Jacob Ian Starkes

NOTE............These pictures/posts are in reverse order...............

I mentioned in an earlier post that the labor/delivery part of having Jake was great. Shortly after I had him though, they noticed his breathing wasn't quite right. So, after only getting to hold him for a few short minutes the nurses took him to the special needs nursery and there he stayed from Sunday until Thursday, when he got to come home.

The whole time he was in the nursery was like an emotional roller coaster. When he first went to the nursery, I wasn't able to go see him for a few hours because my legs were dead from the epidural. Then, Dr. Baily (his pediatrician) came in my room and told me that Jacob had fluid in his lungs and may have to be sent to a larger hospital that could better care for him. After the Doctor left I called my nurse and had her help me into a wheel chair, so that I could go see my baby. To say the least I was terrified.

In the nursery, I found Jacob with an IV in his arm, and oxygen in his nose and all sorts of monitors hooked to him. The Doctor told us we could touch him but we couldn't rub or stimulate him. During that first day, I sat by him all day, unable to feed or hold him. It was a very long, sad day.

That night Brian left because he had to be at work early the next day. Shortly after he left, Jacobs nurse told me that he was doing a lot better...... and I could hold him!!! I cant express how happy I was to get to do this. Poor Brian though, he hadn't got to hold him at all. Anyway, a few hours later the nurse told me that we could try to feed him. At first we just fed him with a syringe. After a few of these type of feedings, I finally got to nurse him.

On Monday, Brian came to the hospital and got to hold Jake. Jake also made a few big improvements (They were able to take him off 90% his oxygen but when they tried to stop the last of it, he would turn blue). Then on Tuesday, Dr. Baily said that Jake was showing signs of Pneumonia.... and that they may end up sending him to the valley after all. So I called Brian and asked him and President Whipple to come give Jake a blessing.

I feel like I witnessed a miracle, as Jacob stayed stable that day, and then in the middle of the night, the nurse tried again to stop the oxygen, and was successful!!!! Wednesday morning Dr. Baily called the specialist and the two of them decided together that Jake might not have Pneumonia after all. She also said that if he could go 24 hours without the oxygen then he could go home!!!

Thursday morning we were finally able to take our sweet little baby home. Dr. Baily did say that he might be a little more susceptible to respiratory illnesses, so we need to keep him home for a while.

Its so fun to have Jacob home with us. He is such a good little guy. I LOVE everything about him.....

Here is a picture of Jacob with a nurse that took care of me when I was a baby. My mom pointed her out to me a long time ago. So when I saw that she was going to be Jacobs nurse I told her that she took care of me. When I told her this, she gave me a big hug. She was so kind to us during her whole shift. She said she has been working there for 30 years now!

This is Jacob having his IV taken out. It was so sad to see everyone poke at him all the time. I was glad that it was coming out rather than in though!

Here we are getting ready to go home! This is the room I got to stay in after I was released from the hospital. It is right off the nursery and is for parents who have sick babies. I was the first one to get to stay there.

This is the first of many kisses that Eric has given to "baby Jake". Eric loves Jake and kisses him about every five minutes.