Big Jeff and Little JD

Today, the phone rang and when I answered it, without any introduction, the person on the other end asked me if I was Jeff Eckert's Mom. Well, I said, "No, I'm his wife." Then she said, "It says here that he's only 8 weeks old..." Well, duh...I guess I am Jeff Eckert's wife and his Mom. Funny. I told her that we call him JD to avoid any confusion. Anyway, it was someone from Dr. Schmidt's office confirming the baby's appointment for tomorrow. Had she introduced herself to me, I would have realized that I was Jeff Eckert's Mom. I suppose that won't be the last time I'm confused by my two Jeff's names.

JD was pretty cranky and really hungry all day today. I got a little frustrated with him, but when he woke up from his nap (after I finally got him to sleep), I walked into his room and could not believe how beautiful he looked. It's amazing how one little smile can erase a whole day of crying.

Day + 57

Jeff was back in Hershey yesterday for his bi-weekly checkup, and Dr. Claxton said that Jeff's blood counts are the best he's ever seen at this stage in the game. Although this is great news, we still have to be diligent in preventing him from getting sick. Jeff also had his Hickman removed, which means I don't have to play nurse anymore. The next step for Jeff is a few weeks of radiation in Du Bois, as a prophylactic measure against any remaining cancer cells. This will get him up and out of the house for a few hours every day, which I think, will help to him to regain some of his strength and stamina.

Speaking of strength and stamina, I'm pretty exhausted. JD eats about every 3 hours now, although occasionally I get 4 hours between feedings at night. He's also sleeping in his crib, which is helping me to get a few extra minutes of sleep. Wow, I never thought I'd be measuring my sleep in minutes! Anyway, exhaustion aside, I'm loving my time at home with the baby. Especially, the time we spend all alone in the middle of the night. Crazy as it sounds, I think I'll miss the late-night feedings once he's sleeping through the night. Not that I'm going to try to delay it...

Weird Comments

I don't know where all these weird comments are coming from, but I'm deleting them as fast as I can. Here's another picture of my little boy...

JD at 38 Days Old

JD started smiling this week, and boy is he cute!

Jeff's Blood

Mark's cells seem to be working full force in Jeff's body. His counts are all near normal and the doctor says he's doing great. In a few weeks, Jeff will get his central line removed. One more step toward recovery...

Home

Usually, the anticipation of something ends up being better than the actual event. This wasn't true in the case of coming home. Jeff, JD and I have been trying to settle into a sort of normal life again, although with 2 doctor's appointments this week, we are easily reminded that life is far from normal. Jeff is feeling better, but on Tuesday, we traveled to Du Bois to see the radiation oncologist. Because chemotherapy doesn't reach all parts of the body equally, and Jeff's leukemia presented with tumors, he is probably going to need some follow-up radiation. Because of the unique situation, the oncologist needed to do some research before prescribing a plan for us. So, once again, we wait to find out what happens next.

Today, Jeff is in Hershey with his Mom for an appointment with Dr. Claxton. Due to some mix up with his scheduled appointment and the fact that Jeff felt a little funny on Monday, he's there a few days early. Hopefully, the funny feeling was nothing, but the doctors err on the side of caution for quite some time following an allogeneic stem cell transplant.

JD is growing like a weed, and gets visibly smarter every day. Today is the first day that the baby and I will get to spend alone together. It's about time. The dogs are taking to the baby slowly. Hallie is a little jealous, but likes to sit with us in the middle of the night while I'm nursing. Chance is a little more aloof towards him, and really likes to the smell the diaper pail. Neither of them have shown the least bit of aggression, so I think they'll eventually learn to love the little guy as much as they love us.

I'll try to get some more baby pictures posted soon.