Homebound

I wanted to write and give everybody who has not talked to us a quick up date on Jax. He came home Tuesday night after a long day of training for Nathan and Amber. He is currently doing great right now. He has his first Dr.'s appointment today in Gainesville with his new pediatrician so we hope that goes well. Keep praying for Jax, Nathan, and Amber. Being home is great but it's also a very heavy load on Nate and Amber with all the medical attention he still needs at this time; furthermore, also having big sister, Mattie's help is keeping them busy also:) Speaking of Mattie, she is adjusting very well to having Jax home. She wants to love and kiss him all the time! I was a little nervous to how she would react to her new brother but she is doing great.

home

Praise God Jax is scheduled to come home next week!

Jax is doing GREAT

Jax was moved to his new room yesterday and it even comes with a shower so we can spend the night. He is stable on his feeds with no spit ups and is using the bathroom by himself. He is a 8cc now and has never made it past 5cc without problems. Praise JESUS!

improved

Jax surgery went well and he looks so very good. he is at 7cc and no spit ups. he is using the bathroom on his own. God has blessed us once again.

going in to surgery now

surgery

Jax has a surgery today to take the pick line out of his head and put it in his chest. Please pray all goes well. He is doing good thank you for your prayers.

Dr.'s News

Praise the Lord! Talked with the doctor last night and he said they would probably move forward and put a feeding tube in his intestine. This is not a very invasive surgery and there is a small chance for infection. This will also allow him to get off of the "gatoraid". It will still take time but not as much time and he can come home on the feeding tube. He will also take some milk by mouth due to needing it to go into his stomach and will stay on the anti-acid meds to keep the acids in his stomach from causing infection and him from throwing up. But above all else he may be coming home soon! Please pray that this all works for him and the surgery goes well. Thank You All so very much for the continued prayers!

new room

Jax is going to be under the care of the GI surgeon and maybe moved to a special room. He is also having kidney reflux and can not take his milk. The doctor did not give us much hope yesterday due to his current condition but that is also her job to prepare us for the worst. But we know he is under God's care only. Lots of information for one day but he now has his own doctor and specialist to be with him only. Please we need you to keep praying! Thank You, Love you all.

The doctor's still have Jax at 6cc's and he is having spit ups when they give him his medicine. They will run a lower GI today to see if his kidneys are causing the spit ups. They say this sometimes happens to all babies and can be fixed over time or he may need surgery when he gets older. The good thing is that he is tolerating his feeds and his spit ups only appear to be correlated to his meds. Please pray that his kidneys are functioning properly. Thanks, LOVE all of us

Hey Jax!

Dear Jax,

Since I haven't been able to come see you in a few days I wanted to write you a little message to let you know I miss you! Mommy and daddy have told me how well you are doing and I'm so happy to hear this wonderful news. I'm so proud of you for staying strong and all the courage you have! I am praying for you to get better daily and I can't wait for you to come home so we can see you all the time!

We love you so much!

Love,
BB

:)

Praise you our Almighty God! I am amazed at what your prayers have done for our family and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Healer

Jax's GI came back PERFECT. The doctor said he did not even see a scar where the surgery was done. PRAISE YOU OUR HEALER! not sure what is causing the spit ups but they are going to try again with 5cc tomorrow.

test

Jax is having another upper GI today to look for why he is spitting up. Please pray that the results come back good like last time and they can up his feeds again. TY

4cc's

Jax had some spit ups at 5cc's so they gave him a rest and dropped him back to 3cc's. Yesterday they moved him back to 4cc's. Just spoke with the nurse and she said he has not spit up and he did another poopie on his own. Small set back but this is the first time he has tolerated 4cc's without spit ups. Normal babies spit up but because Jax is on medications to keep him from having reflux this is a sign of a problem. He is progressing every day and we Praise God for this. It is in God's time and not ours so we will wait till he is ready for little Jax to come home. I am still at peace with God's will for Jax and I refuse to worry about set backs because there will be some. The amazing thing is we are almost positive that he will not have to have another surgery. God has healed him from this and will continue to get him ready for us when we can bring him home. Thank You Dear Lord Jesus for hearing our prayers!

