Jacob & Jordan Update 5-25-10

Friends, Family, Prayer Warriors:

A quick update: Jacob & Jordan had their 4 month check-up yesterday, along with both receiving their Hepatitus B, Haemophilus Influenzae type B, Diptheria/tetanus/pertussis, and Polio vaccinations. Currently:

Jacob:

7 lbs. 9 oz., 20.1 in in length, Head = 14.1 in.

I took this of Jacob this morning as he was sleeping with my camera phone



















Jordan:

7 lbs. 10 oz., 19.2 in. in length, head = 13.5 in.

(Taken with my camera phone)



















Our little ones are growing away! Their sleep patterns are still giving us issues; Jordan is a pretty good sleeper. And even if you are messing with her (i.e. changing her diaper, setting her feeding tube up), she will fuss and grunt only while you are messing with her. Once you finish, she settles down pretty quick.

Jacob is a little more vocal about his wants. When he is hungry, wet, dirty, whatever, he lets you know it and wants it taken care of now, regardless of who hears it, or what is going on around him. One of the questions Sheri asked the doctor was how to help it so Jacob can sleep longer through the night. The doctor suggested having more feeds during the day and having one final feed about 11 pm. We are going to slowly transition this in and see how it works.

Sheri also brought up our concerns with Jordan's throw up sessions to the pediatrician. Even though they have lessened, we wanted to get the doctor's input if there was anything else we could do, which was, given Jordan's situation right now, the doctor didn't really want to switch to a new acid reflux medication just yet. With the feeding tube, acid reflux, stridor and shortened air flap, Jordan has too much going on right now to make a drastic adjustment for that. The doctor did however suggest giving Jordan Pedialyte in small doses to replenish her electrolytes, which we have started doing. In the meantime, we make sure to have plenty of spare burp rags, or if all else fails, catching the yerp in the swaddling blankets (they are machine washable after all).

Ah, the joys of childhood!

Please pray for continued success for all!

Thank you for all of your love, prayers and thoughts! More progress reports as soon as I can spare another minute! May the good Lord bless and protect us all.


Kind regards,

The Cordova Family (Andy, Sheri, Jacob & Jordan)
cell - 281-300-6212
email - maverick2601@hotmail.com

Jacob & Jordan Update 5-17-10

Friends, Family, Prayer Warriors:

Soon we will be sending out homecoming announcements on Jacob and Jordan (since we didn't get to do birth announcements). To ensure that we reach everyone that has been with us along this journey, in case we don't have your address or we run out of cards (supplies are limited), I have included it below, as our way of saying the kids are home and Thank You for all you have done for us:





















Since the announcement picture is a screen capture, you may not be able to read our message included on the card. I have therefore added it below:

"The Cordova Family are all home as of May 5, 2010! Through God and everyone's thoughts, prayer networks, warm wishes and kind gestures, Jacob and Jordan can now enjoy being term babies and beyond. Challenges still exist, but with everyone's support, the coming years will be plentiful of enrichment and heavenly grace for all.

We look forward to many years of our families growing in Christ. God Bless You! Love, Andy & Sheri."

We can't thank everyone enough for everything our family has received!

This last weekend was pretty eventful and included many "firsts" for the kids. Rae took some time to herself Friday through Sunday afternoon, so Friday and Saturday morning it was just Sheri and I and the kids. Friday night we had a real downpour that carried over to Saturday early afternoon, but suprisingly enough the kids were unaffected. Saturday morning we had a two-hour nap with the kids in our bed; I held Jordan and Sheri had Jacob. At one point before Sheri and Jacob laid down, Sheri had come into the bedrom and looked in on us and caught Jordan smiling in her sleep while she was in my arms. Saturday afternoon/evening Sheri and I took some time to ourselves to attend a graduation/birthday party in Simonton, Texas (complete with crawfish [needless to say, I ate it up]). While we were away, Mom and Dad got to spend some time with the kids babysitting. And Sunday, Jacob got to spend some time in the afternoon watching one of his dad's favorite pastimes: playing on the computer. Yes sports fans, I am starting him out early on becoming a gamer like his ol' man. At one point, Sheri snuck in behind us and was watching Jacob's expression as we were playing. When I clued into her sitting on her office chair behind me, she shook her head saying "Oh no, not another gamer...", a silly grin spreading across her face. What can I say...Jordan! Come sit with daddy! I'll have them playing Star Wars flight simulators, Doom and Quake arena matches, and Perfect World RPG's before you know it!

Jordan's throw up sessions have gotten a little better since we lengthened the duration of her feeds and switched her acid reflux medication to an hour before each feed. She still has some moments where she will spew like a can of beer, but it is nowhere near what it was before. At least that is saying something. We'll bring it up again to the pediatrician on her next visit.


Please pray for continued success for all!

