Day Seventeen

Baby Jax continues to progress and well on his way to coming home, probably this week. Last night, I had the pleasure of feeding him, washing him, and changing him – not all in that order. The washing was a challenge as he was not particularly happy about it. It was clear that he was cold and hungry but it was something that he had to endure. The nurse and I noticed that Jaxon’s butt has an inflamed rash. We treated the rash but it doesn’t look very good.

As I was feeding him, he had what we think to be a bradycardia episode. Basically, his heart rate temporarily dropped from an average of about 130 beats per minute to 72. This lasted for about 10 seconds. The nurse and some literature that I and Lara have read say that this is somewhat common with premature infants as their nervous systems have yet to fully develop. It’s something some what serious but consistent with his situation. Otherwise, he’s doing well and is gaining weight.

In our morning call with the neonatal nursery nurses, we learned that Jax would be circumcised this morning. This is a significant achievement as it is typically done before a baby is discharged.To be discharged, Jax must participate in a game show, “Transition to Home”. The first part of the show requires Jax to pass three initial challenges, according to a PDF document that Lara sent me as shown below.

Jax pasts these challenges but must also successfully win the “Car Seat challenge” where he must remain in a car seat for over 90 minutes. There are a few other things he must do, but these are the big things. I hope he wins.

Thank you