Whoops...

Looks like I've let the blog slip away from me again.  I must say, kudos to the gals with more than one kid who can keep up with their blogs---it's not easy!  Here's the latest from us:

Jeremiah ~ Jeremiah is now 4.5, just a few months away from turning 5!  He figured out the whole "potty training" thing back in the early summer, and it seems to have "aged" him quite a bit.  You grow up a lot once you stop peeing in diapers/pull ups!  With potty training came dressing and undressing, and more independence, which he has taken his fill of!  He's my "go-to" helper when I need something, usually letting Jesslyn or Judah in and out of the family room, since he can open the gate and they can't.  Or going down to the basement to bring up a gallon of milk.  Or getting his own drink of water.  He even makes his own sandwiches now!  Sure, it's just two slices of bread and a piece of cheese, but hey, we gotta start somewhere right.  Oh, and he can buckle himself in his car seat, which is a HUGE plus for Mommy!  My little man isn't quite so little anymore.  :(

Jesslyn ~ Jesslyn is now 3, going on 30, and the most "grown up" out of all the kids.  If Jeremiah can do it, she can "definitely" do it (even if she can't....) And if Mommy can do it, she's gonna try!  Last week was her birthday, and it was quite a long celebration---we had a small Chuck E Cheese party for her on the Thursday prior (since her b-day was on Saturday, I wasn't about to make that mistake again...) and that was loads of fun.  NoVA experience a small monsoon (Rainapocolypes!) that day, so roads were flooded, streets closed, and Chuck E Cheese was empty.  I made her a princess cake, complete with an edible chocolate tiara on top (she ate half of it.  :)

Then on her actual birthday, we did a movie night out on the pipestem.  Our neighbor, Sybille, shares her birthday with Jesslyn, so it was a good excuse for all of us to hang out, party, have some cake and watch a movie.  At one point, we had about 50 people there (only about 30 were actually invited.)  I had kids asking me for cake, and I had no idea who they were.  :)  But it was fun---we watched "Gnomeo and Juliet" and "Thor".  Very cool.

She's really into My Little Ponies, dressing up, toy phones, and flashlights right now, so that's what she got for her birthday.  :)  Her and Judah are also "best buds" and very close, though usually Jesslyn is WAY TOO close.  She doesn't always grasp the idea of "personal space" and hasn't figured out that Judah's whining/crying means "back off!"  But I'm sure she'll get it eventually.  Or not.  It's kinda a part of who she is.  :)  But she's very sweet, too, and always up for cuddling, and loves having her back tickled.  She's a big sweetie!

Judah ~ Judah is now 18 months, and quite the character!  He started walking back in June, while we were at the beach (we went to the OBX the first week of June.  He was taking a few steps at a time before that, but really started moving once we got there.  That wet sand is a good learning tool.)  He's a bit of a chatter box, trying to say every word we say.  Not quite as wordy as Jesslyn was at his age, but pretty close!  A short list includes car, truck, plane, train, go, open, bye bye, hi, phone, apple/applesauce, juice, milk, water, drink, oww, Kookie, 'gunco' (for Uncle), bird, cat, dog, puppy, Dora, Boots, and so on, and so forth.  It's awesome.  :)  He's also very sweet, and loves to wrap his arms around your neck, yelling, "Mama!" or "Daddy!!" or just cuddling with "Gunco James" (it's kinda weird... James'll pick him up, and Judah will just put his head on his shoulder and leave it there, for like, 5 minutes.  Just looking around with his head on his shoulder.  Only with James, though.  :)

Let's see, what else with Judah.  Well, he loves Big Fella.  And babies.  So I'm hoping that that carries over, because..... #4 is due in 6 weeks!  But a little more on that in a minute.  He's a bit addicted to his Mommy and Daddy, especially his Mommy, so I am a bit worried about how he'll take the baby taking up so much of Mommy's attention.  The other two were great when their younger sibs showed up, so this is new territory for us.  Of course, maybe we're worried about nothing, and he'll be smitten with his new brother/sister, and all will be well.  Guess we'll see!

