It's been a long and eventful week here at St Louis children's hospital, but Jayden has made a lot of progress! After getting to st. Louis the speech therapist tried yet another bottle to see if he would take it better. It was a slow process at first but he is getting the hang of it. Tuesday morning Jayden was taken off oxygen just to see how he would react. He did fantastic and hasn't had to have it since! He was upgraded to a crib in the NICU but had to go back to a warmer bed because his jaundice was getting too high. He spent the day under the UV lights. It kills me not to be able to hold my baby but we are hopeful we will be able to soon. We have met with countless doctors and specialists over the past week and are overwhelmed with information. We have enough books and binders to have our own library! 

Jayden will have surgery when he is around a year old to correct his palate and most likely get tubes put in his ears. He failed his hearing test but that is common for cleft palate babies. We do know he can hear at least something though! 

What Jayden has to do to go home:
1. Take full bottles (no feeding tube) for a day! 
2. Get his jaundice to a normal level
3. Take out that stinking feeding tube! 
4. Pass car seat test 
It's twice as hard for Jayden to take a bottle than other babies. He can't create a suction due to his palate so he is using a special bottle made for cleft palates. He started taking such a small amount but has improved. After half the bottle is gone he is just so exhausted he needs the rest in his feeding tube. He is a strong lil guy though so we know he will keep improving!