Surgery Day...

Some mommy loving before surgery!

After the feeding tube!

Trying so hard to eat, but just not quite strong enough yet.

Wide awake !!

Jake had his surgery today at 1:00 and everything went great! We are so blessed to have an amazing NICU team, surgeons, and anesthesia staff here that made it so much easier to let our baby boy go with them! Our neurosurgeon called us from the OR to tell us how smooth everything went, then the anesthesia staff texted Dave, and as soon as they got to the room, NICU called to give us an update.

Jake has been doing so much better with his feedings since we went to NG tubing only. The bottle was just making him work too hard and hurting his little belly. Once he went to straight feedings through the NG tube, he is digesting more of the formula (we can tell by his residuals), having less reflux, and just seems to be more content in general. They are also able to give him around 30 cc now over an hour, and his blood sugars have remained more constant. He did have one apnea episode while we were bathing him for surgery today, and they are so scary for mommy and daddy! But, Dave was ready with suction and stimulation and he recovered quickly from it, and we are praying for that to be the last one. Our nurse was concerned that he made need some bili time, which could prolong our stay for a few days, but the neonatologist wants to give him a little time before he orders the labs. His little hands and feet are so bruised from failed attempts at IV sticks and blood sugar checks, we are hoping he won't need any more labs drawn for a while.

While they were originally planning PPN feeding (basically nutrients through plastic bendable tubing in his arm) after surgery, he is doing so well they have decided to re-insert his NG tube and go with formula. We are so thankful! The formula has more of the essential nutrients he needs to grow big and strong! His blood sugars, blood pressure, tempature, oxygen sat, and heartrate stayed strong during his surgery and after, and now we are told he is resting comfortably with the help of some tylenol. We have not been able to go see him yet because one of the new babies in his pod is critically ill and so his pod has been closed until later tonight. Please pray for the babies that are in Jake's pod as well. Although Jake's condition is a cause for great concern, there are babies much sicker than ours in his little home. It breaks our heart to see such sick little ones that are struggling so much harder than any baby should have to. We just want to cuddle them all!

Speaking of cuddling, guess who is a little cuddlebug? Our baby Jake that's who! I was able to hold him and rock him last night and he kept down his ENTIRE amount of formula for an hour while he was with me. We can also tell that his central nervous system is more relaxed and he sleeps deeper when we are holding him. When he is upset, we put our cheeks on his and whisper to him, and he calms down almost immediately. We have to be fully draped to hold him, so not really much skin to skin right now, other than our faces. But believe me when I say we SMOTHER him in kisses anywhere he is not covered. :)

Thank you everyone for all of your phone calls, emails, fb messages, texts, and prayers. You continue to amaze us with your thoughtfullness and love for our family every day. We thank God so many times a day for Jake, his caretakers, and all of you who are supporting us.