9 Months

Can you believe that it's almost fall!!  August went by in a flash, and I think September is going by even faster.  This month will bring a few more doctor's appointments and a small surgery towards the end of the month.  No worries, it's nothing big  - just something that was going to be done while he was in the NICU, but we ended up having to wait until he was a little older/bigger.  We would still appreciate prayers that everything goes smoothly and he bounces back quickly!

Photo by my lovely friend Cherie at  (Cherie Renee photography)

September will also brings us into the start of the Cold/Flu/RSV season.  As a preemie, Jackson's immune system is not what a full term babies would be at 9 months old.  His Chronic Lung Disease makes getting a small cold or the flu much more dangerous.  As we enter into our first winter at home with Jackson, we are going to work hard to keep him healthy.   So you might ask what that means for our family, and what it may mean for you.

If you see us out or come to visit, don't be offended if:

-we douse ourselves in hand sanitizer, or stick a bottle in your face -  it's not you, we promise.  We practically own stock in the hand sanitizer companies. 

-we ask you to wash your hands and use hand sanitizer before touching Jackson.

-We ask if you or anyone you are around is or has been sick.  If you'd like to visit, we ask you've been symptom free for at least 5 days.

- We keep our visitors to adults, except for the occasional child. Please don't be offended if we ask you to leave your child at home.

So, we thank you in advance for being understanding of our situation - I know it may seem a bit overboard to some, but keeping him out of the hospital is our #1 priority!

Anyway, on to the fun stuff!

Jackson has such a fun personality! He is such a happy boy - He  wants to look at everything (and stick it in his mouth)!  He takes everything in when he's in a new place or meets someone new. Below is his typical pose...

 (Cherie Renee photography)

 He also wants to crawl/move so badly, but doesn't quite have crawling figured out yet.  He's weighing in at 15#14oz and is 25.5" long. He's almost sitting, laughs, talks to us all the time & is working on a few teeth (hello drool!)  He has his mom and dad pretty much wrapped around his little fingers! I mean... look at this smile!

 

 

For more information on RSV and what we are facing with this upcoming season, here is a link that 

http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv_resourceshtm.htm

8 months

They say that time flys by when you have a little one....and wow, it's so true!
Jackson is growing so quickly we are just soaking up every second!  He's weighing in at 14lb 14oz and is around 25" long. 
The biggest news of the month is that he's kicked the oxygen!   Our lives have become much simpler, and less tangled ;)
Jackson has done remarkable with the transition, and he all of a sudden is looking more and more like a little boy!
With out the oxygen tubes we've gotten out a little more,  and have begun showing jackson what the world is like with out being tethered to an oxygen tank.  We got rid of the tubes just in time too!  not long after, Jackson began rolling...and rolling and rolling. Set him down and he'll end up on the other side of the room in no time.  It's also making changing his diaper a bit more like a wrestling match!

We're up to Iowa city once this month for an appointment - So in the relm of Dr. appointments, we've got an easy month ahead of us.  We're praying for a month of health and growth! Thank you all for your contiuned love and support! 

7 Months!

Another month has gone by and our little guy just keeps getting bigger! At his last weigh in he was 13 lbs 14 oz and 23 1/2" long.

We went up to Iowa city to visit his Neonatologist at the end of June.  We were told that Jackson is developing & growing well - and that they were very happy with how things are going.  We were able to decrease his Oxygen to 1/4 liter - We will head back up to IC at the end of July to re-evaluate his oxygen needs - We are praying for a healthy month with lots of growing as we make our 1st (and hopefully only) attempt at taking Jackson off oxygen.

The month of June otherwise came and went with Jackson showing us a few new tricks he's learned.  He's began to focus on smaller objects, and has begun reaching for them and sometimes will get his hands on it.  He has begun eating rice cereal and just tried his first veggie a few weeks ago.   He can roll over from stomach to back, and can almost get from back to stomach (that pestky shoulder gets in the way).   He's learned to pout (jutted out bottom lip and all) if he wants more attention.  Jackson has also blessed us with full nights of sleep! He began sleeping for 8 or more hours at a time, and it's glorious!  There is so much more about Jackson that we could "gush" about - he is just such a huge blessing in our lives.
Here's a short video of his laugh

6 months!

Our little guy is growing so fast!  He's already 6 months old nearly 13 lbs and 22" long!  That's a long way from 1 lb 14oz and 13.5" long! 

