Hello, everyone!

Good news! After almost 5 long months, Baby Spence was released from the hospital yesterday. He came home on an apnea monitor and oxygen but Joseph and Kimberly are glad to have him home in spite of that!

Thanks for all your prayers and support during this time. Even though he is out of the hospital he still has a long way to go so if you would continue to pray for him to stay healthy through this virulent flu season, it would be very much appreciated. Because of the time he had to spend on the ventilator, his lungs are weak and a case of the flu, or any respiratory infection for that matter, would be very dangerous for him. He is a sweet little boy and is doing well at this point! Thanks again for praying for him (and us!)

Love,
JoEllen

Spence is doing really well. He is now 8 pounds 2.3 ounces and 19 inches long. He is getting so big but is still so small looking to me. Spence is no longer on the Vapotherm and no longer has his NG tube for feeding. Spence is doing his best to eat his 8 bottles a day, he is finishing them but sometimes he is really tired after eating them. He is up to 72 cc's every three hours. Spence is eating from a haberman nipple that is meant for Special feeding issues. Spence has a very narrow pallet due to him having the Vent in for so long. He is expected to be home sometime by the end of this month or early October, it just depends on him and how much progress he makes. The Doctor's are hopeful that Spence will be able to come off the wall oxygen all together before he comes home. I am so excited that the time for him to be home with us is fast approaching. We are busy getting the house together, we are getting rid of a lot of junk that we don't use or need so we don't have to much junk collecting dust. I am going to have Joseph download some pictures of Spence so everyone can see how much he has changed.

Today has been long but very good. Spence went in for surgery today at 7:30 with Dr. Glasser. Spence did well being put on the vent and he came right off of it after surgery. I am so happy that he only had to be intibated for the surgery and not afterwards. He is doing well, they did a bilateral hernia repair because both sides were herniated. They also did his circumcision and he is looking great. When they brought him up from surgery he was crying loudly because he was mad that he wasn't able to eat yet. I know that once he is able to eat again that he will be very happy and on the road to coming home. I am glad the surgery is over and done with. I know that Heavenly Father has given Spence the strength and stamina needed to accomplish what is needed for him to come home .. Thank you so much for all the prayers. Love you !!!

We are preparing for Spence to come home hopefully sometime by the end of this month or the beginning of October. Right now it just depends on Spence and how fast he recovers from his Hernia surgery. Once Spence is recovered from surgery he will hopefully take off with is feedings and be able to drink 8 full bottles. Spence will also have to come off of the Vapotherm before he comes home, but I know he can do it. With Heavenly Father's help he will be home in no time. They have changed Spence's standard flow nipple over to a Special Nipple usually reserved for children with Special eating needs such as a cleft pallet. He is doing awesome with it, usually when Spence was eating with a normal standard flow nipple he would take about 25-30 minutes eating his bottle, he would also end up very tired from eating. With this new Nipple he is finishing the bottles, most of the time under 20 minutes, he seems less tired and more alert once he is done eating. Spence's Hernia surgery was scheduled for today at 11:15 am but Dr. Glasser had an emergency surgery come in that needed Spence's slot, so we have been moved to Friday at 7:30 am. I am hoping and praying that this will be his last surgery and that he will be able to come off the Vent quickly. I know that last time he was really agitated while having it in so hopefully it will motivate him to have it come out sooner. I appreciate all of your prayers for tomorrow's procedure. I know that he will be ok if I just leave it in our Heavenly Father's hands. Thank you again for all the love .. I will keep everyone posted on his progress after the surgery.

Things here have been busy, we are trying to get the house in order for when Spence comes home. Who knew we had so much junk. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that Spence is doing ok, he is up to 6 bottles a day and is back on 2 liters for his vapotherm. The Doctors want Spence to concentrate more on feeding right now and once he gets that down then they will move on to going down on his liter flow. He has been a little irritable lately but most of that is due to the extra gas he has in his tummy. Spence is stingy with his burbs, so all of his gas stays in his tummy making him uncomfortable. Hopefully he will learn that burping is not an option but a baby rule.

Spence is now on 1 and a half liters on his Vapotherm, he only has one half of a liter to go before he is completely off the Vapotherm and onto the wall oxygen. Spence has also been bumped up to five bottles a day. I am really happy for Spence, because the requirements for him to come home will soon be met. Just to reiterate Spence needs to be able to completely finish 8 bottles a day and be on the wall oxygen before he can come home. So since Spence has now been bumped up on his feedings and taken lower on his liters he is so much closer to coming home than ever before. The really amazing thing is about this news is today Chloe said a prayer for Spence, she prayed that he would have the strength to be able to come home soon. It is amazing the power of Prayer. Heavenly Father hears every single one of our prayers, even when we think they are silly, Heavenly Father hears them. I know that Heavenly Father has heard Chloe's prayer to give Spence strength, I know he has heard all of your prayers and has helped Spence get through this time. We just need to keep praying and I am sure he will be home before we know it. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, we truly appreciate all of you. I know that Spence's progress is possible because of the Grace of our Heavenly Father. Oh and if Spence continues on this route he might not need to have the G-tube and Nissan surgeries. He will still have to have the Hernia surgery but that is really not a big surgery and a lot of preemie babies have this type of surgery before they come home. I know that with our constant prayers and faith in our Heavenly Father that all will work out the way it is meant to be. Thank you again for everything. We love you all !!!