NICU Day 11

Day 11 was another great day for Jasper. I got the go ahead to be able to drive myself to go see him. It was my first time driving in 2 weeks! I left Daddy and Harper at home to nap and I really wanted to get there for Jasper's 3pm feeding. He was doing so great at nursing, I really wanted to allow us more time to practice figuring it out. When we went back that evening, we had a wonderful surprise by seeing him off his nasal canula! They also removed his central line that night, so our boy was basically free and clear! He was still attached to the heart and pulse ox monitors, which is a requirement of course. It was truly amazing and such a huge encouragement. Jon and I felt so blessed because Harper had so much progress, but tons of little steps backwards that always felt like were taking so long to get us home. With Jasper, he had a much harder start by far, but once he healed up, he made huge strides with no setbacks at all. It was wonderful! We knew he wouldn't be there much longer, so we made sure to take pictures of his surroundings and things so we could remember his little home where he started out.

Here he is free and clear of all attachments.

We put a picture of his big sister up in his bassinet. Because she was below the age requirement, she was not allowed to come visit him in the NICU, but we wanted him to know she was right there with him always. And it was a great reminder for us to see how far she had come since the NICU and trust in God that Jasper was going to do as well as she had done.

Harper drew a picture for Jasper, so we wanted to hang it up for him to see. She already loved him so much even though she had never met him. The lamb was given to Jasper by the hospital clergy woman. Typically someone would come by daily to pray over each of the babies in the NICU, and a couple times per week the clergy would come by and see who didn't have a lamb and leave one for them. It took a couple days until Jasper got one, so we had brought Harper's lamb from her time there. When he finally got his own, we took Harper's back to her. Harper's is a little fuzzy brown lamb, and Jasper's is a big, sturdy white one.

Jon wrote this using the nurse's tape on Jasper's first night in the NICU and taped it to his bassinet. One of the night nurses makes these signs for all the kids and personalizes them. Here is how Jasper's turned out. I loved it!

Facebook posts - 2:27pm - I'm getting to drive for the first time in almost two weeks. And it's so I can go visit and feed Jasper while Daddy and Harper nap. Can't wait to bring him home!

10:41am - What a great surprise to walk in tonight and see Jasper off the nasal canula! I'd better enjoy my sleep tonight. Looks like he could come home at any time.