prayer for all of these things, ever hopeful that God will continue to heal and grow our little man so someday we can take him home.  We don't know why God has chosen this path for us but we are searching constantly for answers and what God is teaching us through this. 

Once again we want to thank all of your for your prayers, thoughts, and kind words.   I will post a little later today about his progress and any other changes that come up.  I also want to say how much I look up to other moms of preemies.  There are not a lot of people who understand this path, it is challenging and wonderful and scary and long.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those families as well as we have gotten to meet a handful of them here.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

Ps... on a totally random note the title of this blog "Don't take it personal" reminds me of the Monica song from the 90's, pretty sure it has the same title.  Yes, that song will be stuck in my head for the majority of the day now.  "I just wanna be all alone, and you think I treat you wrong, don't take it personal."

June 11th and 12th - Quiet Weekend

We didn't have any big changes this weekend.  Jason and I just got to hang out with Landon, do some Kangaroo time, and stare at our cute little man.  So far everything is looking good, his feeds are up to 2.5cc's per hour continuous and he gained weight both Saturday and Sunday night.  There really isn't a whole lot to report on other than that, gosh we feel so blessed for these past few days! 

Here are a few pictures from this weekend:

Please keep the prayers going for our little "Miracle Baby"  We are so thankful that he is continuing to do well and hopeful that the road ahead is not too bumpy. 

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 10th - Bath time... again

I can't begin to thank all of you for your prayers and support.  Landon has been doing really well the past few days and I just want to rejoice in that for a few minutes.  The odds are definitely stacked against our little man due to his size and how early he joined us here.  God has been taking care of him thoroughly though, making him stronger and stronger by the day.  We have some fantastic nurses and doctors looking after him and an insane amount of people praying for him.  I am blow away by the amount of people asking about our little boy and offering up encouraging words to Jason and I.  I just want everyone to know how much we appreciate it and hope that you continue to pray for our little man and get to witness how God is answering prayers.

Today we had another quiet day.  I got to hang out with Landon this morning, I spent about 3 hours holding him and loved every minute of it.  He had a good night and is still tolerating his feedings really well.  He is a little pale so they are watching his red blood cell numbers, he may need another blood transfusion but that is pretty common for babies this tiny.  We are hoping he wont need that, but I will keep you posted.

We got to do bath time again tonight, but this was the first time Jason got to be there for it.  We had to turn on the bright overhead lights so Landon got to rock his "sunnies" again.  I am 90% sure he likes wearing sunglasses...

 His umbilical cord fell off today so if you look CLOSELY you can see Landon's tiny little belly button!

 Wrapped up after bath time

Yup, that happened...

They gave him his tiny pacifier after bath time, he was very content!

Landon gained 30 grams tonight so after a few nights of losing weight we are back to gaining.  He is currently up to 680 grams, 1lb. 8oz.  We are hoping that now that his food is being upped and calories are added he will start to gain weight like a crazy man!   Please keep praying for our little boy and we will keep you posted on his progress. 

Much Love.

Jason and Kristin

June 9th - Nothing Major

So today was pretty relaxing.  We had very few changes today which is perfect.  I was at the hospital when they did rounds on Landon and got to listen in on everything.  Basically they said that everything looks good.  His heart still looks great, he is tolerating his new, larger feeds, and is still doing well on this ventilator.  We did learn that he is the smallest baby in the entire NICU, but he also was the quietest last night.  His alarms went off the least!  (Gold Star for Landon)

Jason got to Kangaroo our little man again tonight which was wonderful.  I am so happy to see them get to spend time together since Jason has been back at work and doesn't get to see him during the day.

Landon did not gain any weight tonight, but he didn't lose any either so we are OK with that.  Oh, Landon's blood sugar looks really good now that we are done with the steroids so he no longer needs insulin.  He is officially off all medicine except caffeine and TPN (kind of like gatorade.)  We are hoping to up the calories in his feedings of breast milk and eventually increase the amount he is getting.  He is able to get quite a bit currently, 2cc's every hour continuously throughout the day.

Anyways, thanks again for the prayers.  God is listening and it is very apparent.  In the words of his doctor, "He is doing awesome."

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 8th - Kangaroo Time

So things have been pretty well maintained around here.  No big changes which is not a bad thing.  I think both Jason and I are hoping for some good, big changes in the near future but we will take whatever we can get.