spit ups

Jax has begun to spit up on his 5cc's. At least he made it to 5 this time. Please pray for us and our little man. We want him home so bad! All we need is for him to eat and digest. Thank you

progress

Jax is doing great due to all the prayers THANK YOU JESUS! still no spit ups and is at 5cc's please pray he remains taking his milk this week ty

waiting on God to send Jax home

Jax had his first poopie last night without any help. Praise God for his almighty power and healing touch. I know Jax has been healed but has some work to finish at the hospital. Hopefully he will be sending our little man home soon. The may up his feeds today, this is where we run into a problem at 4cc's so please pray for no spit ups! Thanks to all of you and your faithfulness to our family. Love you all!

feeds

It appears that Jax's intestines are not moving fast enough for his food to process. The doctor said that this is odd for a baby in his condition because usually it moves too fast and nothing is processed. They have stopped his feeds again to let his body rest. Please pray that his intestines will begin working as he is getting older now. The doctor told us not to worry and we are holding on. I know Jax is in Gods hands and his time. I will not let the devil take my faith for God is the only one who can heal Jax and bring him home to us healthy. Love you all.

God is our Healer

Jax had his first real poopie yesterday ;) I know that God has already healed Jax and is already fullilling his promise for Jax to touch peoples lives and be a great man and live for God. Thank you all for helping our family, we love you and appreciate you very much!

Today

Going to keep it short, I promise ;) Here with Jax, Nate is holding him now. He is at 3cc drip and 5cc 2x a day by bottle. So far no spit ups and he is having stools that were better than before. They are waiting until Monday to go up on his feeds but they are taking it slow. He is getting treatment for the "Gatorade" he is getting to help his liver function stay strong. Just pray that he does not have any liver problems in the future (as a special request). Ty and we love you all very much!

I will sing Praise no weapon forged against me shall remain!

When God and I spoke this morining I was reminded that my flesh is still of this world and God is in complete control. I have no control over the things of this world, I must trust our Lord and Savior and his plans for the future of my children. God opened my eyes to the great plans he has for my life and now the life of the generation to come. It is my duty to raise my children to fear and love the Lord. That is my reason for living so that both my children and I can grow in the knowledge of how love, forgiveness, and the importance the lives of others are to God. Jax is doing great compaired to a lot of other children in the hospital. Jax is in God's hands and not mine. Forgive me for the doubt of the devil and keep the prayers coming! Every prayer you pray for our family is truly heard and appreciated. I spent 7 hours today holding my GIFT from God. I did nothing but sit and think of the wonderful love and power God has already delivered. We love you all and appreciate you very much. May God bless your lives as he has ours.

worries

Jax appears to have another infection. He started having bradies yesterday and the doctors have not came in today. Looks like they will not start his feeds today and start antibiotics. His results will not come in until tomorrow. His white blood cells are low and he was given blood last night. He has not had anymore bradies since then. Will update once I speak with the doctor today. His stomach is still soft so they are not afraid that it is in his intestins but they can not be sure. I know that I keep asking for prayers and you are already praying for him but please get on your hands and knees today and ask that this not be another infection. If he contines to get the infections the antibiotics may quit working. We want him off of the liquid as soon as possible because it does affect his liver. They check once a week on his liver and he is not showing any signs of jondice.

Dear Savior,
I pray that you continue to put your healing hands on my little man and give him strength. I thank you for your continuious protection and his strong body. I pray that he does not have to come home with any tubes and that his health will grow so that he may come home safe and I will not miss out on any more of my babies life. I just want to hold and cuddle with him and be the mother for my son that you have blessed me with. I pray that I may be the mother to my children that will raise them to know and understand that you are all powerful. Thank you for my friends and family and all that do not know Jax but are praying for him. My love for you will continue but I need strengh at this time. In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen

