James Douglas (JD) was born 4/2/12 at 3:43pm (at 35½ weeks) weighing in at a HUGE 3lbs, 4oz. James is doing FANTASTIC! We have said all along he is strong and a fighter.
• He came out crying and breathing all on his own
• His heartbeat is perfect
• He is a wiggle worm moving his arms AND legs all around
• He was much bigger than estimated.
JD was taken to the Children’s Memorial Hospital shortly after birth due to the expected hole in his spine which one doctor saw during an ultrasound. However, after much evaluation and two MRIs it turns out it was NOT a hole in the spine. This is the best news we could receive. For the last 15 weeks we thought our little man would have Spina Bifidia at birth and would need immediate surgery. Now, it turns out there is nothing wrong with his spinal cord and he no longer needs surgery. He can lie on his back and we had the opportunity to hold him much earlier than we thought.
The neck collar you see in some of the pictures is just a precaution as some of his cartilage in his neck is slightly off so they want to make sure when the bones grow they grow straight.
Overall, he is doing much better than anticipated because he is such a strong little man. Each time the doctors say “we may need to do . . .” he proves them wrong at the next check-in. JD will stay at the hospital for a few more weeks depending on his eating but he is right on track. They have increased his breast milk intake (he is currently taking it via tube) and hope to start bottle feeding in the next few days.
We are overjoyed our little man is here and doing so well. He is so adorable and has the hearts of all the nurses in the NICU.
We look forward to introducing him to the WHS community.
Thanks for all the support and to those of you who have already started to follow JD’s journey. He promises not to disappoint anyone.
Cheers,
-Jenn & Family
Also, we started a blog to share updates with our friends and family so please feel free to follow JD’s journey.
http://growingupgawel.blogspot.com/
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Congratulations on the birth of JD! He is absolutly precious. I am so happy to hear all the great news about his spine. I look forward to reading more about him. I hope and pray that he will be home with you all soon. 🙂
Much love,
Kristy
Welcome JD, you are very adorable! I hope you continue to be such a fighter and I look forward to following your journey!
Welcome Jenn! Glad to hear the little guy is doing well. Once you settle down, we’ll need to get together. We had a nice visit with Elsa a few weeks ago. Would love to meet JD. Keep us posted!
Hooray! Rejoice! Welcome to the world, JD. We love you!
So glad that JD is doing great! He is adorable.
JD is precious! I’m so glad that he is doing better than expected. I’m sure that is a huge relief to you and your family. I’m looking forward to watching him grow! Congrats!!!
~Carissa (Ava’s mommy)
Welcome JD! Sounds like lots of good news!
I know this a little late, but congratulations on the arrival of JD. He is so cute! I’m glad to hear he is doing better than expected. I hope he continues to prove the doctors wrong. I know how scary things can be, and at one of Nathaniel’s many hospitalizations, I was told “Special parents are given special babies.” God would not give us something we can’t handle…I’m sure you guys know that by now. I don’t expect to anything but good news in the future. Congratulations again!!!!
One more thing……if feedings are an issue, please push for bottle feedings. Even if it’s with a haberman bottle. My son was born with bilateral cleft lip and palate-and some of the nurses didn’t try to bottle feed(I know that’s not the case all the time). I was there every day-all day and if I hadn’t been there to push bottle feedings, he would have had to have gotten a g-tube. He’s had his surgical repairs, but he still uses the special bottle because he never really developed the strength in the his cheek muscles. He has feeding therapy now and may never be able to use a sippy cup, but I’m ok with that. Just an FYI.
Elsa’s mommy and daddy cannot wait to meet you and your little man! It sounds like you are off to a great start! We will be following JD’s story very closely and hope to connect soon.