Landon is officially done with his round of steroids.  He was given his last round this morning and is done when they run out.  They are watching his sugars and blood pressure carefully as both can be effected with the steroids.  The doctor also ordered a head ultrasound today and everything looks good on that, no brain bleeds or any complications they can see so far from the steroids.  He lost weight tonight which was a bummer, hopefully we will swing back tomorrow night.  They have upped his feedings to 2cc's per hour, every hour.  He is getting a ton of food and they are fortifying it with extra calories (kind of like Muscle Milk for babies) in hopes of him gaining weight quickly.  They will try to extubate him once he hits 1000 grams.  That will be wonderful news and we are hopeful that he will make it there soon.

I got to Kangaroo with my sweet little man this morning for a few hours and loved it like usual.  We came back at night for his 9pm cares and Jason got to Kangaroo for the first time!!!  Of course, no good camera again but I did snag a few photos of the two of them.  Jason was pretty excited but unfortunately didn't get a ton of time with him since we started so late at night. 

He had his eyes open almost the whole time!

Come on, they look CUTE together!

Anyways, I think the length of this journey is starting to settle in for me a little bit.  I know that in the end three months won't seem like that long, but it feels like forever to me currently.  It is hard constantly running back and forth and spending all your time in the hospital, but there is no where else you want to be.  I love spending time with my little man, and I am looking at all of the positives I can see, but this is challenging.  Having a sick preemie is not easy and I am so thankful to the nurses and doctors who keep such a watchful eye on Landon.  This must be one of the hardest, most rewarding jobs. 

As always we will keep you posted on anything else we find out.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

Being Featured

Adrianne Lentine wrote a very sweet post about Landon on her blog today.  Please check it out:

www.DreamBookDesign.com

She has a fantastic design blog and it was very thoughtful of her to dedicate her post today to our baby!  Thank you again Adrianne and any of her followers who stop by today, thank you so much for your support and kind words. 

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 7th - Two Weeks Old!

We are officially two weeks old today and I can't believe how quickly time is passing.  Jason and I are both constantly running and time is flying by.  I can't believe how much we have experience in the last 14 days.  The ups, downs, no sleep, endless worrying, and joyful surprises are all worth it.  Seeing how far Landon has come in this short amount of time makes us both so proud and thankful we can barely express it.  We know there is still a long road ahead and who knows what God has left in store for us, but as of right now we could not be more appreciative of the work He has done. 

We are starting to ween Landon off of his steroids and he should be completely done by tomorrow morning, June 8th.  His blood sugar still looks good, he is doing well on his ventilator, and we are so hopeful to continue on this path. 

We have changed his care times and we are now doing them every 4 hours.  I got to Kangaroo Landon today from 2pm until almost 5:30pm and couldn't believe it.  He is so sweet and such a little cuddle buddy.  He would every now and then try to wiggle his way into you just a little more, so sweet. 

No major changes today but that is a wonderful treat.  We will of course keep you posted on anything else that comes up!   Oh, there is a little baby boy born a few days after Landon who is right next to us.  He is possibly going to have heart surgery on Wednesday, June 8th.  Please be praying for him and the doctors as I can only imagine how intricate heart surgery must be on babies that small.

Much Love as Always,

Jason and Kristin

June 6th - Another Good One

We had another wonderful day with Landon today.  I went in to spend time with him and got to snap a few pictures.  His oxygen level is down to 21% which is the same ratio as the air we breathe.  I am so amazed by God and how quickly things have improved for our little boy.  I got to Kangaroo Landon again today, this time for over two hours.  Who cares if my butt is asleep, I have to pee and pump, and my back is cramping.... I am getting to hold my little boy for longer and longer!  I am so thankful that he is doing well during this time so we can keep doing it.

Yes... I took a picture of his ventilator settings at 21%!

Jason came by that night and changed his second diaper.  This may not seem like a huge task but it is very intimidating process.  His diapers are so tiny and there are wires everywhere, but Jason did a great job and will hopefully keep it up!  ;)

I don't remember if I have mentioned it here before or not but Landon has also earned himself some "tummy time."  He gets to sleep on his stomach every now and then which also helps him breathe a little easier.  We got to put him on his tummy this afternoon and he finally let me get a picture with both eyes open!

So cute with his wrinkly forehead, I love this little guy...

