The First 24

     Chris here again, well the first 24 hours have passed.  It's a funny feeling to have a child at any time I'm sure but it's surrealistic to have a child as early as Jude.  I suppose you are never fully ready but it truly has taken us to a reality that you only experience after taking the blue pill (a Matrix reference for those that are not familiar).
     Tracy is doing well.  Aside from soreness and other "just gave birth" related issues she is doing just fine.  She is eating normally and is up walking albeit only very short distances (I think she likes the wheelchair, personally).  Numerous nurses and doctors have remarked that she looks really good despite having surgery only a day ago.
     Jude is doing very well from what we know.  He is the most popular baby in the NICU and has been seen by most of the Mitchell family so far.  He is small but a pretty long little guy at seventeen and half inches.  He is beginning to move around a little bit more and according to a nurse and his Meemaw (Grandma Kay) has opened one eye on two occasions.  One, to give the nurse the "stink eye" to let her know that he was sleeping and didn't want to be disturbed and two, to let Meemaw know that he could hear her voice.
     Tracy and I have been down with him pretty frequently and have held his hand simultaneously together.  He doesn't like his feet to be touched (just like Dad) and will kick if you do.  He is growing stronger.  Yesterday they lowered his respirator to a slower level since he had better looking gases (don't ask what that means cause I don't know).  It was a small bump down but it's progress all the same.  They have put a photo lamp on him which is just a regular looking lamp that has "blue lights" which act as somewhat of a substitution for sunlight.  They began this yesterday because Jude was looking a little Jaundice which is not uncommon in premmies and the phototherapy helps with this.  The nurses informed us that once he starts having bowel movements, which will be relatively soon, that the Jaundice will clear up.  
     As far as the taratoma (the mass) there is no time-line for removing it.  Since the lungs are the last thing to develop in the womb, Jude's lungs are not fully developed.  He also has the tracheostomy tube in his throat.  They have ordered a custom tube since the current one is too big and is going down his throat too far.  This is causing his right bronchial lung to become more developed than his left which is causing the left to be stunted in it's growth.  The doctors have informed us that this is not a major concern and is fairly common.  So as far as the removal of the taratoma it is dependent upon his respiratory health which cannot be estimated.  He IS making progress and is quite strong.  Once he is breathing more independently they can run the necessary tests to see where the blood flow is going through the mass and where it begins etc etc.  For now, they estimate that it is coming from the front of the pallet (the roof of his mouth) and that the stem is dime-sized.  This is good news.  The front of your pallet is hard whereas the back part of your mouth begins to get softer and softer as you go back towards the throat.  Since the mass is forming in the front of the pallet, the hard part, it is more likely that it is not spread anywhere else whereas if it were coming from the back there would be an increased chance that other areas would be affected.  This does not mean that currently no other areas are affected (as they cannot tell until they do imaging) but at this point it would be less likely that it would.  Given that the stem is dime-sized that also means that removal should be easier.
     We also were able to see Jude's chin as they have now elevated the mass instead of letting it rest on his chest.  This is good news as before birth they estimated that he might not have much of a chin and that is jaw would be significantly deformed.  This does not appear to be the case.  Again, until the teratoma is removed there is only limited estimation but so far his jaw-line looks developed.
     So, good news has continued to come from a bad situation.  We are ever present of God's work in this whole process and his persistence to make Himself known, which in my mind is just fine.  We will continue to give updates as they come and pictures soon to follow