MRI

Zack had an MRI done yesterday to see if there were any developmental issues, and I am happy to say that everything looks just fine!!! What a relief! And to help, they didn't have to sedate him or give him anything... he just cooperated!
Also, I don't want to jinx myself here, but Zack has been breathing room air for almost 2 days now! This is the longest he has gone now, so I am trying not to let him know he's doing it, or he may go back to 'wanting' the extra oxygen flow!!

AND, he also had his hearing test done, and he passed with flying colors. So just one more thing to be thankful for today.
And I am just throwing these pictures in for fun... on Sunday we had another bath day, and the nurses were fantastic!! They made a little jacuzzi for Zack and even took all the tubes off of his face. I think he really enjoyed it :>

The rivalry continues...

A little while ago I posted about the Blue vs. Red in the NICU. I also mentioned we had something else up our sleeve! Well, we made this cute little sign that had the nurse's picture on it and it said, "NICU nurse by day, Cougar fan by night". We got to the NICU and then innocently, hung them all around so everyone could enjoy them! No harm there, right?!

The next day, we get to the hospital, and there is our sweet little Zack, all dressed in red, with little "U's" taped on him! Apparently, there was also a little photo shoot that day with him all "dressed up" too! Notice he didn't have the oxygen or feeding tubes connected. Although he was in red, the pictures turned out SO cute!!!
I really don't know what was more funny... seeing Zack laying there not knowing what was going on, or Jared's reaction to it all!! Since that day, we don't hear the end of it with the Cougars vs. the Utes. However, yesterday's score for the Cougars, was another victory of 44-0...

Well I suppose I should let everyone know what has been happening this past week. First, let's get the eye exam stuff out of the way! He has had 3 weeks of staying in Stage 2 and Zone 2 now, which means he hasn't gotten worse, but he hasn't gotten better either. So the eye doctor is going to wait this week to do an exam, and then he will check again next week to see what, if any, progress was made. So we aren't out of the woods yet!
Then, the bottle feeding! This has been the biggest roller coaster we have been on since we were admitted on July 1st! At the beginning, Zack didn't like the bottle too much, then he started to pick it up and do about every other one, then he went back to doing them, and now we are slowing going back down the hill again of not doing them! We have tried feeding him when he is awake, when he is sleeping, with different nipples on the bottle, with lowering the calories and timing on the feedings, and even with a variety of people trying to feed him, and just when we think he is going to catch on, he doesn't!! Maybe someday...

2 1/2 months later...

2 1/2 months have gone by and we are making progress. Zack is now weighing in at an even 4 pounds!! Last night we were there when he was getting weighed, and we had an audience to see if he would hit the 4 pound mark. It was the funniest thing to see the excitement in the room when the nurse said he made it to 4 pounds! Ya' gotta love the little things. Zack also had his length measured last night, and he has grown to 16 inches long now... which is 4 inches longer than when he was born! Another one of those little things!

Jared and I have been talking a lot about our stay in the NICU the past couple of days, and since we are pro's now :>, we have to say that things could be a lot worse for us. We decided last night while driving home that there are really 2 main things that have made this experience go so fast, as well as an actual pleasant experience (all things considered!).
The first is the friends that we have made in the NICU. Having the friendship, support, someone to share things with that know EXACTLY what it feels like to have a baby in the NICU, having the shoulder to cry on, laughing when things can be so down, and just the connection you immediately get when you are placed in these kinds of situations... is exactly what we have at St. Mark's. So thanks for everything Steph, Ryan, & Avery! We love you guys!

The second is the nurses/respiratory therapists/staff at St. Mark's. We have really grown to love these people. From playing jokes on the nurses, to the sound of "moo" coming from the other room... from being able to just hold our baby without being wrapped up in a hundred blankets, to just giving us a hard time for liking BYU and not Utah!! They have made this experience so much easier than we ever imagined. So thanks to all of them for taking care of our baby! We KNOW we couldn't do this without you!!!