Thank you for all of your love, prayers and thoughts! More progress reports as soon as I can spare another minute! May the good Lord bless and protect us all.





Kind regards,

The Cordova Family (Andy, Sheri, Jacob & Jordan)
cell - 281-300-6212
email - maverick2601@hotmail.com

Jacob & Jordan Update 5-10-10

Friends, Family, Prayer Warriors:

Happy Belated Mother's Day All! I would like to thank everyone who sent cards and/or verbally gave warm wishes for Sheri's 1st Mother's Day with both babies at home. It was a quiet weekend; Rae took off for some R&R at her house early Saturday afternoon, and Mom and Dad went to Arkansas to visit friends and for a cabin retreat (Mom shopped, Dad fished) so it was just Sheri and I and the kids.

As far as the kids go, we are slowly getting used to having them at home. Jacob continues to grow, gripe, feed, sleep, poop, etc., everything growing boys do. He continues to do well with his feeds and grow. The more I look at him, the more I see his uncle Jay. My mother would disagree though; she says I looked a lot like he does at that age too, the only difference is he is fair complected instead of olive complected like me (Jordan got that feature). I've spent many hours looking at him as he looks at me, wondering "What is he thinking about?" We've had many moments like this and that is always something that goes through my mind as I watch him. It's fascinating to see those big eyes looking back at me (personally, I think he is watching his reflection in my glasses)but there definitely is an intuitiveness about him. I can't wait to see how he relates to the world when he gets older knowing I will be a part of that.

Jordan continues to perplex us. While her monitor has remained silent (which we are very thankful for no bradys), she continues to have throw up and spit up spells at about half of her feeds. This weekend we tried to adjust when she got her prevacid and captopril; instead of giving it during her feed, we tried giving it to her an hour before. We also tried to increase the duration of her feeds in the hopes that the longer we stretch it out, the longer it will stay down. At any rate, Jordan's midnight and 4 am feeds went well (no puke). Sheri will make it a point today to call the doctor and get their input. It may just be able to be chalked up to acid reflux and hasn't been long enough for the new medication to take hold, we'll have to see what the doctors say today. When I hold her (I usually try to time it between the feeds and spit up sessions ;) ), or I am looking at her as she lays in her bassinet, regardless of her awake or asleep, I can't help but notice just how beautiful she is. I can't wait to see the stunning determined beauty she will grow into be.

I truly am a lucky man.

We give thanks and praise to God for all he has given to the kids so far, and all the time we have got to spend with them as well. Please pray for their continued well being, and that Jordan's issues will work themselves out, or we are presented with a new way to overcome her spit up sessions.

At any rate, that's the extent of our lives for the moment...feeding, changing diapers,etc while working overtime to maintaining our sanity. We are very thankful for all of the help we have had from Rae, Mom and Dad, and our friends who have spent some time with the kids when we have a shortage of manpower or just visiting to wish them well.


Please pray for continued success for all!

Thank you for all of your love, prayers and thoughts! More progress reports as soon as I can spare another minute! May the good Lord bless and protect us all.





Kind regards,

The Cordova Family (Andy, Sheri, Jacob & Jordan)
cell - 281-300-6212
email - maverick2601@hotmail.com

Jacob & Jordan Update 5-6-10 Jordan is Home!

Friends, Family, Prayer Warriors:

Sheri brought Jordan home last night, so officially, we have all the Cordovas under one roof! Jordan had two bradycardia episodes yesterday morning, but they were written off to her acid reflux.

Currently, Jordan has:

* a feeding tube (called a "G" Tube) in her stomach to give us a way to feed her until she can get her stridor, acid reflux, partial vocal cord paralysis and air flap resolved. Most of these will be overcome by maturity as she gains more weight and gets older, but for now they are conjoining together and causing Jordan not to be able to swallow without aspirating

* a monitor to let us know when she has bradycardia episodes (lowering of her heart rate below the tolerable threshold for her [80 Beats Per Minute]). Right now, these are caused by when Jordan is constipated and bears down to push, or if the mild acid reflux she has gets bad enough to well up in her throat, causing her to aspirate

* blood pressure medicine, captopril - Jordan takes this every 8 hours to assist with keeping the stenosis (tightening/closing) on her left ventricle aortic valve to a minimum

* acid reflux medicine, prevacid - Jordan takes this once a day, usually with her midnight feed, to help with keeping her mild acid reflux to a bare minimum until she can grow out of it, or gets much older and needs a different medication to control it (we are hoping and praying for the first)

Sheri and Jordan arrived back at the homestead about 7:30 pm last night.
The homecoming was a simple one (Sheri, Jordan, Jacob, me, Rae) and we set about getting her Sheri's car unloaded from the last remnants of the NICU, and settled in to her new surroundings. She first was held by her grandma Mia (Rae), then Daddy, then into Mommy's arms to ready her 8 pm feed while Mia observed how to set up the tubes. Very shortly after all that was setup, Jordan got to lay in her bed for the first time with Bubba Jacob observing in the crib next to her until his bottle warmed up (we are going to make every effort to keep them on the same feeding schedule, every 4 hours [12, 8, 4, 12]).