Thanks to God and our Savior Jesus Christ

Thank you God for our daughter and son
Thank you God for our family and friends
Thank you God for allowing your son to die and rise again to allow us to live for you
Thank you God for your forgiveness and continuious love
Thank you God for laying your hands on our son
Thank you God for answerd prayers
Thank you God for allowing us to know everything is in your time
Thank you God for changing our lives
Thank you God for using our son to change others lives

Thank you all

Sorry for the lack of information. Jax had his upper GI and it appears that his feedings are going through but there is scar tissue at his incision sight. No news on if he will have another surgery since his feeds are going through. The doc has put him on no feeds until tomorrow and we will start him all over with 1/2 a cc for a few days. The doctor believes his intestines are not constricting and is giving them a rest. Thank you for your continues prayers. We have a great and powerful God who will bring us through this and send Jax home just as if nothing was wrong. I believe that and it appears that you do too. Jax has already touched so many lives including ours. God has a great plan and he has already begun to make Jax a powerful source of life changing experiences.

Pray for Jax today

I know Nathan and Amber are extremely busy at the moment so I wanted to post telling everyone to say a little prayer for him today. He is not taking his feeds well, he keeps spitting up after every feed, so dr.s have taken him from around 14cc's to 2cc's.
The hospital just called to say they are going to do an upper GI, to see if there is a blockage in his intestine. Pray that whatever the problem is that he doesn't have to have surgery again. Jax is doing so good, we really don't want anymore set backs. Pray for Nathan and Amber that the Lord will give them the strength they need to get through another valley and of course for Jax that God will heal him from whatever is going on right now.

Quick Update

Sorry again about the gap in posts! Time flies by and before you know it, we have not posted in a few days. The feedings are continuing to go well, and Jax is now up to 14cc every 3 hours. He is taking his bottle well and even has a therapist that works with him to make sure he is sucking, breathing, and swallowing with no trouble. The pooping is still going okay, but they could be a little more solid. The frequency is good so the feedings are not just rushing through him, and he should be adsorbing a good amount. Jax will go up again on his feedings tomorrow, and just continue to increase the amount as long as he tolerates it and his poops are good.

Its important that Jax maintains and increases steadily on his feedings because the milk nutrition versus IV nutrition is like being on a seesaw. As his milk volume goes up the IV volume goes down. We want the IV nutrition down as soon as we can because extended exposure can cause liver damage, but we are a long long way away from that.

I am guessing that he will need to get up to around 50 - 60 cc of milk to get 100% off the IV nutrition. That is if he is gaining weight off the milk, which I am sure he will be based on what we have seen so far. Jax is at 14 cc now so he is about a quarter of the way there. Once you get on a roll the increases come more frequently but if there is sign of concern they hold him where he is for a day and then continue as long as everything looks good.

I met a lady on the elevator today that worked at Children's today that tried to show me a shortcut to the parking garage and got me totally lost....on our way out we were talking about Jax and she said isn't the Lord just wonderful....Look at everything he has done for that baby....God is amazing isn't he....I was like yes yes and yes. She also said and you know He is going to continue doing great things as long as you keep trusting Him. We were where we thought I was going by then so I said thank you and she left to another floor in the garage. I thought that was pretty cool and a good reminder of what God has already done and how you can see Him working every day on Jax.

Please keep praying that his feedings continue to go well and he can get of the IV nutrition as soon as his ready. Please also keep praying that he will digest his food and adsorb his nutrition from the milk, and continue to gain weight. Please pray that God will shield him from infection and sickness. We thank God for everything he has done so far and thank you for your prayers and support along the way. Amber and I could not have made it if it were not for the support of our families and friends. We love you and we will try to update more often and not so long!

Quick Update

The feedings are going pretty well and they decided to increase him to 5cc every 3 hours. He is sill fluctuating on his residuals but things look pretty good. He is also pooping (I know gross) but a good thing for Mr Jax because this means things are passing through. Keep the prayers coming because they are probably going to let him keep increasing as long as he keeps everything processing. We will keep you updated as the week goes on.

bottle feeding

Nate got to feed Jax out of a bottle for the first time the other night. He is still taking his milk this way even though he is not digesting it he is learning to eat. This is a GREAT thing because he knows how to suck, swallow, and breath on his own. The nurses at NEGA said he would have to be able to do these things before he could come home. This is a sign that his brain is functioning very well. He is having less and less residual and the night before last he had none. The residual is a very light yellow and a little milky so this is very exciting. When I fed him last night he drank the bottle so fast he almost drank all 5cc's when he is only suppose to have 3. Our little angel is fighting with everything he has and God's hand is on him we can all feel it.

