Neo Appointment

We haven't seen any real differences yet with the formula. Jimmie did have a big puke tonight though and unfortunately puked up his feeding tube. He was really hungry and very over tired so he was pretty hysterical as they put it back in.

He's handling his apparent cold well so far. The Neo listened to his lungs and looked in his ears and everything is clear. It's really just his nose and his throat that seems to have a lot of mucous. We think it's a cold, but it could possibly be allergies . . .

The Neo today encouraged Rachael and Justin to go forward with the endoscopy. She felt that after going over Jimmie's history and talking to Rachael that this whole thing being allergy related is a possibility. She feels that the scope would really give them a lot more information and direction. So Rachael and Justin are going to schedule the endoscopy for Jimmie. They have felt that they'll probably just keep hearing it's just reflux, but are definitely open to the idea it's allergies. If it was just be a simple allergy to Rachael's milk and the formula she has been using all this time as a fortifier that would be awesome because the Fundo G tube surgery would hopefully never be needed. There are even more expensive formulas then the one they are trying now that you need a prescription for to get. If the endoscopy points towards allergies the Doctors would really start working to find something Jimmie could eat.

The one reason we could see to hope that it is an allergy is that Jimmie's reflux did not happen until a few months ago. Right after he went off oxygen actually. Most kids with a defective valve in their stomach show that to be a problem from the very beginning, from when they first start taking all of their feeds by mouth. Jimmie breezed through that in the NICU and never showed more than very minor signs of reflux. He never acted like he was in pain or refused to eat. That's the ONE thing we keep bringing up. Is WHY would this start so much later and coincide exactly with him going off oxygen???

My mom shared with us her knowledge and understanding of food allergies and how they come about. It's usually when your body is under some type of major stress and having to work very hard. The food you are eating during that time enters your blood stream and your body overreacts to it. Or badly reacts to it. This is a very simple explanation the way I understood it. So mom hypothesized that perhaps when Jimmie went off oxygen his body went into overdrive and he didn't quite have the resources and strength for both efficient breathing (oxygenation) and digestion. So his breathing won and his digestion took the hit. One of the Doctors when Jimmie was in the hospital last week did actually sort of mention that this was a possibility.

We'll see . . . . Hopefully with the endoscopy . . .

Those cute videos I was talking about don't exist. I messed up. When I was taking them I was pushing stop when I thought I was recording and I was recording when I thought I wasn't. So they consist of the side of the bed and a lot of talking. My dad did that once when he was trying to shoot a video of Jimmie in the NICU. He was so bummed about it. Well dad- now I'm bummed and feeling retarded too. (-:

What I was trying to video for you all is a demonstration of Jimmie's amazing strength and his abilities he's not supposed to have yet. Rachael will hold him by his arms/wrists and he'll use that leverage to pull himself into a sitting position and then into a STANDING position! At around 10 1/2 lbs he just looks so cute and funny doing this! The Neos today were so amazed at his physical strength and development. How he lays on his stomach and holds his head up, how he rolls over and how pulls himself to sitting and standing. He also bats at his toys with his hands and feet. The Neo said, "he's not supposed to be doing this yet. He's supposed to be 3 months old. He's more like a 6 month old!" WOW Go Jimmie go!!!

And again always when someone new looks at Jimmie and his medical history they are amazed. Today the Neos went on about how amazing he was for a 24 weeker, how incredible that he'd never had a surgery, how miraculous his journey had been! We are so blessed and so thankful and I know Rachael and Justin love hearing that about their son.

Here are some pictures I took the other day when I thought I was also taking that video. At least I got some fun pictures right?? (-:

This is mom doing a TKM sequence on Jimmie while Rach was holding him. It's a bit awkward and tiring sometimes to apply these sequences to your patient when they are not laying on a proper table. But this is how Jimmie is worked on a lot of the time.




Look at those beautiful eyes!




I never thought I would see a baby that looked as angelic as my son. No not even my daughter was. 0-: Cole had the most gorgeous skin, beautiful eyes and perfect petite features. Jimmie is just as beautiful! I swear he is a GORGEOUS baby! I'm not biased at ALL! (-:


Thank you for your prayers!

Love,
Amber

P.S. My daughter is truly beautiful now. The prettiest little girl I've ever seen. Just so you know. (-: