Getting closer to going home!

"You may think from the smile, I have gas but that just isn't true..
I am thinking....
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! "

Hello everyone,

We apologize for the delay in getting the journal updated. The last two weeks have been filled with many blessings.

First, we are proud to announce Jackson Eric Spiess is now 5 pounds and 1 ounce!

We continue to improve on our bottle feeds which Jackson has now figured out that the bottle is a very good way to get his food verses the tube.

We currently are feeding him by bottle every other feeding- each bottle feed contains 52 cc's of milk. At the start of the bottle feeds we didn't offer him as much milk but we have progressed to 52 cc's and are holding steady at that amount. Except today Jackson wanted a little extra boost so his nurse (auntie) Cheryl gave him a 2nd bottle of more milk approxiametely 15 cc's. I think Jackson has Cheryl wrapped around his little finger which is great. We are so proud that Jackson is now letting us know when he wants his food as you can see him get a little cranky before his feedings. We are also happy that all his body functions are working. We know the lungs will take time (years), but the progess he is making so far is GREAT!

Jackson also went off the nasal canula for a little under 24 hours. We are happy that we took the step of trying him off his nasal canula which gives him some oxygen! He did have to go back on but we will try again hopefully this coming week!- We also were able to get some great Christmas Pictures while he was off the canula as you probably noticed from above. Today, we went off of "theophylline" (similar to caffeine) and we pray that his lungs are well enough to stay off this medicine without needing any extra oxygen.

Jackson and Grandpa Shepard also did some bonding this past week as you will see in the photo. Grandpa held his Grandson for the 1st time and he told Jackson about all the train rides that he was going to take Jackson on.

We still have a few more eye exams to go and we still have a hernia surgery coming our way but we are very, very, very thankful for where we are today and we pray his progress continues in this direction!

Over the weekend, Dr. Riveria mentioned we may get home prior to Christmas. We know that we need to take it one day at a time, but are excited to hear the positive news of taking him home whether it is before Christmas or not.

Here are some pictures we took of Jackson recently. We hope you enjoy them. We also hope that this blog update finds everyone getting ready for Christmas!
We can't thank you enough for all the support everyone has provided for us. We thank God each and every day for Jackson, and for all of our friends and family.

Jackson is explaining to Grandpa how many train rides he wants to go on : )






















"Thats right I am one spoiled man, with all these nurses tending to me."
Cheryl and Jackson

"We call this one his Blue Steel pose. For all the Zoolander fans out there."

"Here's one of Jackson in his slugger outfit. I'm sure Uncle Brad will teach him all about baseball."