As far as we know he will still have another surgery but the testing will not begin until Monday. What would they all say if he just starts eating, the swelling goes down and he is healed? I asked God to heal him with his hands and he is showing signs he is doing so. (in his time) I have not given up on God and his power please do not either because someone in that hospital may need to see God's GREAT power and Jax may already be doing God's will.

love song

"Bring me to the cross, where your blood poured out. Bring me to my knees, Lord I lay me down. Rid me of myself, I belong to you. Oh lead me to your heart."

Prayer

Dear God our Father and Protector,

I pray now for your healing touch. I pray that you put your hands on Jax and take his pain away. God you are the creator of miracles and your love for us is beyond our understanding. I pray that I may also understand your time and not mine and continue to hold on to your promise for Jax. I am posting my prayer dear Lord so that others may know your power and love. I love my son but you allowed your son to die for us and our sins. I only ask that you will heal Jax, in your time, and make him a great man who will do great things for you. You are the all powerful and all knowing creator and I trust you will keep your promise and teach me to be patient in the process. I only ask that this not be a lesson to me but a testimony for everyone because we all believe in your healing hands. I thank you Lord for my family and friends. I thank all that are praying for us, even people we have never met. I thank you Lord for providing strength to this family and allowing us to know you will never leave us nor forsake us. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Good Update

We got a good update today. The x-rays did not show any signs of a blockage!! The feeding tube was sitting a little too low and they think that was why he was having the green residuals. The nurse tonight said that she got a tiny bit of yellow residual tonight and that is a good sign that the tube was the cause of the bad residual. If things continue to go well over the night he will start feeding tomorrow again. Keep the prayers coming that he will accept his feeds and his belly will process the food and pass it along.

mountains and valleys

The time between updates have been pretty eventful, so sorry for the lack of updates. Overall Jax is still doing well, but it seems like a 2 step forward and 1 step back process. He is still on antibiotics but his infection seems to be gone based on his lab work. He is active, he has no oxygen support, he has no IV's other than his pick line, his color is great, he has not had a Brady in a few days and all of his stats look great.

By Monday the infection became under control enough to start feeding and we were excited to get back on the right track. He had feeds for about 12 hours and unfortunately they did not go so well. He had a large amount of residual that built up and they had to stop the feeding because it was not flowing through properly.

Today we had a good opportunity to talk to the nurses and they are not sure what the doctor will advise, but they may just give him a little break and try again later or start doing some upper GI tests. The GI tests will show if there are any blockages in his belly from the surgery that may need to be remove.

Its crazy how many mountains and valleys you go through in this process....One day you feel like your doing great then the next you feel like things are going in the wrong direction. I just thank God that there has been so much to be grateful so far and remind myself that there is nothing I can do but be there and Jax is in God's hands.

Please continue to pray for Jax. Pray that God will touch his belly and give him strength as he learns to digest and process his food. Pray for no blockages or bottlenecks in his belly. Pray for protection from infection and illness. Thank you all for your continued support and prayers!!!

Holding Steady

Just wanted to let you know that Jax is still doing well and seems to be fighting off the infection. We are still waiting on the blood results, but we should have some news tomorrow. There have been no more bradys and his stats are normal so that is a good sign also that things are moving in the right direction. They will probably keep his antibiotics on for about a week and try to start the feedings back when he is good and well. He looks great and we get to hold him a lot when were up at the hospital. The nurse and docs are all awesome, one thing that is awesome is to see how God works in other people to help in a time of need. Whether its the wisdom that he gives the doctors and nurses or the love that he shows in our family and friends, its an amazing thing to witness from our perspective. We are truly thankful for the prayers and the support. We love you!

