Moved to a crib... and more!

Post date: Jan 18, 2011 2:37:25 AM

January 17, 2011 - The past two days have been days of great steps of progress for Grady Jeremiah!

1) MOVE TO A CRIB

That's right, he has progressed well enough to move out of the isolette (also called an "incubator") into a regular baby crib! So far he is doing really well maintaining his body temperature, provided we keep him well bundled and under blankets. In fact, he appears to be sleeping better being "swaddled" and really enjoys the secure feeling. We are really enjoying being able to just pick him up and being able to hear all of his grunts and cute sounds while we sit in his room! Please pray that he will continue to be able to maintain his body temperature without the heat of the isolette. Please pray that he will stay healthy as he is now exposed to "room air" all day long.2) HEARING EXAMGrady Jeremiah had his hearing exam today. We were wondering how he would be tested since you can't exactly give a premature baby a button and ask him to push it every time he hears a sound :-) Instead, they put leads on his head and neck and monitor brain activity when sounds are played through headphones. Look at the picture to see what happened--> One of our friends said that Grady Jeremiah looks like an astronaut in this picture:-) Join us in thanking God for the good report on his hearing, and continue to ask that he will develop properly in all areas.3) FIRST IMMUNIZATIONSLots of things have been happening to get him ready to go home, hopefully in several weeks. One of those today was his first round of immunizations! He received three of his initial six immunizations today: DTaP (for diphteria, tetanus, and pertussis), Hib (for haemophilus influenzae bacteria that can cause meningitis), and IPV (for polio). He was not happy with receiving those three shots! In the picture to the right, I (Grady) am trying to comfort him after the traumatic ordeal :-) This evening he has become a lot more fussy. Please pray that he will have no side effects from these immunizations.4) FEEDINGSThank you for praying about his feedings. He made good progress last night and today. He has taken two of his feeds 100% from the bottle! He still gets tired, so some feedings he only takes part from the bottle and the rest through the NG tube in his nose, and some feedings we just tube it all so he can sleep. He is doing much better with his breathing while he feeds as well. In addition, he keeps gaining weight and is now up to 5 pounds, 9 ounces! Please continue to pray for him to be able to take all of his feeds on his own and for him to continue to gain weight well.

*** Finally, Grady Jeremiah is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow (Tuesday) to look more closely at the initial observation of the missing septum that would normally divide the hemispheres of the brain. As he goes to this test, please pray that he will lay still without needing medicine to make him do so and that the doctors will have wisdom as they look at and interpret the scan. ***