1 week later

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it's been almost 1 week since I had JT. So much has occurred since his birth. The big news and praise is that I got to hold him today! I was able to hold him for about an hour. It was so wonderful!! So here is the full update. JT started off on a ventilator then was taken off and put onto a sipap machine. The sipap was a little too much work for him at the time so he was placed back on the ventilator. After about 48 hrs he was then placed back on the sipap machine. So far he is doing very well! He is breathing normal air with no added o2 and they are reducing the sipap machine as his lungs get stronger. We saw the cardiologist yest. and were there while they did a sonogram of his chest. The open valve in his heart has closed. HUGE PRAISE! They also performed a scan on his brain to look for bleeding and although we haven't heard the "official" results we have been reassured that if there was any concern we would know. So, that too is a praise! They will begin feeding him my milk through a tube probably tomorrow and if he is able to handle it they will increase his feedings daily.
The nurses tell us daily that Justin is a firecracker! He lets them know whenever he is unhappy! He is a fighter and FULL of life :-) They love to see babies with fight and he's got some! The nurse today asked us who in our family has the temper... uh oh! :-)
One of Our two biggest prayer requests are for JT's lungs. He has severe lung disease due to the premature birth and the fact that he was unable to get any steroids to help his lungs develop. Although he is doing very well and the lung disease is normal we are praying it goes away quickly and that his lungs strengthen. Our second prayer request is for Ethan. Ethan is such a low key laid back little man and he knows that something is wrong but he doesn't understand what. He has had some hard days and some unusual (for him) meltdowns. All normal and all understandable. Please pray for him. Pray that he knows his mommy and daddy love him so much! He isn't use to having me leave him daily. He is so amazing and so strong! He has been with friends/family everyday since JT was born and has been amazing for them! Please just pray for his adjustment to all that is happening. Ethan amazes me and I am so blessed to have him as my little man.

Praises:
- I was able to hold JT!
- The amazing support of of friends and family. We have so many people offering to watch Ethan for a while so we can get to the hospital. We are SO blessed by so many people!
- Ethan has been his wonderful amazing little self for all who have watched him.
- JT's heart has healed
-JT's head scan was clear
- I have an incredible husband who is working hard at his job and is keeping our family together
- Jake and I have complete peace about JT and our family. We trust in the Lord with all our hearts!

Prayers:
- Pray for Ethan to adjust to all the radical changes going on. Pray that we would find ways to show him how much we love him daily.
- Pray for the healing of Justin's lungs
- Pray that Justin is able to eat and his digestive system is able to handle milk
- Pray that JT begins to gain weight slowly. (They need him to gain weight slowly b/c if he does it too fast they will have to slow him down. His little body can only handle so much weight)
- Pray for our marriage that we would continue to love and support each other in whatever way we can.

Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement. Jake and I have such a peace and we know that God is listening to you all! We are so thankful for you and for your love. God is good and He is in control of all that is occurring. We have complete faith in Him!

May He bless you all!
The Foulke Family

PS I am sure I have missed people on this email, please feel free to help me out and pass it on. thanks!