His weight was up tonight, he gained 20 grams making his current weight 1lb. 8oz. or 710 grams.  Our little man is growing, slowly but surely.  We will keep you posted on any other changes and updates.  PS... sorry for the lag in postings, things have been a little busy around here.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 5th - Praise the Lord!

That may sound a little "Cheesy Christian" but seriously, praise the Lord because we had a GREAT day today!  After a few rough days, lots of crying, and even more praying we were finally given today. 

We came in this morning for 8am cares and as we came through the doors the nurses were preparing to change him to the conventional ventilator!  As they did this, we got to watch him breathe on his own for a little while, it was so amazing!!!  It is shocking to me how quickly your maternal instincts kicked in, I was so proud of him I honestly cried.  Now the crying may still be a result of the crazy amount of hormones running through my body, but at least these were happy tears.  After he was switched over he did great, his oxygen levels were down and he just seemed a little bit happier. 

We came back around 2pm for his cares and Lori (Landon's nurse) surprised us and told us we could start Kangaroo time TODAY!  If I had more energy I probably would have cried again...  They got him all set up, brought him over to me and I got to hold our sweet little baby for an hour.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.  He is so tiny and just hung out with me, I miss having "us" time.  We used to spend all day together, just him and I, and I have missed that. 

Here are the few pictures we got of Kangaroo Care, we of course forgot the good camera so please excuse the terrible phone pictures:

Yes, I did get to sport a stylish hospital gown again for this

We had a pretty quiet night, Jason's parents came to visit and Grandma Marley got to help with cares a little bit.  It was Jason's parents 40th Anniversary and they chose to spend part of that with Landon which I thought was great.  Oh, and I almost forgot...  Jason changed his first diaper tonight and did a wonderful job!

I think both Jason and I have finally relaxed a little with the good news which has let the exhaustion of the past two weeks finally settle in a bit.  We are so proud, happy, and thankful for this wonderful day.  God is good!  Even in the midst of crap He is still good and has proven that to me time and again.  Thank you all again for your prayers and support.  Although we don't always have time to respond to everyone, we do cherish your messages and words of encouragement.

As always, Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 4th - Update

So, the rest of today went really well.  He is responding well to the changes and his ventilation settings have been lowered.  He seems pretty calm today and we are hopeful that things will progress in a positive manor.

We went back for Cares at 8pm and he did pretty well with them.  He did gain 20 more ounces, we are above birth weight and hopefully about to hit a growth spurt!  :)  We have upped his feedings from 1 cc and hour to 1.2 cc's, hopefully to 1.5 cc's tomorrow.  We will keep you updated with any other changes!

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 4th - YEAH!

So I normally wait for the entire day to pass to post about things but I just can't wait today!  We just left Landon and he had a good night last night.  He is still doing pretty well this morning and the doctors are hoping to switch his ventilator possibly tomorrow, this means the steroids have been working on his little body.  PLEASE keep up the prayers for this!  Our nurse told us if they are able to switch him, we can possibly hold him for the first time on Monday or Tuesday!!!

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin

June 3rd - A Better Day

The next few months are going to be tough, as demonstrated by the last few days.  We were thankfully granted with a pretty good day today.  Landon did need some blood to be given to him and a few changes made to his insulin but he had a much better day today than the few days past.  I got to hang out with him all morning, change his diaper and what not.  When I came back later that afternoon to do his 2pm cares, he had opened his right eye so no more pirate baby!!!  Again, its the little things we get excited about.  Unfortunately they had just given him a sedative when I discovered this great news so he refused to open either eye for me once I got my camera out.  Oh well...

Jason and I went back for cares that night around 8pm and got to see both eyes open, it was awesome and our baby looks so damn cute!  His oxygen levels were much better and he just seemed a little bit happier.  Landon also got to sleep on his tummy for the first time ever.  He looked so cute all tucked up and i guess it is also easier on their lungs.  Oh!  Jason also did most of his cares last night!

Here are a few pictures we snagged last night:

Dad taking his temp for the first time

Can you see his little eye opening?!?

Holding Dad's finger

First time he got to lay on his belly!  Yes, that giant thing is his pacifier, he loves it even though it is almost the size of his head...

 

We do want to thank you all sincerely for your prayers.  I feel like God is listening and giving us little victories at a time.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support, love, and prayers.

Much Love,

Jason and Kristin