First of the doctors appointments

Hello everyone!

We hope you are doing well! Everyone here is doing really well and adjusting nicely. Since JT has been home we have been busy to say the least. I had my knee surgery on the 29th and am in physical therapy 3x a week all while going to 2-4 doctors appointments for JT. Here is the news on me and my knee, then I will get into news on JT. When the doctor went in to clean my knee they realized that the problem wasn't the broken cartilage in my knee. Instead my knee cap is misaligned. The doctor told me in order for me to walk up stairs, jump, run... I will need to have my knee cap repositioned. So, sometime in the near future (this summer most likely) I will be having another sugery. This time the doctor will fracture my leg in order to move my tendons over to put my knee cap in the correct position. (UGH!) The frustrating part is that the recovery time is 6-8 weeks on crutches. So please pray that Jake and I are able to time the surgery well and that this will be the end of my knee pains!
Okay, enough about me... onto JT. In the past two weeks we have had numerous appointments. When we visited the Ophthalmologist we learned that JT's vision is still underdeveloped. The blood vessels in his eyes are not fully developed so we will be returning every 2 weeks for a while and then every couple of days. (there go my hopes of not returning to the hospital for a while). We also learned that the reason we have to go see them so frequently is b/c if the blood vessels don't fully develop and reach his retina he could be or go blind. So please pray that his blood vessels will develop properly and as soon as possible.
We also went to see the neurologist at Children's hospital. This appointment was a little more of an introductory appointment. We will be seeing this doctor for the next few years. We were able to see JT's brain MRI at the appointment and sadly the brain damage was much more extensive than I ever thought. HOWEVER, the doctor even said that we have great reason to hope. He is so young and the brain is amazing! The functioning parts of his brain are able to learn the skills of the part that is damaged. She said that she believes he will walk and talk it's just a matter of when. Please continue to pray for JT's development. The damage to his brain affects every single area of development. Motor skills, social skills, cognitive skills, vision... I know some of you are just breaking down right now, but don't. We have a big God and a good God. He tells us that He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Although this could be a hard road for our family we have faith and strength in God. He can and does carry us in times of need and trouble. When we can't take another step He will carry us. He sustains us, He loves us!! We are so blessed and our faith in God keeps us grounded and strong. We are not upset by this news, instead we are encouraged. God is amazing. We are so excited to see how God is going to use JT for His glory! We are excited to share with you how God uses every situation for His goodness and glory!
We have had two other appointments in the last two weeks. We saw a specialist from the county and JT will be "evaluated" in a few weeks. This again was more of an introduction to the county. The bottom line is, JT is too young for them to really evaluate anything. Although he is over 2mos old his adjusted age is like 1 week. (his due date was Jan. 7) So he is treated like a 1 week old not a 2 mos old.
Our last appointment was with the cardiologist today. JT has two small holes in his heart which are normal for all babies and they should close up. He also has a small murmmer which should cease soon as well. The cardiologist said that he looks good, we have nothing to worry about and we don't need to see him again... YAY!

So our prayers are just for sustaining strength, and energy. Its hard to wake in the night with a newborn but even harder when you have to take 2 little ones to appointments daily. Please pray for Jake as he has been able to take time off of work to come to all of JT's appointments. He has been so strong for us all while continuing to do his job. His boss has been supportive and encouraging and we have been so blessed by him. (his name is Cormak) Pray for my knee that it continues to "heal" as much as possible so that I can have the next surgery.

We have been so blessed by you all and are so thankful for your love, support and prayers. Please continue to pray for us and for our family. We will continue to lean on the Lord and trust in Him. We draw our strength from Him and can't imagine how hard this would be without His love for us.

This is the last update I will be sending out. If you would like to follow JT's progress please check out our blog. If you want an update when we make a new post you just have to subscribe to the blog. You won't get any junk mail, just an email from our blog letting you know we have a new post. We are also able to post pictures to it as well.

We truly pray that God blesses each of you.

Love in Christ Jesus our Rock
Jake and Melissa