Oh yeah,  and Judah's quite the little comedian.  He always has this big smile on his face (with dimples!  Love the dimples!) and does all sorts of silly things to get a laugh!  He's also the hamiest of the bunch, dropping whatever he's doing for a chance to get his pic taken.  It's adorable.  :)

Finally, #4!  Yup, we're expecting the next member of the Wilcox clan sometime around Halloween.  We don't know if it's a boy or a girl (and hopefully won't have the chance to find out 'til they're born!)  We're planning another homebirth, so getting things ready has been fun/exciting, but of course, there's still much to do.  The pregnancy has gone well, thus far.  No complaints.  Just some morning sickness at the beginning.  It wasn't as bad as with Jesslyn, but worse than the boys, so I have no idea what to expect based on that.  But we're very excited, and can't wait to meet this new sweet bundle that God has chosen to bless us with.  :)

Other random news:  The kids and I (Jess) now have CBS (Community Bible Study) every Tuesday, and MOPS every other Friday.  It's a nice break, and a chance to socialize in a positive way with other Moms, and the kids get to hang out with their peers instead of just their siblings.  We did both last year, and it was good, but I have a feeling this year will be even better!  So I'm excited for that.

Jeremy's job is going well, though it has its challenges at times.  But overall, he's very blessed, and his boss is great, which is always a plus, especially with new babies on the way.  Jeremy's getting more handy around the house, having replaced the faucet on our hall bath, patched a hole in the hallway, and did a good bit of painting in the dining room.  So I'm proud of him.  :)  It's the little things.

And with that, it's off to bed.  Hopefully, I'll better about updating from here on out.  We'll see... :)

Random "shot"

Wow, lots has happened in the past two months!  I guess I'd better get typing!

~Judah had his 2 month check up on May 13th.  He weighed in at 13 lbs, 3 oz, so only up a pound from his 1 month check up.  He's certainly not growing like his siblings did!  Percentile wise, he was 85th% for height and weight, and 50th% for head.  Could he actually be somewhat..... normal sized?!?!  :)

~While he still fits into much of his 0-3 month clothes (with the exception of Children's Place footed PJ's... those he outgrew weeks ago...) I think it's time to officially transition him into 3-6 month clothes.  They're still a little big on him, which is CRAZY since both Jeremiah and Jesslyn (especially Jesslyn) were rockin' the 3-6 month clothes about the time they turned 1 month!

  He can still wear a size 1-2 (they go up to 15 lbs) diaper, though!  Those size 2's are a little big on him, but good for nighttime!

~He rolled over (!) on May 21st, so around 10.5 weeks old.  I put him down for his nap on his belly, turned on the monitor when he started to fuss, and he looked like his was on his side.  Went in to get him up a few minutes later, and he was on his back!!  I was very excited, but also a little sad.... my baby's growing up so fast!

  He can also scoot around on his belly really well (or his back, depending on what he's laying on.)  His legs are really strong, and he'll stand up on your lap if you just help him with balance.  This makes holding him in a laying position nearly impossible, as he's always trying to sit up so he can look around better.  :)

~More recently, yesterday and today, I've been teaching him how to blow raspberries!  He LOVES it!  I was doing it with him last night, and he was cracking up! (That's a first "crack up" too, btw.... When the laugh comes from the belly, THAT'S a laugh!)  He sure does drool a lot, though, in the process!

~He's learning better hand/eye coordination.  The other day, he was in his car seat, and we have this crinkly soft elephant toy that hands from the handle bar on it.  He was punching that thing over and over!  And it was intentional---you just had to see the look on his face and in his eyes.... he was NOT thrilled that elephant kept coming back for more!

  He will also punch the toys hanging from his play mat (not sure how we got through two kids without that thing!)  At least, when he's not scooting all over the place on his back.  :)

~He's finally starting to EAT!  For the longest time, he would only eat an ounce or two, and he would do that all.... day.... long!  He finally started to eat 3-4 or more ounces at each feeding, and as a result, is starting to sleep better.  During the day, he's been taking three 2-hour naps, and one short nap before bed.  He's only up for about an hour in between naps, which seems really short, but that's what he's happy with.  Maybe now that he's napping longer, he'll start staying up longer (not that I mind the short awake times.)