God is with us

Thank you all for all of your prayers because we hear them. Jax is no yet eating and has an infection. We will receive tomorrow or Monday the results from his blood test. He has been having to have blood given to him. As of today he has not had any Brady's and is just sucking away with his binky. Jax is going to need a lot when he gets home the nurse said. Even with the tubes in his mouth he loves them. The nurses think he looks very good. Jax's belly and sounds of his tummy all sound normal. He has his days were we really wonder and sometimes question God's intention. But because of your prayers and God's great knowing love and understanding is getting us and Jax through this. Please also pray for Mattie Grace because she does not understand why we are gone so much.

Happy 1 Month Jax!

Dear Jax,

BB wanted to write you a little note to wish you a happy one month birthday today! You have been such a trooper and we are so proud of you! Keep up the good work and stay strong! Jai and I can't wait to see you this weekend! We love you and are praying for you every day. We can't wait to hold you soon and for you to come home!

Love you so much!
BB

Finally Feeding

Since Jax has started his feeds on Sat he has been doing great. He gets one CC every 3 hours and gradually moves up as he starts to gain weight. Over the weekend he got back up to his birth weight (3.9) and is now around 3.14, so he appears to be gaining weight! As his feeds increase his nutrition by IV will decrease so his goal is to keep putting on the ounces as he begins depending on formula alone.

When Jax gets over 4 pounds he will start to move to an open air crib and out of his incubator, because he should be able to maintain his own body temp. He is already doing that well so no worries there. Jax will also be coming off the antibiotics this week, and the Doctors are saying he should not need them any more. So far its been a great beginning for Jax!!

Thank you all for all of the prayers and support! Please continue to pray that his feedings will continue to go well, he continues gains weight, adsorbs his nutrition, and that God will protect him from any other illness.

Thanks again for everything!

Praise God our Father

First I would like to say that we serve an awesome God who we may trust and answers prayers. I wanted to tell my story because of the miracle of Jax's birth. It may be a bit graphic but I need everyone to know how God changed my life through my son.

It started on a Friday night and I was in a lot of pain. I woke up the next morning and I was bleeding so I went to the doctor. The doctor was able to stop my contractions and did not feel that the bleeding was enough to worry about. He gave me medicine to take to keep me from having anymore contractions. We did not want Jax to be born so early because of all the risks involved. So Sat. I stayed in bed still hurting. Sunday I got up and was again bleeding and having contractions so I went back to the doctor. This time I packed mine and Mattie Grace's bags because something told me I was not coming home. When I went to the emergency room they again gave me stronger medication to stop the contractions. Now at first I was scared because I knew he was coming no matter what they did. But let me tell you that our Father above gave me such a peace that I no longer worried. I know my family and friends thought I was crazy even after Jax was delivered but that peace stayed with me through it all. I can not explain how God put his hands on me and changed my life that day. I know people who say they have been touched by the hand of God but because I have always been so stubborn I had never knew the feeling. I had prayed that God would make Jax a great leader and hopefully a paster some day, and lead many people to God. So knowing that God always answers prayers I had nothing to worry about.

When Jax was delivered the surgeons realized that I had a small abruption in my placenta and had I not delivered Jax that day he would have died. God always knows what he is doing.

Jax was doing so good at NEGA and at 3 lbs and 9 oz (I tried to tell u he was a big baby) lol. We praised the Lord and gave much thanks especially to all that was praying for him. Now when they told us he was sick and would have to have surgery I almost lost my faith. This was a very scary time for us because the doctors told us he could die. Being told this as a mother was the hardest thing I have ever had to live with. While Jax went through his first surgery I was reading my bible and opened it up to this verse. "Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations" Jeremiah 4-5 Now tell me we do not serve a Great God. Every day I would read this verse to Jax to remind myself mainly that God has great plans for my little boy. The second surgery was the hardest because if there was anymore infection they did not have anything to remove and he would defiantly not make it. I prayed during this time that God would send me that peace back because the devil was taking over my head. And guess what HE DID! When we went in after the surgery the surgeon told us that he could not believe that what they could save was the most important parts. I hugged the surgeon and told him thank you for saving my child. His response was it was not me that saved him. The surgeon even knew that God had his hand in this. I do not know how to express the changes that God has made in my life and how grateful I am that our Lord and savior is always with us. Thank you for all your prayers because they have been heard.

