March of Dimes Walk America

Drew N. from Longview mentioned in one of his posts that he wants to get a group together from his youth group in Longview to participate in the March of Dimes Walk America, which raises money for premature babies. He also wanted to encourage others to participate or donate to this cause. Since then, I also got a message from Sarah Brennan, a lady that works with my parents, and she told me that she and her family are also participating and are walking in honor of the Phillips family. I had heard of the March of Dimes, but never really knew much about it, so I checked out their website today. I'm pasting a paragraph from their website that explains the purpose of their organization and this fundraiser:

"The money you raise goes directly to research to find the causes of premature birth and how it can be prevented, to support families whose babies must spend time in neonatal intensive care units and to provide women with the latest information on having a healthy pregnancy."

I found that there are walks taking place all over the country on various dates in the near future if anyone cares to participate in any way. I found that there is one in Paris on April 28th, and the one in Longview is on April 21st. You can register online as an individual or you can create a team, and it will create a personal webpage for you that you can send to other people to have them sponsor you. The website is www.walkamerica.org. The links for Sarah and her family are www.walkamerica.org/sarahbrennan, www.walkamerica.org/DevB, and www.walkamerica.org/krisas. You can sponsor one of them if you want to, or you can participate on your own if you want to.

Another great day

I just talked to Jaymie, and she said that they took Kanyon off the ventilator this morning at around 9:30 and put him on the CPAP, and as of 9:45 this evening when they left the hospital, he was still off the ventilator! This is great improvement, especially since he only lasted an hour last week. He is still eating good - up to 13cc today, and he is up to 1 lb. 15.4 oz. We don't know how long he'll last on the CPAP, but keep praying - he's doing great so far!

Update - with pictures!

I talked to Jaymie tonight, and Kanyon had another good day today. They did not take his ventilator out and put in the CPAP today like they had planned because his doctor was called away from the hospital. They are going to try tomorrow, so keep that in your prayers. His feedings are up to 12cc and he is digesting them well. Jaymie got to change his diaper and take his temperature for the first time today, which she was excited about. Also, his umbilical cord came off and he now has a beautiful tiny belly button. Here are some pictures from the last few days:

Here's Jaymie and Kanyon with Melissa, one of Kanyon's favorite nurses:

Here's Jaymie and Gay with Kanyon:

Here's a glimpse of Kanyon taking a peek at the outside world:
and taking a peek at his doting grandma:
Look at those precious little feet! He was kicking Jaymie's hand.
closer view:
I think he's going to have big feet like his daddy!

Memorials

Many people have asked if there is somewhere they could send a memorial donation in Jayde's honor, and Jaymie and Kory have requested that they be sent either to Camp Deer Run or to Yellowstone Bible Camp. Those can be mailed to:

Camp Deer Run
1227 CR 4590
Winnsboro, TX 75494-4967

Yellowstone Bible Camp
c/o Frank Arnold
2565 Arnica Dr.
Bozeman, MT 59715

Jaymie said that Kanyon weighs 1 lb. 15 oz. today - inching closer to 2 lbs. She also said that they are going to try again tomorrow to take him off the ventilator and put him on the CPAP, so pray for his little lungs.

He's peeking!

Well, Jaymie just called me with another update: he finally opened his eyes! Sweet little Kanyon wanted to take a look at the big bright world around him. He opened one on his own this morning, and the nurse helped him a little with the other one. They got to see him with his eyes open when they went to visit this morning. She said he doesn't open them very wide - basically he's just peeking a little. She doesn't have pictures yet, but will take some soon.

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Other than that, she said he's up to 10cc per feeding, which is good. Also, even though he's on the ventilator, they can tell that he is taking some shallow breaths on his own. This is a good sign that his lungs are getting stronger. Praise God for each little milestone!

A few new pictures

Here are the promised pictures from last night when Jaymie got to hold Kanyon for the second time. They weren't expecting to, but when they went to visit last night, the nurse asked if she wanted to hold him, and she just wrapped him up in a blanket and hat and handed him over.

They also took pictures with a basketball. That's how they are going to measure his growth - how big he is compared to the basketball. He'll be palming it before we know it!

And one of their friends from church that is a nurse there made him a blue bow and took some pictures for them. What a sweet little gift he is!

Kanyon is up to 1 lb 14.7 oz. Jaymie said to be sure and note the .7 because that's a big deal in their world! He's closing in on the 2lb. mark! He was doing good today, just relaxing. He's up to 9cc per feeding and doing great with that. They think they'll take him off of his IV feeding within the next week. That will mean he's getting all he needs from Jaymie's milk. The digestive system is a big concern for preemies and his has been great so far. Continue to pray and thank God for that as well as for his little lungs. Just pray for all parts of his body inside and out to grow grow grow!!

Back on the ventilator

They took Kanyon off the ventilator this morning and put him on the CPAP, but he only lasted for about an hour before they had to put it back in. Jaymie says that they weren't really disappointed because his doctor just wanted to try it to see how well he would do, and they didn't really expect him to stay off it for too long. They will probably have to try it several times before they can take him off it for good. They are going to give him a week to get a little stronger before trying again. Other than that, he had a good day. He is up to 8cc per feeding and digesting it well. And even more exciting, Jaymie got to hold him again tonight! This time they just wrapped him up in a blanket and put a hat on him instead of the kangaroo method. They took pictures and I'll post them once Jaymie sends them to me.