Update on JT

Hello everyone,

Jake and I once again want to take a moment to thank you all! We are SO thankful for your prayers!! Since yesterday was Thanksgiving it is only fitting that we carry that over to today and tell you all we are thankful for. First, we are thankful for or Lord and Savior for watching over JT every day and night as he is in the NICU. We are thankful that He hears our cries and answers our prayers! We are thankful for you, our family and friends for your prayers and for your help in taking care of Ethan. We are so thankful for the NICU staff. They are so loving and so wonderful to us and to JT. We are thankful for our church family and pastors who care for us and for our needs. We are very thankful that JT has put on weight!! Today he weighed 3lbs 13oz. His little cheeks are filling out and I am beginning to see a little double chin :-) This is such an answered prayer! He is also eating just over an ounce of food per feeding. AND, I am beginning to nurse him. Jake fed JT a bottle yesterday and loved every minute of it! JT is still learning how to eat so one or two feedings a day where he actually does the work is about all he can do right now. We are looking forward to the his continued weight gain and development so we can feed him more and more and get him home! He is maintaining his body temp. but is still in an isolette. They don't want to stress his body too much too soon. As he gains weight they will look into putting him in an open crib. We don't want things to move more quickly than is best for Justin, but it's hard not to get excited!
We continue to pray for JT's Brady's. He continues to have them daily. He decides the best time to have a Brady is when Jake and I are there. But he almost always brings his heart rate back up before a nurse can even get into the room. So, he is getting better. We are just looking forward to them stopping all together! The nurse practitioner told me that if JT continues to keep up the good work we are looking to get him home between 36 and 37 weeks. So, we are looking at about 2 more weeks...maybe we will get the sweetest Christmas present we can imagine!

Again, thank you for keeping us all in your prayers. We continue to feel God's presence and peace in our lives. We have a loving God and we know he hears all of our prayers. He answers them in different ways, but we know He hears us and we are so thankful for that.

May God bless you all!

Love in our Lord and Savior,
Jake and Melissa