Sweet Jace

On Saturday night Jace McDougal passed away. He was 7 weeks old. Our hearts are broken for his parents JR & Cher McDougal. God will be faithful and give them added grace and mercy just as he has given Steve and I since losing Christopher.

Please pray for JR and Cher during this time. JR and Cher shared this very intimate journey with all of us.

They have information on visitation on Jace's web site. www.jacemcdougal.wordpress.com

I know all of Jace's family that has gone on to heaven before him welcomed him with loving open arms, and I know Christopher probably gave him a high 5 on the way in.

Romans 8:18
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

Praise God.

Say what?

Stevie Stats: Friday June 27
5 lbs 15.9 oz (let's just call it 6lbs!)

Stevie is doing awesome. Praise God. Thank you for the prayers because we have been blessed beyond belief.

The nurse practitioner spoke with me yesterday going over Stevie's progress, and future orders and then told me if Stevie follows everything she needs to do she can come home NEXT WEEK! I thought they were going to have to give me a lunch bag to breathe in. No, I was so excited, and SO nervous.

They started yesterday on 5 bottle feeds per day. They hope by Sunday or Monday she'll be taking all 8 feeds by bottle, and Tuesday or Wednesday night we'll be able to do our parent overnight stay and take her home the following day. Friends, I can't tell you how excited, over-joyed, happy Steve and I are. Just to have our child in our own home will be such an amazing gift!

Stevie still has the following things to do within the next few days:

car seat check: after she eats they will place her in her car seat for over an hour to make sure she is okay and can breathe okay.

hepatitis vaccine: she needs to get her hep B series of vaccines

eye exam: she'll have her 2nd eye exam on Monday to see how her optical vessels are developing

hearing screen: stevie was super fussy during the first hearing screen so they had to re-schedule. I can't wait to see her in the little hearing ear-muffs.

echo cardiogram: they will do another echo cardiogram to check Stevie's PDA valve. At 29 weeks they found that Stevie's valve was open - called PDA - valve that should be closed in newborns as they only need this valve to direct blood flow when they are in utero. They did not detect any murmur after 5 days - HUGE prayer answered, but they want to check before she leaves that indeed it still is not a problem. Please pray that indeed it isn't!

Happy Friday - we'll continue to keep you updated, and please pray for Steve and I over the next few days and weeks as we prepare for her to come home.

Love,
Erin

Thursday June 26

Stevie Stats:
Weight - 5 lbs 14.7 oz

Little Stevie is doing great. She continues to make progress each day. We're so very thankful.

She is still at 4 bottle feeds per day, and yesterday she completed all 4 of her feeds (nothing was left to put through her feeding tube). She completed each bottle in approx 25 minutes. Yesterday morning during her 8am feeding I stared in amazement that she finished so quickly! She even had a good giant burp for me. I know it sounds crazy that I am excited over a burp, but I am!

I'll take some new pictures of her today and load them up tonight.

Have a great Thursday! Please continue to keep Jace McDougal in your prayers. I'm telling you - God is up to something big in that child's life. God is definitely answering our prayers. www.jacemcdougal.wordpress.com

Love,
Erin

Monday June 23

Stevie Stats: 5 lbs 11.8 oz
Our baby is getting ginormous.

She's steadily gaining weight. Her ticket out of the NICU is now to get through her feedings. They still have her on 4 bottle feeds per day. Right now she is completing most of them, but they are still giving her the remainder through her feeding tube. Between gaining weight, and working hard on eating from a bottle Stevie is exhausted (like mommy and daddy). I haven't really seen her open her eyes too much over the past 2 days.

The nurse practitioner told me today that in a week or so Stevie will have no problems with her feeds and most likely take all of them.

We're starting to get information on Stevie's departure from the hospital. It is so great to talk about Stevie leaving the hospital soon - I once thought that day wouldn't get here! They are getting everything in order because it will be soon!

Tonight's video feature is of Steve burping Stevie during her 8pm feed. She sounds like a miniature billy goat. It's hysterical (at least to us it is).

Thank you for continuing to pray for Stevie, and pray for us too.

Love, Erin

Sunday June 22

Stevie Stats:
Weight - 5 lbs 8 oz (a big weight gain)

It's been a big weekend. They have taken Stevie off caffiene, and they removed one of the sensors that monitors the oxygen level in her blood. This sensor is the one that alerted us to when Stevie was having desat's. Since she has been having desats primarily with feedings they removed the monitor - her heart rate was not dropping when she desat'd so they felt confident to remove it. I was nervous because rely on this monitor to know what is happening with her oxygen levels. They still have her hooked up to the monitor to see her heart rate and breathing rate.

Now when we are feeding her we have to pay close attention to her coloring, and if she starts to turn a little blue-ish we know she needs to stop, take a break, and breathe to catch up.

So between taking her oxygen nose tube off last week, and taking the pulse-oxygen monitor off - last week was big in many ways. It's really making us lean on faith knowing she's okay, without a monitor confirming this. We know the nurses are keeping a close eye on her at all times too.

She really is doing amazing and I know it's because God is answering our prayers and getting her through this time. She is now up to 4 bottle feeds a day and up to 50ml per bottle. She is about 75% on these bottle feeds right now. It's exhausting for her to get through these, so now that we're piling them on she's super tired. She can do it though. It won't be long now before she can come home - if she continues to progress and do great she could be home in 2 weeks!!

Thank you again for the prayers, support, and kind notes & emails. It means the world to us.

Much love,
Erin

June 19 Thursday

Stevie Stats - she turned 35 weeks old today (in gestational age)
Weight - 5 lbs 2.8 oz

We're thankful again for a great day. Stevie did a good job with her bottle at 8am this morning. She started a little slow and the nurse told me that I was distracting her by talking to her while she was eating (was i?). I guess she was right. After I shut my trap Stevie chugged her milk like the rock star eater she is. I was able to talk to her while I burped her, bless her heart. SO, I'll continue to try the "no talking while eating" method tomorrow.

The dr increased her bottle feeds to 3 times a day. It really does feel like there is an end in sight. I asked the dr today if they could give me a tentative timeline of when they think Stevie can come home. The dr replied that Stevie has to be off her caffeine, and not having her apnea and heart-rate drop episodes. This in addition to taking 8 of 8 bottle feeds a day WITHOUT having issues. So this could be 2 weeks or longer. We're not pushing it, we're just taking it a day at a time. The fact that Stevie was taken off oxygen yesterday is a big milestone.

We'll take one step at a time.

Thank you for continuing to pray for her. She is such a cool little thing. We just love her so much. Being a mom is the best.

Also - thanks so much for keeping Jace McDougal in your prayers. He had such a good day yesterday, prayers were answered.

Love,
Erin

Wednesday June 18

Stevie Stats: Weight - 5 lbs 1.1 oz
She's broken the 5lb barrier!
Now - we're on to 6lbs!

Stevie had a good day today. Praise God. I'm thankful for every good day, and I'm thankful for the awesome nurses and doctors that take such good care of her. I know she is in good hands. Stevie had a good bottle feed at 11am today. She only took 25ml of 45 - it's still great that she took over half her bottle. She can't be a bottle feed rock-star all the time. We'll see how she does during her 8pm feed. We don't want to push her too much, she will get there in good time.

They also removed her oxygen tube from her nose today. They are testing her to see how she'll do, and if she passes then no more oxygen tube. Her big hurdle will be getting through her feeds without having breathing problems.

Please pray she'll continue to make amazing progress and for God's favor to cover her. I'm putting a video below so you can see more of her sweet little face. Happy Wednesday.

Love, Erin