It is hard to believe that Jimmy is seven weeks old this week, and is technically 38 gestational weeks today.  It’s been two weeks since Jimmy has made the treck home, and he has been adjusting remarkably well.  At his weekly doctor’s check-up this past Thursday, he weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces!  It is amazing to think that he has almost doubled in size from his birth weight.  On average, our little guy is gaining 1-2oz per day.  In the next week, Jimmy will be 8 weeks old, and will receive his 2 month immunization shots.  In addition to the standard shots, he’ll receive his RSV shot to help ward off this nasty virus.

Getting comfortable with weekly routines… Jimmy has bath nights Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and he is gradually warming up to the concept with less fuss.  Also, Jimmy is sleeping better and when he sleeps better, Angie does too :).  Fortunately, there have only been two nights that were tiresome for both Angie and Jimmy.

Last Sunday, Jimmy had the opportunity to attend his first birthday party for Aunt Abbie.  Angie did a terrific job embroidering a cute onesie that said “Happy Birthday Aunt Abbie”.  Jimmy was the only one at the party that got the message to come dressed appropriately 🙂

To help pass time, Angie is coming up with creative ways to entertain Jimmy, and this week he went on his first of many adventures with Mom.  With Doctor’s orders limiting visitors to only immediate family, we have to be creative and avoid areas with crowds.  On Thursday, Angie took Jimmy out for a nice car ride and visited Uncle Matt’s tree at Washington Headquarters in Valley Forge.  It was a perfect Fall day for Jimmy to get some fresh air.  He enjoyed it soo much that most of the trip he was sound asleep.

Jealous Dunder… While the attention in the household has been centered on Jimmy, we do have to remember our puppy needs some attention as well.  The one thing that confuses Dunder the most, is Jimmy is fed every three to four hours.  So whenever Angie or Jim exclaim “Is Jimmy ready for Food?” Dunder runs to his food bowl thinking it is his time to eat.  He’s starting to get the hang of this, although we sense Dunder’s not happy only being fed twice a day.  Hang in their buddy, we’re sure you’ll get Jimmy’s leftovers in due time 🙂

Woooooooohoooooooooooooooo! JIMMY IS HOME!

After exactly five weeks, Jimmy has made the trip home on Wednesday, October 19th, and Angie & Jim (and Dunder too) are thrilled 🙂

Some other good news is Jimmy broke the 6lb mark, and his follow up ultrasound this week shows that he is developing nicely.  Jimmy also had his first car trip after discharge to his doctor.  His doctor was very excited to meet baby Jimmy (Angie had met with him a few weeks earlier), and he is very pleased with how well he is progressing.

Although it was a rainy day for his discharge, we were able to keep him nice and dry and Angie kept him company in the back of the car for the trek. Angie prepared a personalized a warm fleece outfit for Jimmy’s big day.  Since we have two favorite college’s in the household, and we couldn’t agree on Penn State vs Notre Dame, she put her creativity to work and embroidered “Notre Dame, Penn State #1 Fan”.  What a thoughtful Mommy!

Upon our arrival to the house, Dunder anxiously awaited his chance to meet his new friend. Our gentle giant of a puppy seems to be in awe and inquisitive of our little boy and Dunder’s been very gentle with his interactions. It’s neat watching Dunder stop what he is doing to check up on Jimmy when he hears a noise.

So, how was our first night sleep? Let’s just say that we didn’t get much rest, but we learned some things as a result. While staying in NICU, the environment could be a bit noisy with alarms, conversations and all the activity that is going on in the area. Over the last five weeks, Jimmy learned how to drain that noise out very well. At home, it is a bit more quiet, so we will have to improvise and play some music, run some appliances, or turn on the TV. Fortunately, Jimmy sleeps soundly while we are doing cleaning and listening to music. Here is hoping this will keep up.  The last few nights have improved, and Jimmy seems to be adjusting to life at home quite nicely!

As always, we are grateful for the support from our family and friends thought these weeks. Be sure to keep watching the blog as we share our story.

Love, Angie & Jim

Well, things have been quite busy for the family over the last week, so unfortunately we haven’t been able to update the blog as regularly as anticipated.  The good news is Jimmy has been doing phenomenally well, and Angie, Jim and Dunder are anxiously awaiting the big day.  There have been a number of big milestones for our little boy:

• Jimmy celebrated his one month old birthday last week, and will be 5 weeks old tomorrow
• Five Pounds and Growing!  He is now around 5lbs 12oz 🙂
• Over the weekend, Jimmy had enough of his feeding tube and yanked it out.  After careful evaluation, the doctors and nurses determined that Jimmy is doing extremely well with bottle feeding and won’t be needing the tube any longer 🙂
• As a result, Jimmy has graduated to ad-lib feeding, where he is no longer on a stringent four hour schedule, but a “feed as he needs” plan.  Woohooo 🙂
• In preparation for discharge, Jimmy passed his first two tests…. Hearing Test and Car Seat Test.  The car seat test is unique to preemies, and is used to ensure that he can sit upright and maintain his oxygen levels for 90 minutes.

Last Wednesday, Jimmy had his first eye doctor exam.  Since he had his eyes dilated, he wasn’t able eat his lunch.  Therefore, our hungry little boy was a fussy little boy.  He was so hungry later that night that he was able to convince the doctor he was ready to try a bottle feeding.  On his first bottle, he surprised us and completed his entire feeding!  Since then, he has been practicing a bottle for a couple of his feedings each day.  Some of the feeding sessions have been more successful than others — but at least he is getting a chance to practice his “suck, swallow, breath” coordination.  Even with burning extra calories from practicing his bottle skills, Little Jimmy reached the big five pound mark tonight!  All of his time practicing with his binky has paid off!

Although Jimmy is in a clean environment in the NICU, he still caught a cold.   Other than a runny nose, he is doing well.  It is a reminder that Jimmy’s immune system is not fully developed, which is why he will be “nesting” this Winter to hopefully avoid the flu and RSV virus (a type of cold virus).

This past week, Jimmy was gaining an average of an ounce per day. He is currently 4 pounds, 9 ounces! Great Job Jimmy! Keep up the good work 🙂 He now knows his feeding schedule and wakes up routinely every four hours. Although Jimmy is still getting his main course via the feeding tube, he is practicing his coordination efforts of “breathing, sucking, and swallowing” with smaller amounts of milk. Hopefully this week, he’ll have enough endurance to have an entire meal from a bottle. Fingers Crossed 🙂

Jimmy had his first rubba-dub-dub-jimmy-is-in-the-tub bath this week! Although he wasn’t fond of the actual bath, he really enjoyed drying off and cuddling with the towels.

Saturday was a busy day for him, as he enjoyed lots of visits from his Grandparents and Uncle Tim and Mike. They were able to see how Jimmy’s facial expressions are evolving, especially his distinct laugh and grin.

While Little Jimmy has had a remarkably great week, he did catch us off guard with an episode of apnea and shallow breathing – – doctors aren’t concerned over these minor incidents, and are quite pleased with how he’s progressing.

Stay tuned for more to come 🙂