  As far as nighttime sleeping goes, he had two nights last week where he slept from 9 p.m. to 5 or 6 a.m.!  That was GREAT!  BUT, those were days we were out late, so he did get to eat a little extra before bedtime.  On a normal night, he'll still wake up once or twice a night.  Last night, he slept from 10 p.m. (again, we got home late) until 4 and then 'til 10:30 a.m.  But the night before that, when he went to bed at 7, he woke up at 12 a.m. and then again at 6 a.m., before waking up around 9 a.m.  So it's still a little wonky.  But it's okay.  Once a night is awesome, twice a night is okay.  More than that, and Mommy has a rough day.  We're heading in the right direction, though!

That's about all that's new with Judah.  As for everyone else....

~Last week, Jeremy went to Vegas for 3 nights, so I had my first time alone with the three kids.  It went fine. We did spend one day at MeeMaw's house, and the next two days, MeeMaw came over for a little while (she had stuff going on in Herndon one day, and we all went to Ikea on another,)  so I had some help.  :)

~Yesterday was Memorial Day, and we all headed over to my parents' house for some pool side fun and barbecue!  The kids had a blast in the pool, with Jeremiah swimming around all on his own (his floaty coverall suit helped, I'm sure.)  Jesslyn had more fun sitting on a floaty and being pushed around the pool, or being carried around by MeeMaw/Poppy.  Judah did not get in on the pool action, though, and instead took a really long nap.  :)

That's all the time I have for now, as Judah's waking up from his [too short] nap.  But ya get the idea of what's going on with us!

We're here...

Just exhausted.

Judah is up every 3 hours, more often during the day, so Mommy's not getting much rest.  But I wanted to get a couple of things down before I forget them (which happens easily nowadays...)

~Judah's cord stump fell off on Tuesday!  I was changing his diaper at church, and it was hanging on by a thread.  A little nudge and pop!  Off it came!  Yay!  Tomorrow (Monday, the 29th) he'll have his first REAL bath!

~Did I mention he's up every three hours?  This is new for me.  Jeremiah was up every 3-4 hours.  But he was our first, so we were able to nap all day and all night.  Jesslyn was in the NICU for the first 8 days, so I only had to wake up to pump every 3-4 hours at night (usually 4....) and my parents were here to help take care of Jeremiah, so I had more rest then, too.  Plus, once she DID come home, she was already sleeping in 5 hour blocks.  So this whole 3 hours or less thing has been rough of Mommy.  Hopefully, it starts to spread out a little more.

~Jeremiah and Jesslyn argue over who gets to hold "Baby Judah" next.  :)  They're both head of heels, STILL!  Although last Friday, I had them all by myself for the first time all day, and they really gave me a hard time.  Not a good day.  Saturday was better.  Sunday, less so.  Here's to a fine Monday!

~Jesslyn walks around the house singing the "Baby Judah" song, which is just his name over and over again in a sing song kind of way.  :)

~Both Jeremiah and Jesslyn ask, "Where's Baby Judah?" as soon as they wake up, or as soon they return home from being away from him.  It's really sweet.

~Jesslyn loves being Mommy's little helper when it's diaper change time!  Her favorite job is throwing out the diapers.  :)  She really gets quite a kick out of it.

~Judah smiles a lot in his sleep, but has yet to "smile" really while awake.  It's so neat to see how different the kids are from each other!

~Judah still wakes up with "goopy eyes" and I spend most of our nursing time wiping them with my thumbs.  It really bugs me, and I'm sure he appreciates it, though I don't think it's ever caused him to complain.

~Judah went to church for the first time when he was 5 days old.  And no one could believe we were there.  :)  Okay, confession time, while I did want to go to church, I really just wanted to show him off.  :)  I'm a proud Mama, what can I say.

~Physically, this has been the easiest pregnancy and delivery to recover from.  I feel like a million bucks!  A very tired million bucks.

~And I don't remember being this forgetful either.  Though I guess that makes sense, in a way....  And you should see how many times I've had to backspace to re-type a word, or allow spell check to fix my errors... it's like every other word.  Annoying.

~Jeremy's going back to work full time this week, and it's a little scary..... I hope my passion for my children is matched by my ability to manage all three at the same time!  At least I don't need to worry about the house much--Jeremy's agreed to have our cleaning crew come weekly for the time being.  If only they did laundry...

~"Three, 3 and Under" is hard!  I'm waiting for it to get easier.......

~I'm so thankful for all the friends we have that brought us meals.  They've been such a blessing, and a moment of sanity in an otherwise chaotic day.

~I've been typing this, waiting for Judah to wake up to eat so I can go to sleep, but I'm beginning to think he's not going to wake up anytime soon.... So I'm going to go wake him up so he can go back to sleep and I can do the same.

~Night.

Some more Judah pics....

I keep pulling up our blog intending to write and update more.  But then I get distracted or tired or just don't care to do so!  But I'll try.  :)  I've been updating quite a bit via email and Facebook, so it almost seems redundant to update here.  But, like I said, I'll try.  :)

For now, enjoy some more Judah pics (since the only one here is just chubby-face Judah and not really "Sweet Baby Judah"  :)

About 45 minutes after birth.  Our midwife, birth assistant and student nurse-midwife went downstairs to write up some paperwork while we got some family time.  So this was roughly... 2:15 a.m.  Jeremiah had woken up from a bad dream, and insisted on sleeping in "Mommy's bed!"  So he ran in, jumped into bed on Jeremy's side, pulled the covers up and proceeded to try to fall asleep, totally oblivious to the new baby.  :) Jeremy asked him, "Umm... Jeremiah?  Did you see the new baby??" and his eyes popped right open!  Got over that bad dream fairly quickly after that.  :)

During his newborn exam.  I think he had just been measured at this point.  Lotta baby!  :)

Booty shot!  :)  They were checking his back and bum for.... something!  I think he looks bigger here than in person.  At least his bum doesn't look that big during diaper changes!

Almost done with his exam!  Just needed to put some drops in his eyes, get him dressed, and done he was!

Daddy got to be the first to dress him!  He looks so tiny when his Daddy holds him.  :)

The next morning.  Jeremiah had not forgotten about his new "Baby Judah" and just loves to hold him!  He's such a proud big brother.

Kookie giving kisses to her new baby brother.  Awww....

Okay, I lied, these were just birth pics.  I thought I had more on here, but I guess they all went directly to Facebook.  Will work on some real pics tomorrow!

In case you haven't heard....

Baby J is here, and HE has a name!

Judah Samuel was born on March 8th at 1:29 a.m.  It was a long, annoying labor (26.5 hours!) but once he was ready to come, come he did!  Once I got the urge to push, around 1:26 a.m., it was all downhill and he was born 3 minutes later, absolutely perfect!  No air bag puffs (Jeremiah) or oxygen tanks needed--just Daddy to catch him and Mommy to hold him!  I was never so glad to be done being pregnant!  :)

Jeremiah and Jesslyn are absolutely smitten!  They can't stop talking about "Baby Judah".  It's so sweet.

That's all I've got time for right now--off to cuddle with the little man!  :)

"My First Week" by "Jess Jr"

This is how it all started--after 41 weeks and a day, I decided my old home was wayyyy too cramped and getting a bit too small for my taste. So at 3 a.m., my Mommy's water broke. By 4 a.m., her contractions had started, and were 2-3 minutes apart. Sheila, her midwife, showed up, put in her awesome IV so no one had to worry about me getting sick and ending up in the hospital (ah, the irony...) After 4+ hours of labor, Mom decided she really wanted me out! Ten minutes of pushing, and I was born!!

But, I was soooo anxious to get outta there, I started trying to breathe before it was time to do so... How was I supposed to know that was a bad idea??! Unfortunately, that made it tough to breathe once I was born. Thankfully, no one clamped my cord until it was done doing it job about 15-20 minutes later, so I was still able to "breathe" while Sheila and everyone else was trying to get me to breathe on my own. They had some success, but ultimately decided I needed a little extra help, so to the hospital we went! Like my mask?? (it kept popping out, hence the tape...)