Starting Feeds Today

Today was a great day for Jax. We got to take a lot of pictures of him without any tubes on his face, which let us see how precious of a baby he really is. Jax is doing so good that the surgeon decided to start his feedings tonight. Like Amber said, please be praying for him during this time that there are no further setbacks or infections when the feedings start. Jax has gained back up to 3lbs. 8oz. his birth weight was 3lbs. 9oz. so lets pray that he continues to gain weight also. I haven't seen him in about a week and he looked so good, Praise the Lord!!! His color was great, his hair has grown an little bit, and I got to hear him actually cry for the first time! We are praying hard that our sweet little Jax continues to thrive like he is!

mommy

so i am not smart enough to figure out how to post this under my own blog so I will use nate's. Went to see Jax yesterday and they have taken him off all the morphine (Thank you Lord Jesus) he is doing just fine without it. He is now back to breathing on his own and only has one IV in. I want to write my story of what a Awesome God we have and how he has changed my life through Jax but I will wait until someone can create me an account lol. Thank you all for your prayers because they are being heard by us all. We love you all very much! Next week will be hard because we need him to accept his feedings so please don't stop praying.

Just wanted to give a quick update since I have not posted in the past few days.

Jax is holding steady and is getting ready to start feeding again next week. Look for many updates when the feeding begins because this will be a critical time.

In the mean time please be praying that he will accept his feeds, process and adsorb his nutrition, gain weight, and that the Doctors will see a child that goes beyond anything they can explain!

We love you all and thank you for the prayers!

Breathing Easy

Daddy got to hold Jax today and he has made some great progress since the last update. The goal to get him off the vent and on to room air has been accomplished and he is breathing easy! He is managing his pain well and seems to be recovering well from the surgery.

He is still on antibiotics as a precaution against any possible infection, iv feeds for nutrients, and a drainage tube to get the residual from the surgery out of his tummy. Tomorrow he will get an x-ray to make sure his lungs look good and to make sure his pick line and drain tube is in still place. Overall he looks excellent and was active and alert through out the day.

The drainage from his belly is beginning to look like he is ready to start trying to feed again by the end of this week. Jax's next goal is to get the drain tube removed and replaced with a feeding tube like he had when he was born. This will be the beginning to the rest of the story of Jax's return to home. Once he begins his feeds many of our biggest questions will start to be answered...Will he tolerate feedings again after the surgery...How much nutrition is he adsorbing....How fast is the food passing....How fast will he gain weight....and there are many more questions that I cant even think of right now. Please pray for his little body to adapt to his changes, continued recovery, development and growth, and for no more setbacks.

Little by little we will learn more and keep the posts coming. We praise God for all he has done thus far and thank Him for all He is going to do with our Son. Thank you for all of your support, prayers, love, and friendship....I cant tell you enough how much it helps our family and how much we love you.

Thanks Sis

Thank you Britt for getting this together and keeping everyone updated. You have done an amazing job and Amber and I both love you very much! Amber and I will try to do as good as you have while normal life for you begins again.

Moving forward we will try to give you a daily update and alert everyone asap if any major changes occur.

The major things to keep praying for are Jax's strength in recovery and that his body will continue to accept the changes that took place in his belly. Pray for his heart, lungs and brain to remain in excellent shape and for his vitals to remain stable.

One of his next accomplishments will be to get him back up to full strength and off the vent. For this to fully happen his need for pain meds has to go down so he can support his own breathing. The Doctors do not anticipate any challenges with his lungs, so the sooner he heals the sooner he will be on the way to bigger and better things. I will do my best to provide details as to what he is trying to accomplish so that way we can cheer him on as he goes.

