Weaning and Swimming, A Joyful Day

Today was a great day for our Jack! We have been going to the GI doctor every other week for about a month now...previously, we were going once a week, so this in itself was a big milestone for Jack. Today Jack weighed in at 16 lbs 4 oz, a gain of nearly 9 oz...and that's with fighting a GI bug and a cold! This puts him on the growth charts! He is in the fifth percentile, but his doctor said that most preemies don't even hit the growth chart until about 24 months.  Also, we are now starting to wean his continuous feeds! Since October, Jack has been continuously feed through a g-tube in his belly. We can now "unhook" him for an hour a day. This is a huge milestone as well! I can't wait to run around the house with him without an IV pole or his special backpack, even if it is for only an hour a day! This is a start, and things can only go up from here.

A recent pic of my little man who just started to sit up on his own to play with his toys!

A note to my little guy: Jack, I am beyond proud of you! You are such a little trooper and oblivious to all that is going on with you. Your sweet smile and contagious giggle makes all of the hard work worth it. You are one step closer to getting "all better"! I knew you could do it and I look forward to our next weight check!

And we started water babies today! It was a pain planning and getting ready and I thought to myself "This is a bad idea...I'm throwing in the towel...We're not going....This is too much work". We went from our doctor in Peoria to my parent's house in Peru where we had to eat, change the diaper twice, un-hook Jack, and get ready for swimming. It was a lot of work, but I am determined not to let Jack's condition stop him from being a "normal" baby. It was so great to walk into our swim class and see two other mom's that I know with their babies too! Jack loved the water and was very relaxed. He loved when I popped him out of the water and smiled hugely! I don't think he nor I wanted to get out of the pool! We got dried off, changed into jammies, re-hooked up and were on our way home! Daddy is going to come next week to take some pictures and video! Can't wait!

On our way to the Y for swim class.

"Joy is the feeling of grinning inside." Melba Colgrove