Well, I guess that whole taking a breath before being born thing stressed out my heart a bit, and scared a lot of people... They decided I needed to go to another hospital for more care until it got better. Thankfully it did! But it was a rough ride along the way, as Mommy and Daddy can tell you. And can I just say that being "intubated" (that whole tube down my throat attached to the ventilator) was NO FUN AT ALL! It gave me a sore throat for DAYS afterwards, which made eating tough. But I'm a fighter, so I managed and ate despite the pain.

Once the doctors decided my heart was fine, and I was well on my way to recovery, they let me to go back to Reston Hospital, which is waaay nicer than Fairfax. The nurses there are SO NICE--they put pretty blankets in my bed, let Mommy and Daddy hold me, despite all the wires attached to me, and even let my Mommy and Daddy put some real clothes on me! No more naked baby shots!Finally, after all that craziness, I was able to nurse with my Mommy. It's kinda weird, and a lot more work than drinking a bottle, but I get to be so close to Mommy, and I know it makes Mommy feel better, so I gave it my best shot. The doctor at Reston was really happy with how I was doing with all that, so they finally let me come home!!! YAY!!!

And that's probably where you'll usually find me... I'm so glad to be home! I've missed my Mommy and Daddy so much (and I know they missed me!) The three ambulance rides I went on were fun, but the best ride of my life has been that short drive home, to my house, with my parents. It's so nice to be wearing clothes, being held, not having wires attached to me anymore. And I can't wait to meet my big brother again! I heard he cried the first time he saw me--I'm sure it was because he was so happy to see me! :)

It was quite the week, but I'm home now, and things are good. Thank you for all your prayers!! I know lots of people were sending them my way, and believe me, they helped lots! I can't wait to meet all of you--I think Mommy & Daddy wanna chill for a few days, but then feel free to come and see me!! I've got the chubbiest cheeks you've ever seen... Seriously, it's almost annoying--I can't open my eye if I'm laying on that side of my face... Too much chub. :)

XOXO,
Jesslyn Elizabeth (a.k.a. "Jess Jr")
:)

Almost there!

Well, "Jess Jr" is officially back at Reston now.  YAY!  We just called to check up on her, and she's doing great.  The nurse wanted to make sure we knew that her transfer notes said she wasn't taking her bottle very well, but she just gave her one, and she gulped it right down just fine.  Hmmm... big surprise... <~sarcasm.  Seriously, though, we both thought it was kinda odd that she was drinking her bottle just fine on Sunday (took it both from the nurse and from ME!) and then all of a sudden Sunday night, she didn't want it anymore, and wouldn't calm down enough to drink it. Grrr... Oh well, it's all good.  I'm sure the feeding tube will come out later today or tomorrow, since she's got some "gentler" care now, and maybe she'll even get to nurse!

Anyways, it's nice to have her back close by.  Visiting will be so much easier now, and far less stressful.  Only good news from here on out, we're pretty sure!  I'm feeling much better about everything, and can honestly say I'm feeling pretty peaceful today.  Still hate pumping, but it's something I can do for my baby, so it's worth the annoyance.  

We'll have more news and pics up later, after we go visit (waiting for Grandpa to come watch Jeremiah...)  

Oh, and stay tuned for the "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT" As soon as she's coming home, we'll let you know what her name is (she officially has one! Had to do the birth certificate today, so we finally settled...)

Two steps forward - one step back

Jeremy here. Well no pics today (forgot the camera) but we visited the hospital this morning. The doctor also called and spoke with Jess this morning and gave her an update while we were on our way in actually.

So apparently last night she wasn't tolerating her feedings very well (needs to maintain a lower respiratory rate for the most part) so they inserted a feeding tube. No more bottle feedings for now... She also needs to remain on antibiotics for the next 2-3 days as a precaution. I thought the doc had told Jess another 7 days, but he said 7 days total. He said that she could be transferred back to Reston Hospital if we would like her to be closer to home -- so he is checking with Reston to see availability. The earliest she would move back to Reston would be tomorrow if there was space. We are actually liking this idea since the Reston facilities are smaller and the nurses are nicer. We've found that the nurses and docs rotate so often at Fairfax that right when we establish a relationship with one of them, they are gone the next day. There are 26 neonatologists in the Fairfax NICU with many many more nurses. They have 6+ rooms on 2 floors vs. 1 room at Reston. We appreciated the round-the-clock access to the cardiologist but if her latest echo is the same as Friday she will be fine to return to Reston.

