2010 in review...

January - Jack spent the month still in the NICU, we visited every day.  He had hernia surgery on Jan. 26th and finally talked about going home the end of the month!

February - HOME!!  Jack came home during the first week of the month!  He came home on oxygen but he was home!  It was great to be able to care for him all ourselves and have him here with us. 

March - I started a new job with Advanced Physical Therapy, 2.5 days/week and transitioned down to weekends at the hospital; both grandmas started babysitting.  The last week of the month, Jack ended up in the hospital because we found out he was aspirating everything he ate...after having a bronchial scope done, he was found to have a laryngeal cleft, put on a feeding tube and planned for surgery at a later date.

April - we continued with the feeding tube but found out surgery was planned for early May.  There wasn't much going on in April - we just continued with the status quo...though while we were in the hospital, they did tell us we could work on weaning off oxygen - turns out Jack had to be on oxygen because he was aspirating...go figure!

May - surgery for the laryngeal cleft was completed on May 14 - the repair went good and Jack tolerated surgery well!  We were thrilled!  He did not want to take bottles though...turns out you have a pretty sore throat after having surgery back there!  We finished out the month still on the feeding tube...yuck!  Also, spent 3 afternoons in the ER because Jack pulled out his feeding tube and they had to place it there due to it being in his small intestine...double yuck!!

June - Jack passed his swallow study!!  He was cleared for all types of liquids!  Very exciting news - he still didn't want to take much orally but at least we knew he was safe.  He also started sitting up on his own without support - which allowed us to sit and play with his toys!!  He enjoyed it!

July - We continued with the fun feeding tube and playing on the floor.  Started practicing pulling up to stand at the end of the month and attempting spoon fed foods.  He began fighting most anything oral but still loved his pacifier.  We were doing bolus feedings, so thankfully didn't have the feeding bag attached at all times.

August - We went to see a new doctor during the middle of the month, he suggested we try to wean Jack off the feeding tube - essentially, we would just pull the tube out for a minimum of 24 hours and let him take what he wanted - the first day he took 8oz by bottle!  A week later, we tried it again, we never had to put the tube back in - he continued to take more each day until he was up to the target daily amounts!  He also started taking foods by mouth around this time...it was wonderful to have a tube free kid!!  He also started rolling over more consistently to get toys and was pulling up to stuff with light assistance of our hands.

September - continued to be tube free!!  Jack started army crawling and moving along the furniture with ease.  We continued to work on solid foods and found out he didn't like baby food at all! 

October - We found out I was pregnant with baby #2 the first weekend of the month!  Jared and Amanda got married the next weekend...Jack was a stylish little man!  We prepared for his 1st birthday - he continued to army crawl and we worked on regular crawling with PT - he started doing this on his own one day after PT - he got his first ear infection at the end of the month!

November - finished off the first ear infection, continued to do great with foods and bottles, started practicing sippy cups.  Started pushing his new push toys without help.  We finally put gates up on the stairs!  Finished off the month with good lengthy standing on his own, had a nice Thanksgiving with family!

December - continued to have every other week Dr. appointments for the new baby, daily blood pressure checks to ensure everything going fine.  Jack got a 2nd ear infection.  Our new neice, Kate, was born right before christmas on Dec. 19!!  Christmas was enjoyable, Jack didn't fully understand what was going on.  He started taking steps on his own on Dec. 21 during PT and keeps taking some great steps!  We finished off the month which finding out we are having a second boy!

We are hoping for a healthy 2011, looking towards continuing this great positive streak Jack is on and hoping for a full term pregnancy for me!!