Four Days Post Op

Well yesterday Jaron was 4 days post op and we saw his dr. again to check his palate. He said things looked good and we should come back again wednesday to check again before going home. So I am happy. Jaron is doing good. We just hang out at the hotel and try to rest when he does. Jacob has been having night terrors and thanks to a friend I talked with- last night was so peaceful. We talked to him about missing home and missing our beds and things like his bike and daddy's truck and mommy's car. We all said we miss home and when I asked him if he wants to go home he said "Yeah, I don't like the hotel". I could have cried. He was feeling this way and didn't know how to tell us. So we talked it out and he didn't have any bad dreams last night. He just got up once to pee. Man that was a blessing. Jaron is very gassy and is trying to get used to these new bottles we are using. It is definately a change. Oh and by the way, he has to wear the arm restraints 5 or 6 weeks not 4 like I thought. So pray for us. I take them off some and let him play and bend his elbows but he puts his hands right to his mouth so I have to stay right with him. Thanks again for all your prayers.

The First Surgery was a SUCCESS!

Well Jaron had his first surgery thursday and it last 5 hours. We spoke with the doctor afterwards and then went into recovery to see him. He had already woken up from the anesthesia but the nurses got him calmed down and back to sleep. We are very pleased with the result. Jaron's palate was closed and his front gums were turned straight, because they were badly twisted before. So now that his gums are straight his middle top lip is centered. I stayed in the hospital with him for 2 nights. He was on morphine the first night and we started tylenol w/ codeine the second night. He seems to be a little fussy but not like I expected. I am so glad we have one surgery behind us now. He is already scheduled for May 4th for his Lip/Nose repair. That is going to be a dramatic change in his looks. We will be going Monday for a post op visit and are scheduled to go home Friday but maybe we will get lucky and get to go home early. I came back to our hotel with him today and he is sleeping a lot. He has laughed some and has been clapping his hands too. The arm restraints are the hardest thing right now. He seems frustrated at times not being able to play with his toys that he is used to.
I handled myself better than I thought I would and he has done better than I thought too and I am sure it has a lot to do with all the prayers from all of you. Thank you so much for all the phone calls and prayers for us. I will post pictures once we get home. God Bless You!

This is a picture from last month when Jaron was still wearing his NAM. It is typical of Jacob at any given moment no matter where we are (church, walmart, home, doctor's office) to say "Mommy I need to hold him." He loves his little brother. And as Jaron is able to do more and play with him I hope they become very close brothers.

Handsome, Silly, Sleeping & Sitting Up!

Well this thursday is the big day. Jaron's first surgery. We will be out of town for 10 days and I will try to post something on his blog from our hotel. They have computers we can use. Here is a cute picture of Jaron in his GA Bulldogs outfit all fresh and clean and ready for church.
Jacob put this hat on him. He thought it was HILAROUS! Notice the shiny chin~AKA~ slobberbox
This is a new thing he has starting doing this past week. Sucking his thumb. It is so cute but he won't do it without his NAM and it really is bad timing because after surgery he can't have anything in his mouth for 4 weeks. He is not going to be happy...
And last but not least, Jaron starting sitting up pretty good this week. I am so proud of him. Jacob didn't do nothing at 7 months. Jaron holds his bottle and claps and sits up. What a handsome little fella!

Drinking from a cup

We are trying to encourage Jacob to drink from a "Big Boy Cup" and he seems to like it alright. He is very careful and does better than I thought he would. He is ready to get back on a plane again. We are counting down the days until brother's surgery.

Gaining and Clapping!

Well I got Jaron to the doctor last friday and in exactly 2 weeks he had gained 12 oz. I have been adding rice cereal to every bottle. And last Sunday in church while we were singing in the choir, he started clapping! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He just kept doing it. And has been every day this week. I even caught him clapping in his sleep the other night. Well starting yesterday he was not drinking his bottles good at all and last night was worse so I took him to the doctor today thinking he might have another ear infection. She said his ear looked great, his breathing was fine and so it must be teething. I guess all this slobbering has a purpose. He has been slobbering for months and no teeth but maybe we will see some soon. Poor little guy chews on EVERYTHING! He must be hurting. Tylenol and Motrin should keep him happy.

Look at that!

We went to the World's Largest Aquarium in Atlanta yesterday and this is how Jacob was the whole time. "Look at that mommy!" He absolutely loved it. We saw Nemo fish and Dory. He knew so many of them from that movie. We saw a HUGE shark whale and an octopus. It was a good day. He was very tired and slept all the way home. No more runny nose. Now we are just counting down the days until brother's surgery. Jacob is excited too!

First Biter Biscuit

Well Jaron had his first Biter Biscuit and he liked it ok. I mean by the looks of him he had a lot of fun with it. But never got to finish it because he dropped it on the floor and broke into 3 pieces. But anyway if you haven't already noticed he is not wearing his NAM anymore. I just put it in for him to drink a bottle. He is getting ready for surgery now only 15 more days! Wow it really is going fast. He is all better now. No more coughing or congestion. Jacob either. I think we are past that. We go to the doctor tomorrow to weigh him and see if he has gained anything. I have tried several things in the last few weeks to give him more calories but anything with milk in it "tears him up!" Severe stomach aches. It is not just the lactose in the milk it's the caesin (cow's milk protein) also. He can't handle it. So I have just been putting rice cereal in every bottle and on my scales at hom he has gained a pound but I don't know how acurate that really is. I can't wait for tomorrow.

Just plain silly!

Jacob seems to be doing much better. His cough is almost gone but his nose still runs all the time. He is getting his appetite back too. He actually lost a pound while he was sick. I need to post another one of his works of art. He is getting good at writing his name and drawing little smiley's with legs. Jacob is getting a little hard to handle at times though, with his saying no to everything we tell him. I think it must just be his age. When we tell him to do something he repeats it back to us and it takes all we have not to laugh. Last night I told him to lay down in the bed and no playing and waving his hands he said "Okay okay that's enough". I had to walk out. He is too cute!

Jumping and Lovin' It!

Jaron is jumping so good in this thing. He just laughs and smiles and jumps so high. In the picture above he is actually in motion I can't beleive it didn't come out blurry. Anyway, he had to go to the ER Friday night. He was majorly dehydrated. I could not get him to drink anything. He has no tears, pea or slobber. So they put an IV in his tiny little arm and we stayed for a while to let that get in him. They also did a blood test to check his electolytes and test for infection. He got a chest xray too and they didn't find anything there. There was no sign of RSV but it could come back. The blood test showed low electrolytes but that was before the IV solution and also revealed he had a viral infection that we just have to wait it out. So that was Friday and he is still coughing and congested. The doctor gave him acuhist for his symptoms and I have given it to him religiously to help subside them but it's just not going away. We have to get him better before surgery. Please pray.