September 11

This is a weird day for me this year... I have always been a very patriotic person and absolutely love the 4th of July! Heck, one of my favorite songs is "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood, and I even won concert tickets once singing that song on the radio! Anyway, September 11th is no exception to the patriotism. I have no ties to anyone who was killed, but the stories and experiences that I hear every year are heart breaking and it is hard not to be touched.
Well, it was also a year ago today that I went for my first doctor appointment when I was pregnant. I had thought I was almost 11 weeks along, but when the doctor did the ultrasound, the baby only measured at 7 weeks, 3 days. There was also no heartbeat. I didn't understand what the doctor had meant when she said the word "miscarriage". I kept thinking that since my body hadn't recognized that the baby didn't make it, maybe she was wrong! Not so lucky... Up to that point in my life, I never felt the true pain of losing something or someone.
My due date for that baby was right around the first part of April 2008. 3 months later, July 1st, I had a baby in this world and couldn't believe the difference in time! Although not the ideal circumstances for Zack to be coming so early, I have to smile and say "I am so blessed!"
So today as we remember those who were so brave 7 years ago, I am also thinking of my little one who didn't make it in this world, but how lucky I am to have my baby Zack to hold.

We moved again

Zack has now been moved into an open crib!!! YEAH! That is one of the requirements for him to be able to come home, that and being able to hold his own temperature while in there, so check this one off the list! The reason why he got moved into the crib is because he was being so fussy for a few days, so one of the nurses tried bundling him up, and he loved it. So they did a trial run in the crib, and so far so good! Also since Zack is in the crib now, we get to hold him at every feeding, which is every 3 hours. That is the best ever. But you better believe that when he gets home, I will be holding him much more than that!

Also, they added more calories to his milk, as well as added more cc's for him to eat, so he is bulking up! He now weighs 3 pounds 10 ounces!!! I can't believe he is gaining to fast. You can definitely see the difference in the pictures now.

Zack's Room

We've been trying to work on Zack's room for a while now... but now that we are getting close, we decided we better get movin! OK, not like he's coming home this week or anything, but we are hoping about another month or so.
Anyway, here are some pics of what his room is looking like. I made his name block, and for some reason, I struggled with it! All of the crafty, scrapbook things are all cute for a girl... so I did the best I could!!
We still need to fill up some of the shelf space, so if you have any fun ideas for me, I would love to hear them!

Eye update

Well, the eye exam didn't go quite as well as we had hoped. Zack's eyes got a little worse. He is now in the "Stage 2" category. I don't have many details this time because the eye doctor had already come and gone by the time we had gotten to the hospital, so I didn't get to hear what he thought.
So I turned to the internet to look up ROP (that is the term for what he has) and get more info on this. It helped a little, but I still just want to talk to the doctor and see how Zack's personal condition is... Anyway, if anyone is interested in looking more into it, the website I found is:

http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/rop/index.asp

Anyway, Zack will be getting another exam on Wednesday, so we will see how that one goes.

A little more progress

We have made some progress over the last few days. The biggest achievement is that Zack has hit the 3 pound mark! And it is showing. Many people that have seen some recent pictures have commented on his double chin!! I never thought I would be so happy to see that appear.

Then, we got to give him a bath tonight!! We had a rough start getting him in the bath because the nurse brought over the little tub of warm water, and as soon as we put him in it, he went to the bathroom. So, we took him out, replaced the water, put him back in, and he went again! He's a little stinker (literally!!). On the third round of clean water, he relaxed and really enjoyed the bath. It was so fun to give him the little bubble bath!

Also, we have been working on getting Zack to eat from a bottle once a day. It has been a slow process because he likes to choke and gag himself on it, but on Sunday, the nurse tried to feed him and he drank the whole bottle!! Since then, however, he only does half (or even less than half). But, we are getting there.

And finally, last Wednesday Zack had another eye exam. Unfortunately it didn't go as well as his first two exams went. Without going into too much detail (mainly because I can't remember the exact terms right now!) there are different "zones" and "stages" that the doctor looks for when he is checking his eyes. There are three "zones" in the eye and we are in zone two right now (which is good and normal)... we need to get to zone three. Then, you have three "stages" of the eye and we are in stage one. We don't want to progress in these stages because that would mean that Zack would need to get a laser surgery which would affect his eye sight. SO, we are scheduled for another exam tomorrow to see what progress Zack has made in the past week.
*So if you could send little prayers our way for his eyes, we would be so grateful!*