Brother and sister

Hi friends,
Just wanted to drop in for a quick update!

First, let me show you a cute video of Jude enjoying his big sister. I thought my heart was going to burst open with joy when I saw this little interaction.

Oh, how I wished for these moments!!!

 Don't you just love his little growling giggle?

And here is a SUPER HAPPY BABY! 

We had to change out Jude's ng tube yesterday so we decided to try a little bit of food by mouth while he was tube free. He did SO MUCH better than he normally does with that awful tube running down his throat.

 Here is the little champ putting some apples in his mouth with his fingers. Num num num!

The goal for the next two weeks is to make some changes that will hopefully decrease the number of times that Jude is vomiting each day.

Here is the plan for Jude for the next two weeks:
1) We increased the rate of his feeds by just a little bit (see above). The hope is that his little tummy will handle the little bit of increased volume well.
2) The GI doc increased the amount of Prilosec that Jude gets each day.
3) Stop Jude's ng feeds for one hour so that he can have a break from being fed all day. If he handles it well the hope is that he will be able to have his feeds stopped for two hours each day.

I know that these steps may not seem like much, but they are HUGE baby steps for Jude's little digestive system. Will you pray for these changes and that Jude's tummy will be a fan of the new plan?

Additionally, Jude was fitted for his helmet on Wednesday morning and it should be ready for testing in a week or so. I've been told that he will wear it 23 out of 24 hours a day.

We had quite a crazy, hectic day yesterday at MUSC but the highlight of our day was sharing our little man with the NICU team. It was so much fun to see his face light up when he saw many of his primary nurses and doctors! And of course he was thrilled to see his therapy friends too. We are SO glad to be home with our little guy...but we are also missing the awesome friends we made during Jude's 6.5 month stay. We are thankful and certain that many of them will continue to be a part of our lives!!

So, what is on our radar for the next few days and weeks?
Jude started physical therapy this week and he will have his first occupational/feeding therapy tomorrow! We are super excited about him getting the opportunity to work with these two therapists...we've heard great things about both of them!
We also have several other follow up doctor appointments in the coming weeks. Plus we stay connected with our local pediatrician.

We also wanted to thank all of you for helping our transition home go a little easier. Thank you for the many meals that were provided for our family so that we could settle in without giving a thought to "what's for dinner?" Thank you for being so understanding of our desire to keep Jude safe and as protected as possible. We promise that we are planning a BIG party in the next year to allow all of Jude's prayer friends to meet him!

Well, that is the scoop for now...until next time!