There will be a long list of obstacles ahead for such a little boy and together we can watch him overcome every single one. I pray that God will use Jax and this situation to let us know God is in control, bad things happen to all people, and if we put our faith in him and fight like little Jax we will persevere and overcome!

Mommy got to hold me today!!!

Isn't he just precious!!! We can't wait to all be able to hold him!
This is definitely BB's favorite picture so far, he's so cute!

I'm sleeping and resting so well, God's definitely not finished with me!

It's so nice to be in mommy's arms!!!!!

Today was the first day Jax got to be held since he was transferred to Atlanta. Amber was so excited to be able to hold her baby boy and Nathan got to take a lot of good pictures of the special occasion. Jax is still doing very well at this point. Still on morphine and the ventilator, but they are slowly moving him off of both. A day or so ago he developed a slight heart murmur, but don't worry, Dr.s are saying this is completely normal in newborns and should not effect Jax at all. Jax is resting very peacefully and is healing well. Lets all pray that he will have a restful stay and continue to heal fast so he can go home to be with his mommy, daddy, and big sister soon.

Dr.'s are amazed at our little fighter!

There is not a lot to up date today except that Jax rested very well last night and today. They are taking him off his ventilator little by little. The Dr.'s and Nurses are all amazed at how well Jax has pulled through surgery and everything else with no adverse effects. We are all missing our little buddy today, but are leaving him alone to help him rest well and peaceful. Tomorrow the family will go visit Jax to give him some company!

Today is a new day for Jax!

After surgery yesterday Jax was resting very well and peacefully. Dr.s are slowly starting to take him off of the morphine, which is good because now he will not be so sedated when we see him. Right now doctors and nurses are wanting Jax to get lots of sleep, this way he wont be able to feel as much pain from the surgery yesterday and he can rest up to gain his strength back. Currently he is doing much better than anybody expected.

We are definitely seeing the miracle of prayer through him. Yesterday the doctor stated that he went in to surgery to do his job, but he couldn't explain how everything else went so well = prayer. Also, Jax's nurse told Nathan that in all the 10 years she had been working in the NICU she has never seen a baby go through as much trauma as Jax has without having bleeding on the brain, Jax's brain is very healthy and no bleeding at all so far = another answered prayer!!!

We can all say that Jax has successfully completed his first big milestone in life. He has so much more healing to do so keep on praying for our little fighter!

Jax is out of surgery.

After waiting two hours, the Doctors came out and met with Nathan and Amber. They were pleased to hear that the surgery went perfectly, way better than they thought it would go. Jaxon had just enough intestine to reconnect, and as of right now they didn't see any infections. Jax is on his way down stairs to his NICU cubby where he will rest on full support untill he has enough strength to start his feeds and to breath on his own again. Nathan and Amber will get to see him in about an hour.

Thank you all so much for all your prayers. I know a lot of you have offered to help, but honestly, prayer was all the help Jaxon could get at this time. Isn't it amazing what an Awesome God we serve! To know that one minute the doctors are saying there is not much hope for him, then through our prayer and faith, they go in and can't find any infections!!! We are in awe of our Lord and truely blessed that Jaxon's surgery went well. We will be posting more up dates on little Jax soon. Please continue to pray for our "little fighter" That is all he needs right now.

Thank you so much and we love you all!

One last note, Big sister Mattie Grace has said two prayers today herself for Jesus to help Jax to start feeling better soon. After she was done I asked, "Mattie, does Jesus here your prayers?" she looked at me and said "YES!"

surgery

Surgery will begin anywhere between 11 and 12. We will know a lot more afterwards and will up date as soon as possible. Please pray during this time. Thank you all.

NEC

I forgot to mention that the doctors have diagnosed him with a condition called NEC. NEC stands for Necrotizing Enterocolitis. Below is a brief summary of what NEC is.

"Necrotizing" means the death of tissue, "entero" refers to the small intestine, "colo" to the large intestine, and "itis" means inflammation. But knowing what the words mean is only the start of understanding this infant disease.

