Update on JR & Stuff

First of all - Happy 4th of July to everyone!! And thank you to all of the military men and women - past and present who help protect my freedom each and everyday. You have no idea how thankful I am.

I have to tell you that these past few weeks have really made me think about how blessed we are in the United States. This morning as I was driving to the hospital to feed John Robert, they were playing 'God Bless the USA' on the radio - you know...the one: "And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died and gave that right to me. And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend Her still today. Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land - God Bless the USA" It brought tears to my eyes because I started to think that if I'd lived in a different country and had John Robert weighing 3.5 lbs., he may not have lived. We're so incredibly lucky to have the technology and expertise of awesome doctors and nurses in this country. Thank God for that!

One of the nurses made this for JR's bed to celebrate 4th of July. 

So cute! Love the handprint fireworks!

So, JR is a rockstar! He's doing awesome. One of my favorite nurses told me during our first few days in the NICU that once a baby hits the 38 week mark, something just clicks and they start to "get it". That's exactly what's happened with John Robert. I would've been 38 weeks on Saturday and all of a sudden, he's decided that he's hungry and wants to eat. A lot! Trey swears that it's because he gave JR a pep talk though.

Still has the feeding tube in this pic. 

We had some visitors this weekend and they met John Robert for the first time.

Aunt Sheila and JR

Cousin Katie and JR

And remember how I talked about how lucky we are to have that technology here in the U.S.? 

Check out this pic. JR had a yeast infection on his bottom from the growth fortifier that they give him, so they did some oxygen treatments on his booty. Yes, that's a styrofoam cup!

And here he is without his feeding tube. Yippee!! 

Precious boy is doing so good. He hit 4 lbs. today!! 4 lbs on the 4th of July. Awesome.

He's also eating all 8 feedings by nursing or bottle. 

That's why they were able to take the feeding tube out.

This is huge people. He was only doing 4 feedings on his own (and 4 by tube) 3 days ago.

They gave us great news last night. He'll do his car seat test tomorrow and may be ready to come home by Wednesday. We're beyond thrilled!! Please pray that he passes his car seat test. They put him in his car seat for an hour and a half to make sure he can handle it. Premature babies have a tendency to slump down in their car seat and when they do that, sometimes they stop breathing. This test is to find out if he can recover on his own or not do it at all. Scary stuff, but I think he'll do great! Of course, I'll be a nervous wreck every time I put him in the car. We may just stay home for the next 2 months. :) 

So - that's the JR update. Thank you again for all of your sweet comments and prayers. It means so much to us. These past 3 weeks have been really hard. Emotionally and physically. Just knowing that we have such an incredible support system has been such a comfort to us. So, thank you! 

And just so y'all don't think we've forgotten about our first born - let me reassure you. He's still keeping us on our toes and letting us know exactly what he wants and when he wants it. We've had lots of pool time and cook outs with friends in between hospital visits. Here's a few pics of Studson.