Thursday, April 11, 2013

Chicks Dig Scars!

It has been one month since Jackson's open heart surgery. We are in a constant state of amazement that it's already been a month and that we've been home almost 3 weeks now. 

He's up to a whopping 11 pounds now. His eating habits have increased. He's now taking anywhere from 4-6 ounces with each feeding, which explains why he's 11 pounds. He's completely outgrown all newborn clothing. He's in the 3 month clothing, probably headed to the 6 month clothing if he keeps up these eating habits! 

His sleeping habits are typical newborn. He continues waking through the night for feedings. Although he's had a few longer stretches of sleep, which is nice for mom and dad. I make Ted share the nightly feedings. I'll do one, then he'll do one, and then I'll do the last one. He's not very happy about that, but I believe in sharing the love! Jackson does a lot of cat-napping during the day. His longest naps are usually when we're out and about, which doesn't allow mom much time to nap. I'm trying to follow the doctor's advice of napping when he naps. 

Today was a follow-up with his cardiologist, Dr. Hirsch. Jackson had an EKG first and then we saw the doctor. His EKG was good. His cardiologist did find a slight, soft heart murmur. This could be just a newborn heart murmur that will go away with time or he could have this forever. Nonetheless, they will continue to watch and monitor him. They dropped the amount of lasix that he takes. That's the only medication that he's on. They dropped it from .5 to .25 for a month or until we run out of what we have. After that, no more lasix! He goes back to the cardiologist in August. After that, his appointments will start being spaced further and further out, until it becomes once a year. 

One of the other cardiologist's we saw today told us Jackson definitely needs a "chicks dig scars" onesie. I'm going to have to get his dad on making a few of them. They told us that his scar will likely fade and be barely visible as he gets older. Here is a more recent picture of his scar. It looks so good!! Much better than we thought it would. 



Dr. Hirsch assured us that he is a healthy newborn baby. And we should treat him that way. We don't need to wrap him in fine silks from China or put him in a bubble to keep him safe. He's a 5 week old baby. That's wonderful to hear, just difficult to act on. I want to wrap him in bubble wrap and keep everyone far away! I guess the realization that he's "normal" will come with time. 

Next up for Jackson is his circumcision. That will also be in August. They couldn't do it before we left Children's. I'm sure when he's older and reading this, he's going to love the fact that mom just threw that right out there. Oh well, what are moms for :) 

Thank you all so much for your continued support and prayers for Jackson and our family. We are so truly blessed. 

Some friends of ours are expecting a little boy in May and he also has some congenital heart defects. They are facing a situation similar to ours. We ask that you say a few prayers for them. This is not a easy struggle to go through. Every single prayer helps!! Here is a link to their blog if you're interested in following them. 

firsttimedadat45.blogspot.com/

Here is Jackson's 1 month picture



I think he loves his sister as much as she loves him :) 



And here's my new favorite of my little big Jack. 



Happy (almost) Friday! 

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