2nd Month, 7/11 - 8/11

   Time is moving way too fast for my liking.  I can't believe that Jackson is two months old already.  Please humor me and tell me that time will slow down.  Please tell me that I'm not going to wake up one day and he'll be starting kindergarten.  Please tell me whatever I need to hear so that I don't start crying again over how fast he's growing.  Jackson is doing amazingly and Matt and I are somewhat getting into a routine again.  I figure once the three of us are working great on the routine, Jackson will change it up for us again.  :)

   Jackson has officially found his thumb!  However, he's sucked on it maybe three times and hasn't gone back to it.  He seems to prefer his paci even over his fingers.  From what I've been told, weaning from the paci will be easier, so I guess that's a good thing.  He is becoming more alert and staying awake longer during the day.  He watches you while your talking and loves to "talk" back.  He is starting to track objects and look for whatever is making noise.  He doesn't really enjoy tummy time at first, but seems to tolerate it fine and ends up falling asleep instead of working. :)

   The fur babies are starting to come around to Jackson being here.  When Jackson starts to cry, Aubie will come and check on him.  She has become kind of protective of him and has chased Chevelle away a couple of time.  Chevelle is coming around, but not as quickly as Aubie.  He will sniff at him and check on him every once in a while, but I think he's still waiting for us to take Jackson back to the store.  :)

  Aubie checking on Jackson during tummy time

   Jackson has become quite the escape artist when it comes to his swaddle.  No matter how tightly I wrap him, he always figures out a way to get either one or both hands up and out of the swaddle.  He has earned the nickname Houdini.  :)  

Jackson showing his Houdini skills

   7/23: Jackson got his casts off after 4 weeks.  Dr. Mencio wants to take a break to do some physical therapy and to see how his feet react to not being in casts.  When I changed his diaper later the same day, his feet had turned back inward.  The left foot looks almost as bad as it did when he was born.  When I called the doctor the next morning I was informed that we are going to continue with the plan of stretching and working the feet until our next appointment.  I've already noticed that before stretching, the feet and ankles are very tight.  After, they are loose and can be moved into the "neutral" position fairly easily.  Hopefully this will be a good thing and Dr. Menico will be pleased when we go back.  Until then, Jackson and I have our routine of getting his belly full and then me working on his feet while he starts to fall back asleep.  

  Jackson showing off his feet shortly after getting the casts off

   We had our follow up appointment with the plastic surgeon.  Dr. Braun was very impressed with how well Jackson's incisions healed.  We no longer have to change out the dressings twice a day - Yay!  He took several pictures of the incisions and mentioned that he will be using them and showing them to his residents/students.  I found a picture of a mom and her child that I absolutely love.  It shows both of their scars.  I'm planning on having either Matt or his sister take the same picture for Jackson and I.  I find both of our scars to be beautiful.  I hope that he can be proud of his scar when gets older.  

   After our appointment with Dr. Braun we went across the hall to see if Dr. Bennett and Dr. Carroll were in the office.  Dr. Bennett and Emily were in and they loved on Jackson for a long time.  They both commented on how great he looked and about how much he was moving his legs around.  We also went to see one of the nurses that took care of me after the fetal surgery.  She told every nurse/doctor that walked by that he was one of the fetal surgery kiddos.  She was so proud of him and loved showing him off - sounds like Matt and I. :)  

   8/4: We had our follow up with neurosurgery.  I was full of anxiety and worried that his ventricles had increased.  Matt being the calm, cool, collective person that he is kept me calm.  Jackson had to get a head ultrasound before meeting with the doctor.  He did a great job and didn't cry at all, he was such a big boy.  We met with Haley Vance who is a nurse practitioner for Dr. Wellons.  We would have loved to have met with Dr. Wellons, but NP Vance has been in Jackson's life just as long as him so we were comfortable with her giving us the update on Jackson's head.  According to her, Jackson's ventricles increased a little bit since leaving the NICU, but not enough for it to be a concern at this time.  She classified his ventricles as being STABLE!  While this could change, we are both happy with the current results and are praying that the ventricles are still within range at our next appointment.  As with everyone else, NP Vance was very impressed with Jackson and got some lovin' time in with him during our visit.        

         Jackson in his big boy bed during the head ultrasound

   We've got some big appointments coming up and I'm not too excited about the first one.  First, Jackson will be getting his 2 month shots on the 19th.  Matt and I are planning on doing the extended schedule.  We both feel that Jackson has been through enough and we don't like the idea of him getting all of his shots at one time.  Second, Jackson has his first spina bifida clinic on the 24th.  We have no idea what to expect other than it's an all day process.  Jackson will be seeing all the specialists involved in spina bifida such as the neurosurgeon, orthopedics, and physical therapy.  He'll be getting another head ultrasound and hip ultrasound done.  I pray that his ventricles stay stable.  I also pray that his hip isn't dislocated like the orthopedic thinks it is.   

Crystal