A gastrointestinal disease that mostly affects premature infants, NEC involves infection and inflammation that causes destruction of the bowel (intestine) or part of the bowel. Although it affects only one in 2,000 to 4,000 births, or between 1% and 5% of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions, NEC is the most common and serious gastrointestinal disorder among hospitalized preterm infants.

NEC typically occurs within the first 2 weeks of life, usually after milk feeding has begun (at first, feedings are usually given through a tube that goes directly to the baby's stomach). About 10% of babies weighing less than 1,500 grams (3 lbs., 5 oz.) experience NEC. These premature infants have immature bowels, which are sensitive to changes in blood flow and prone to infection. They may have difficulty with blood and oxygen circulation and digestion, which increases their chances of developing NEC.

Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/digestive/nec.html

After talking with surgeons tonight....

After speaking with the surgeons just a few minutes ago the doctors told Nathan and Amber there are three different outcomes that can happen after tomorrow. I will state the two worse case first and save the best for last. Worse case, if they have to take more than what they want Jax could live intraveinasousally for a few years. Second, they will go in and there will be too much infection to do anything.

Best case, they will go in, Jax will have no to very little infection, they can place the intestines back together, and he can begin his healing process. I am confident that the Lord is going to answer our prayers and Jax will be healing well within the next 24 hours.

Surgery will be sometime tomorrow between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. Please pray for him during this time.

Yesterday and Today Currently:

Today and yesterday Jax rested well. Doctors still have him on full support, morphine, and lots of antibiotics to fight infection. Yesterday, Jax was having some problems clotting around the area they performed surgery so he recieved some blood and platelets. Also as of yesterday, his fever was very unstable, this is a major sign that there is still infection somewhere in his little body.


Today, Jax is still resting and on full support. Jax is clotting well today, and he got to go off his blood pressure medicine. His temperature is stable, Praise The Lord, and he is resting pretty peacefully. We are praying and hoping that there are no more infections in his body. Tomorrow we will see, but I fully believe that God will answer our prayers and heal our little buddy Jax.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Early Monday morning Nathan and Amber got a call saying that Jax's white blood cells were very high and he had developed an infection in his small intestine. Immeaditelly, doctors put him on several antibotics to try to stop the infection from spreading and from getting worse in his body. Jax was also put on a ventelator and morphine to help the pain and for Jax to relax and rest as peacefully as possible. The venelator was not because Jax was not breathing, his lungs are still very healthy, it's just to help him relax and not have to do as much work. By 11:00 a.m. x-ray's showed that the antibotics were not making anything better. At this time the decision was made to transfer Jax to Egleston at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

As soon as Jax arrived to Egleston doctors met with Nathan and Amber and surgery was performed on his small intestine. They ended up removing around 60% of his small intestine. The middle of the intestine is what the Dr.s removed, they had to clamp the other two ends together and sew him back up. On Thursday, July 22, Dr.s will go back in to sew the "middle part, so to say" of his intestines back together and to see if there are anymore infections in his intesine. The max that the doctors can remove of the intestine is 80%, they don't have too much left to work with.

Needless to say, Thursday is a big day for our strong little fighter and we really need all of your prayers.

Welcome to Jax's first blog

Jaxon Bryce Barrett was born on July 5th, 2010 at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Weighing 3lbs. and 9oz. doctors immediately sent him to the NICU, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The first few days of his life Jax was assisted by some oxygen, but his lungs were developing perfectly and within a few days after birth he was breathing on his on. Jax was born at 29 weeks, 10 weeks early, due to Amber having an abruption of the placenta. Thankfully, Amber had a successful delivery and the doctors got Jax out in time to where he did not have any damage due to the abruption.

In this blog, Jax will have posts by his Mommy and Daddy, Aunt BB, Uncle Jai, Nanna and Pappa, and of course big sister Mattie Grace. We all love our little Jax very much and we are praying for him always. The goal of this care page is as you read about Jax's recovery and progress we hope that you pray for him and continue praying for him as he begins his journey ahead of him. We are do thankful for our family and all the kindness you have offered at this critical time of need.