Thankfully, during the night, Jordan's monitor never sounded, which is a very good sign. We hope and pray that it will continue on and she can be off of it real soon (which will be determined by her pediatrician, and her first visit with the doctor is tomorrow). We learned when we did Care by Parent (which is required for at least one of the parents if the baby is being released from the NICU with any kind of monitoring system or special apparatus) just before Jordan was released, that she is a good sleeper (at least for now, I'm sure that will change).
Hopefully some of that will rub off on Jacob, which I think has started (or maybe its just wishful thinking). Usually I can set my alarm clock by him waking up for his 4 am feed about 3:20 am fussing and ready, or just coming around. This particular morning, he was still asleep. Go figure.

Now the real fun begins! At any rate, Sheri got her Mother's Day Wish (she wanted both of her kids home, sitting around the house in her pajamas for Mother's Day), and with Jordan being home, now she has it.

As for Jacob, Rae and I did a quick comparison between the two last night...Officially we both agree the babies are looking like they are related as they fill out and get bigger. Jacob's appetite definitely has increased; where it used to be average that he would take two to three ounces per feed, now it seems more like three. He still has some moments where he only will take two, or sometimes one and a half depending on how fussy he is, but it is a very good progressional sign for him!

Please pray for continued success for all!

Thank you for all of your love, prayers and thoughts! More progress reports as soon as I can spare another minute! May the good Lord bless and protect us all.





Kind regards,

The Cordova Family (Andy, Sheri, Jacob & Jordan)
cell - 281-300-6212
email - maverick2601@hotmail.com

Jacob & Jordan Update 5-4-10

Family, Friends, Prayer Warriors,

Quick update...Jacob is doing well at home. We are still sorting out his days and nights, and sporadic moments where he doesn't want his bottle (go figure), but overall he is adjusting well to home life. He currently weighs 5 lbs. 9 oz, and takes between two and three ounces per bottle every 4 hours (12, 4, 8, & 12).

Yesterday, Sheri and I had a meeting up at the hospital with the doctor for this month, the cardiologist and the case worker, so we could all get on the same page about Jordan. Sheri and I did a care by parent session to learn how to use the monitor and the workings of her feeding tube, starting last Thursday through last Sunday. Originally, Jordan was to come home last Saturday, but last Tuesday she had 9 brady cardia episodes (where her heart rate dropped), and on some of those episodes Jordan had to be stimulated to breathe. As we found out yesterday, while the brady cardia episodes are still a cause for concern, it is more so the type of brady cardia episodes that are occurring and keeping Jordan from coming home sooner.

Originally, it was laid out that three things needed to happen with Jordan in order for her to be released. 1. Jordan had to have a full seven days without any bradycardia episodes and desats. 2. Jordan had to be on full feeds. 3. Jordan had to be breathing entirely on her own. The feeds and breathing unassisted have always been in Jordan's favor. However, Jordan has not had a full 7 days brady free. With the feeding tube in her stomach to keep her fed until the partial vocal cord paralysis and stridor can be resolved, (frustratingly by growth and maturity [or until she is much older and weighs significantly a lot more]) our little girl has had a lot thrown at her for the first three months of her life. God is definitely watching this little one though, for all of her difficulties, she has continuously thrived.

Our conference also resulted in changing Jordan's blood pressure medicine. One of the secondary effects of propanalol, which Jordan has been on for a little over a month now to help with her blood pressure and lighten the load on her aortic stenosis, also lowers her heart rate. Given the extensive amount of bradycardia episodes she had last Tuesday and the 8 bradycardia episodes she had yesterday, the decision was made to put Jordan on captorpril, a blood pressure medication that works the same as propanalol, but does not lower the heart rate.

So now, we have to wait to see if this new medication produces better results. It was started yesterday at Jordan's 4 pm feed, so far no reported bradycardia episodes. We have a little more external aid to getting Jordan home with her being on the monitor. The monitor is temporary, to ensure that brady episodes are self resolved and alert us when and if they occur. If things continue to track as they are and Jordan continues to be brady free for Monday and Tuesday, we hope to bring our little girl home very soon.

Jordan's weight is currently 5 lbs. 10 oz.

Please pray that this new medicine will meet all of Jordan's needs.

More as it develops! Thank you for all of your love, prayers and thoughts! More progress reports as soon as I get another minute!

Kind regards,

The Cordova Family (Andy, Sheri, Jacob & Jordan)
cell - 281-300-6212
email - maverick2601@hotmail.com