Back in the beginning of May, Jackson was admitted to Iowa city's PICU for Pneumonia - we were there for 6 days.  He did remarkably well and bounced back quickly.

Other than that, we've been enjoying all the time we've had with Jackson - he's started to giggle recently, and it is by far the cutest thing we've ever heard.  He's continuing to roll over and interacting with us more.  He loves his play yard and will talk with his friends and look in the mirror for quite some time.  He's also become fascinated by a few random objects in our house - a throw pillow, a engagement photo of Ben and I, and a painting on our wall.  One will catch his eye, and he will just stare at it for a good 10 minutes if you let him.  Every once and awhile Ben and I will start talking about our time in the NICU and how crazy it is that we're where we are today - how amazing that he started out so small and now look at him!!   
Below is a sequence of photos that I've been taking every month since he's been home - the change just blows me away!

Here is the Jackson and the same giraffe when he was in the NICU.

We go back to Iowa City at the end of the month for his high-risk follow up - they are the ones that are in charge of his oxygen requirements & assess his development - We are excited to hear what they say about his oxygen!

Thank you all for continuing to love and support our little family!

--The Hellands

ps.  some of you may have received an email about an old post we wrote back in December titled "oh buddy" - not sure what happened, but Jackson and my Dad are both doing great now,  so no worries!!

5 Months old!

Over the past few weeks Jackson has had a few Doctors appointments.
At his last eye appointment we received some great news! First a little overview - Jackson developed ROP in both of his eyes back when he was in the NICU.  ROP is an eye disease that affects prematurely born babies - in a nutshell, the blood vessels that develop in the eye become "disorganized" and can cause blindness if it progresses too far.  His eyes progressed stage 2 with pre-plus - this is the farthest the doctors would let the ROP go before they would treat it with laser eye surgery.  Now after months of eye exams his eyes have finally developed into the last zone and his ROP is inactive!  This means his eyes are healing well, and we won't have to go back for another eye exam until the end of May! 

He saw his Neonatolegist team.  They follow Jackson's oxygen needs, growth, and development.
They were all very happy with the way Jackson is progressing!  They did a "room air" trial  to see how is lungs have developed.  He did very well, and his stats never dropped below the recommended threshold.  We were able to lower his oxygen settings, and at our next appointment we may try to take him off oxygen completely - this however is a few months away and will be dependent on how well Jackson grows and his lungs mature. 

Our litte man is growing so fast!  He is currently 11 lb 5 oz and 21" long!  He rolled over the other day, which was very surprising!  We were putting him on the floor for tummy time and he just flipped right over!  We made him do it a few times to make sure it wasn't a fluke.  He won't do it every time, but it's a pretty awesome milestone!  He is 5 months old (actual) and just about 2 months corrected.

Four Months Old

We have a 4 month old (4 weeks corrected)! How crazy is that! Jackson is growing so quickly - he is currently weighing in at 10lb 3oz and is 20" long.

Jackson had an eye and kidney appointment this past week. His eye exam showed "active regression" in both his eyes!! PTL! They have now downgraded his eyes to stage 1. They were previously stage 2. This is wonderful news and we are so happy that his eyes are getting better!
His Kidney appointment was to check numbers to see if his kidney's are filtering out the right amount of fluid, and that his kidney's are filtering correctly. His numbers looked good! They are happy with where they are, and we do not have to go back for a kidney appointment until he is around 6 months corrected (9 months actual)
God is Good!

We want to take a second to send out a big THANK YOU, to so many people. Over the past few months we were blessed by so many of you with prayers, gifts, cards, food, and encouragement. We tried to get thank you cards out, but we know we missed some of you. Please know we are so greatful, and thankful to have you in our lives!

cuddlin with dad!

Hanging out with mom

No place like home!

We've been home now for 3 weeks and it's going well! Jackson seems to be adjusting to his new home and having his mom and dad around a lot more!
We've had a lot of appointments since we've been released, but we've gotten some positive results!
We are still on weekly eye checks, but each week we've been seeing small improvements in his ROP. We were told that we must be doing a good job at home with him, as he gained 2 pounds since coming home! He's now weighing in around 9lb 7oz!! We were also able to lower his oxygen settings to a 1/2 liter! One more step checked off our list! We are very excited for the day that he no longer has to have tubes/wires on him!

We hope you all had a great Easter!