They have also upped her fluids to get her ready to remove the main lines in her umbilical cord. They won't let us pick her up or hold her until this happens. We pray that she continues to tolerate her feedings as they raise the volume through her feeding tube over the next two days to get her ready to go off the IVs. They will need to make a decision later this week whether to put a pick line in or not. We are hoping she is hydrated enough to not need a more permanent IV and can get by for a couple days while they ramp up her milk intake. A pick line would also require another series of x-rays and mean that holding her and breast feeding would be delayed until the end of the week at the earliest.

Thanks again for keeping our family in your prayers...

Jeremy

Getting better...

Well, last night was terrible. We had a decent visit in the afternoon, and then had a really crappy visit in the evening. The nurse was less than encouraging, even though the Dr we'd spoken to earlier was moreso. She was talking like "Jess Jr" wouldn't even be able to try to nurse until Wednesday at the earliest, more likely Friday. WHAT??!!!

Today was a much better visit. When we showed up, she was sleeping on her belly (awwww!) The nurse said she seemed to like that quite a bit (not a big surprise--Jeremiah was a belly sleeper... Couldn't get him to sleep more than 15 min or so on his back. Plus, if she's on her belly, she can't whack herself in the face with her IV arm.) The bili-lights are gone (so no Bono shades! :) They were "cool" but she's so much more comfortable without them!) and she's breathing on her own, so no more oxygen mask. In other words, everything is off her face! YAY!

Had a brief visit with the cardiologist. He's pleased with her progress, and will do one last echo cardiogram tomorrow to make sure those issues that were there are long gone (and make sure no others exist.) She's doing well with her feedings, eating a little bit every three hours, and looking for more. I even got to give her a little bit today! She wants to nurse, though, and keeps trying to suck her thumb, rooting around for something more. Awww.... Hopefully the doctor we've been seeing will be on call tomorrow so we can try to breastfeed (they say she has to have the lines outta her belly button first, but the doctor knew those were there, and still suggested it, so hopefully she's okay with it...) We'll see...

So all we're waiting on at this point is for her lung function to return to normal. She's still got a bit of the "strider" thing going on, and is working hard to breathe, but breathing on her own in normal air nonetheless. The nurse today said probably another day or two, and boy do I hope he's right (and not the nurse who was on last night.) Thanks to everyone who's been praying for her! Just a little longer, and she should be home! And boy will Mommy be glad when she is...

Much happier on her belly!

Aww.. poor thing still has marks where all the tape was, holding her oxygen mask to her face...
The nurse even took a family photo for us! Well, minus Jeremiah. Soon enough, I hope...
EYES! WE CAN SEE HER EYES!! Well, "eye". She's trying to get the other one open, too.
BIG YAWN! Compare this pic with the one of Jeremy from down below... Hmm...

Pics from today.

A few from today. She's off the ventilator now, but because it was in there, her throat is a little swollen, which needs treatment. And because they haven't fed her anything since there was a tube in her throat, she's jaundiced now (I know it's not caused by her not eating, but her not eating has not given her system a reason to flush itself out, and I doubt that meconium is any good to her system. But what're ya gonna do...) So they've got her under the bili-lights. Grr....

But, the good news is that they did try to feed her today. Gave her some breastmilk (what little I could come up with) and she did suck it down. So as long as the whole breathing issue resolves itself (which it should) and she starts eating well, she should be ready to come home in a day or two. YAY!! I'd LOVE to be able to bring her home tomorrow! But if we have to wait 'til Sunday (hopefully morning....) I guess I'd be okay with that. Well, not really, but there doesn't seem to be any reason for her to be there beyond Sunday, so yeah... the day she comes home, we'll be having a BIG birthday party for her! I can't wait.... I've got her little "coming home" outfit picked out and ready to go... Oh, Lord, please, just another day... Please please please!!!

