good report!

hey there - i just realized it has been over a month for us since we posted last. i think with all of the emotional as well as physical stress we have experienced over the past 10 months, we have just desired to "take a break" whenever we can.
gavin was admitted to the hospital on february 8th for an overnight stay due to dehydration and a possible bowel obstruction. our heat went out during the coldest week of the year - yes, of course, something like that would happen to us. luckily, my parents took us in for about 5 days while i was trying to get the heat resolved. just to give you an idea: it was 46 degrees in our house one morning when i came back to take a shower and get ready for work. we ended up getting a whole new unit and it's been a completely different home since then!  well...during our stay at my folks, gavin began to get bad stomach pains. he wasn't eating very well and he was throwing up almost everything we were putting down him. we tried  pedialyte through his tube and even that wasn't working to keep him hydrated so we had to make some decisions. tracee was able to get a direct admit through our pediatrician so we could avoid the ER. this was a HUGE answer to prayer as RSV is in full affect right now. once again, that is the last thing gavin needs as it could shut him down and kill him.
once into the PICU, gavin  had an IV put in and a series of tests run (uppper GI, tummy xray) and all of them came back negative. thank you God!  he was released on februrary 9th after a successful feed. we determined that he has been struggling with reflux so we need to maintain the thickening of his foods. things have been fantastic since he has been home - he is doing so well! he saw his pulmonologist while in the hospital and gavin has dropped to .5ml of prednisalone every other day from being on .5ml everyday. he is still on less than .5 liter of oxygen - these are steps in the right direction!
gavin has been laughing more these days (tracee found a great tickle spot on the back of his hips and he LOVES it!)
since our last post he has seen his pediatric eye doctor twice to check on what appeared to be a crossing of his eyes. over the past month we have been having him wear an eye patch once a day for 30 minutes. he hates it...longest 30 minutes of our day! we visited the doctor again this morning and are pleased to report that we are holding off on the patching and will follow up again in 2 months after gavin turns one. he said that "gavin's eyes look the best they've looked." we like to hear that!
he is now up to 16.5 pounds and we have decreased his formula to 24Cal from 27Cal - all steps that gavin is taking to catch up.  please continue to pray for us and for him. we don't want anymore surprises! financially things have been tough for us with settling on his medical bills and then dealing with new trips to the hospital and a car that needed $1450 worth of repairs. due to gavin's need for his Synagis shot to protect him against RSV, we have been paying $713 per month for COBRA insurance to keep he and tracee covered. we have 2 more months of that before we can look into some other solutions but until RSV season is over we are held hostage.
we know God provides as he has shown us time and again. thank you for keeping up with us friends and family! all of the other life "stuff" pales in comparison to how well gavin is doing and we are so thankful for his life. he is a miracle, our miracle. i love to have days like today where i get to spend all day with him. he is screaming and talking on the floor right now as i write this. i wish you could see my smile.
with love,

jeramy