Jamison's NICU Journey

Our sweet little man has been home for over a month now and it's hard to think of where we started. This little boy came into this world sooner than expected but has brought more joy than we could've ever imagined. I compiled most of our pictures and videos (including the beautiful ones Whitni Parker took for us in the NICU) and made a little video documenting our NICU days. Looking back brings me to tears but yet so happy seeing how far we've come. A friend told me that one of her NICU nurses told her, "it makes you wonder what they're going to do in life." Jamison, we have no doubt you're going to do big things. You've already overcome so much. We love you!

Last week we had to pick up some things from the NICU for March of Dimes, so we got to visit some of our friends! Ah, we love these people! 

The elevator ride up to the fourth floor was a lot happier with this tiny babe by my side. :) Here's Jamison outside his old stomping grounds. 

Thank you again for all your love and support. I don't know if you'll ever know how much it meant to have you reach out to us, pray for us and think of us. Jamison had the best care we could've asked for and we love our NICU nurse friends and think of them everyday. We came out of this experience stronger, humbled and more grateful than ever.

{This little video I made is actually about 10 minutes long... we wanted to document a lot for ourselves, so feel free to skip ahead :)  ...And disregard how much in need we both were of a haircut ;) }

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=9575E1067A5511D0!13000&authkey=!AKlgqiDdOb2LHjU&ithint=video%2cmp4

Coming Home

Well, we did it! Jamison graduated from the NICU and is home! There were definitely some sad emotions that I didn't expect as we said our goodbyes to the nurses who have taken such good care of Jamison, and then his first home. We are so grateful! I loved seeing his expressions as we drove home as well as his reaction to being outside. It was so strange to think this boy hasn't experienced outside yet. We are so thrilled to have him home yet nervous at the same time. He's done pretty well adjusting despite his post-circumcision pains :( and we survived our first night together! We are looking forward to getting the hang of this parenting thing and having some type of routine, but until then, we are embracing the chaos with our cute little man. We can't thank you enough for your outpouring of love and prayers over the past several weeks. We love you and are forever grateful.

Close

We are SO close. Jamison has had the BEST few days and will be coming home this week!! We can hardly believe it and just can't wait to have him with us all the time. He is one adorably squishy little man and now stronger than ever. He has a few last tests to complete but it's only a matter of days before this little one says goodbye to one home and hello to another. (We may or may not be running around crazy trying to get ready! ;))

Today at church we sang, "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" and I just couldn't help but think the final verse expresses my feelings perfectly.

Father in Heaven, we thank thee this day

For loving guidance to show us the way.

Grateful, we praise thee with songs of delight!

Gladly, gladly we’ll walk in the light.

We are SO very grateful to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with sweet Jamison and for his continued guidance and love throughout this entire experience. There were certainly days that I didn't think I could get through, but my faith was strengthened through prayers and the prayers of others and I just continue to be overwhelmed with gratitude. 

Home... For Now

Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center has always been our landmark for "home." Located just a few minutes away from our actual home, the big pineapple-top building has always been our favorite building around town. It wasn't until I delivered unexpectedly and baby J being in the NICU that we realized why we love our pineapple-top building so much. It is our baby's "home" for a little while and it will always remind us of him. This place may not really be home and though we can't wait for that, we are grateful for our time here. We spend more hours of our day here than our real home, and to Jamison it's all he's known for these first months of life. His nurses have become dear friends and we couldn't be more thankful for their wonderful care. The other day I talked with the nurse who did the spinal tap on Jamison. She was telling me how she didn't know why she thought something was wrong with him.  She hadn't ever been his nurse and didn't know him at all, but she just felt like something wasn't right. (Insert me being super emotional.) I'm forever grateful she was inspired to do more tests and caught it early. He has certainly been well taken care of and we will always be SO thankful for that. She caught whatever infection Jamison was fighting early and he was able to fight it off within 48 hours. This place is special. Though there have been many times when I dreaded walking down that hallway, I just couldn't be more grateful for it. Thankful for the time we've made this our "home." 

Do you recognize this guy!? Jamison's on full feeds and working hard to keep his feeding tube out! YAY! (Never mind that he's the one that pulled it out...for the 5th time) It's hard work eating so much every 3 hours, so we're hoping it stays out! We love seeing this little guy's face-- and that tiny body! 

Celebrating Everyday

The very first night of being in the NICU, a nurse told us the roller coaster that this NICU life is. There are certainly hard days but we can't help but think how everyday these babies work extremely hard and that in itself is a win. As we walked out of the NICU that first night, I cried for my baby who was working so hard to breathe, his little lungs working on overtime and tiny fragile body trying to handle it all. He has come so far! There have been so many small victories (that in turn have added up to be huge) along the way and even though it's a difficult journey to endure, I am so grateful that I have gotten to experience this many victories in the short period of Jamison's life so far. These moments have been some of my most proudest, nerve wracking, grateful times. So much has happened in his life up to the point which gives us great strength knowing all that he is capable of. Some things may seem small in comparison to a full-term baby, but they have meant so much to us. Who knew that we would be working so hard towards finishing a bottle!? I might just call this my best cheerleading effort EVER! Celebrating these successes has helped get us through the difficult times. We couldn't be more proud of Jamison. We continue to be so overwhelmed with gratitude for the support and prayers on our behalf. We couldn't do it without them and we are certain he is being healed because of them too.

First few bottles completed! 

SIX

Our baby is 6 pounds! Jamison is one good eater and I can't even believe this is the same 3 lb baby from a month ago. Jamison is continuing to work on his "baby job" (as the speech pathologist calls it), and he's getting better and better on his own. We are loving all of his facial expressions! This boy can make more faces in a few seconds than anyone. Kevin and I can almost recreate all of them. ;) We love this little boy and the time we get to spend with him. We spend the rest of our time talking about him, missing him, and looking at pictures of him. Can't wait to have him all to ourselves!

A Better Day

Today was one of those "better days." Hooray! Jamison came off of the oxygen, got lots of sleep, lots of cuddles with mom, took 40 mls of milk on his own, AND got his very first shot. We are so proud of him! He's a strong little boy. I live for days like today. As he gets older, things are clicking a little more for him and we are seeing good results. Makes mama happy! Keep up the great work, Jamison!