So here are a few shots from today--neato visor, huh? At least more and more stuff continues to come off of her, so she actually had a free hand we could hold, and heard her cry--they even let me change her diaper!

Super baby!!! Up, up and away!

And the proud big brother, sportin' Mommy's shoes...

An update

Jeremy here. Wow, a rare post by the hubby! Yeah, so we wanted to thank you all for your prayers and apologize if we haven't returned calls or emails. Right now we are spending much of our time either at the hospital or resting. I woke up today and wasn't quite sure what day it was... it's all been a blur this week.

So now for the update. We are at home this morning waiting for Jess's parents to arrive (they had Jeremiah with them to allow us to sleep in today). We called and spoke with the nurse last night at 1:45am for an update. They said she was improving and are weening her off meds, reducing the O2 ventilator and pressure, etc.

Then, this morning the latest update was they successfully removed the ventilator at 4am and she is breathing on her own now. We are hoping that we will be able to hold her today since we haven't been able to do that except for the two hours after she was born.

I think I make them a little nervous there (the staff) since I basically have been asking a lot of questions, and have read her entire medical chart and medical history. I found a few mistakes on the medical charts from Reston Hospital and statements made in the summary section stating facts that weren't true. I mentioned that to the nurse on duty yesterday and she said it wouldn't have impacted what they are doing now at Fairfax.

When I get to the hospital today I am going to ask to speak with the neonatalogist and the cardiologist for updates. We would like to get some ideas as to when we can bring her home... and pretty much the only answer we get from anyone there at the NICU is "it depends" or "we'll see"... so thank you again for your continued prayers and that Jess would be able to hold and nurse our baby very soon.

Blessings...

Jeremy

A few more.

At Reston Hospital

At INOVA Fairfax

We're a bunch of contagious freaks, apparently... They've got her "quarantined" since she's an outside transfer.  And we're only supposed to cup her head and bottom to touch her--even stroking her head lightly is too much "stimulation", apparently.

She should be off the ventilator soon.  I guess that's good news, but I doubt it means she'll be home any sooner.  There's really no good reason for her to still be in there, in my opinion.  I think they're just taking their time "weaning" her off of all the things they put her on (that she probably didn't need to be on in the first place.)

I'm so pissed right now.  I just want my baby to come home... I just want her home.

Not the pic we were hoping to post...

Well, things don't always work out as planned, that's for sure. Jess Jr [still working on a name] entered the world at 9:56 am this morning. She weighed in at 11 Lbs 10 Oz, 22 in long, 15.5 in head. She had some trouble breathing when she was born, so we transferred her to Reston Hospital Center. Now it looks like her heart needs a little help, too, but she's already showing improvement. We're transferring to Fairfax Hospital now, so she can have round the clock cardiologist care. Most likely, she won't be home for a few days, possibly a week. We're praying for a miracle and hope you will too. We'd love to have her back ASAP! Anyways, That's what's going on. More to come, hopefully good news.

Congratulations, Kris & Glen!

They've got a new baby girl!

Cadence Louise entered the world on July 30th, 2008 at 2:19 a.m. in Hawaii! She weighed 6 lbs, 3oz. As far as I know, everyone is doing well!

Glen, Big Brother Cody & Cadence

Congrats, guys! Try to get some sleep! :)

Congratulations, Todd & Paige!

Finally, after 42 weeks of pregnancy, Paige gave birth to a baby girl, Zoe Allison, over the weekend!

I don't have details, as I'm getting my info from her sister-in-law's blog (M&M's Blog from Todd & Paige's), but I just wanted to say congrats!

Yay for Todd & Paige! Enjoy parenthood--it's the best thing in the world!

Congratulations, Aron & Layton!

They've got a beautiful baby girl!

Hadley Taylor (correct me if I'm wrong on the spelling of that...) was born shortly after 5 p.m. tonight! She weighed in at 7lbs, 15oz, and 19in long!

Mom sounds like she's doing great, so I'm going to assume everyone else is doing well.

Congratulations!! Can't wait to see some pictures! :-)

I know they'll be thanking God for quite a bit this Thanksgiving!