8/7 Update

Brady is doing pretty well. He has been taken out of his isolette and has slept in a regular crib for a couple of days now. The only thing he has to wear right now is the respiratory monitors. We love getting to look at him without anything on his face and down his nose! He is still eating well and gaining weight. He is also keeping his temperature up well. His only issue is keeping his oxygen level up while he is eating. Tonight when we fed him the monitors never went off so it was a very enjoyable night.

8/4 Update - One Month Old

In a way it's hard to believe Brady is a month old, but in many other ways this has been the longest month in history! Brady weighed 5 lbs 4 oz last night. He is now receiving all of his feedings by mouth, so no more feeding tube. The nurses say he is eating really well from a bottle and he nurses pretty well for me in the evenings. They are now putting clothes on him and slowly turning the temperature down in his isolette, trying to get him ready for an open air crib. Hopefully we are getting close to a homecoming, but it's really still too soon to predict.

7/31 Update

We had a really good visit with Brady today. My parents were here and went with us to the hospital this afternoon. I fed him a bottle and he at the entire amount. He even burped well without setting off his respiratory monitors. Tonight he weighed 5 lbs 1 ounce, so he is gaining. Carly tickled him and gave him lots of kisses. Jon also snuggled with him.

Carly, Sejal, & Fudge Pops

Some friends of ours were able to stop by one night and Carly got to play with her best buddy, Sejal. They are only six months apart and they enjoy getting in to mischief with each other. The pictures are in reverse . . . they started out with fudge bars on the deck, cleaned each other up, and then ended up in the tub. They were pretty entertaining to say the least.

7/25 Update

Our visit with Brady today was filled with mixed emotions. He is now three weeks old and weighs 5 pounds! He nursed really well when we first arrived and was off to a great start. He was wearing his nasal cannula because they gave him some oxygen last night to help him breathe easier. They had the oxygen off today and were just giving him room air. After he ate he started setting his respiratory monitors off and he was making me nervous. By the time we left they had turned the oxygen back up and were watching him closely. His IV is gone for now, hopefully they won't have to restart it. His feedings are increasing steadily and for now he is not spitting up. I am anxious to see what tomorrow brings.

7/23 Update

Today Brady seemed to have improved. They took his oxygen off today and started feeding him 10 ccs (1/3 of an ounce) of milk every three hours. He is still receiving IV fluids and continues to gain weight. Last night he weighed 4 lbs 8 oz! We're hoping for more improvement tomorrow.

7/22 Update

Last night Brady weighed 4 lbs 6 oz and seemed to be doing really well, even having some success with nursing and a bottle. However, he had a rough day today and suffered a set back. I got a call this morning around 11 from his neonatologist saying that he wasn't acting like his usual self and seemed to not feel well. Around 9 this morning he had trouble with his breathing and the drs and nurses had to use the mask to get him breathing three times within one hour. This was unusual for him and concerning, so they stopped feeding him and ordered blood tests and a chest and abdomen x-ray. His blood tests all came back fine and the x-ray had one spot in the intestines that they weren't sure about. The dr told us that with preemies the intestines are one of the first things that they check for infection and blockage. They also put him back on his nasal cannula so they can give him a little oxygen and started an IV in his head. They will feed him some sort of IV fluids for at least a day or two to make sure his intestines are clear and he has no infection. They also started him on some IV antibiotics in case he is getting sick. They are repeating the x-ray tonight and we will call the nursery sometime after 10 to find out the results. While we were visiting him tonight, the monitors seemed to beep a lot and it made me nervous. We're thankful that he is receiving the care he needs, but we can't wait for him to be well and at home with the three of us.

PS - We now have Internet and a home phone! If you'd like our home phone #, just send me an email and I will send it to you. We are trying to keep our cell phone use to a minimum because with no home phone for so long we went through our minutes way too fast this month. If I don't answer my cell I apologize and I will try to get back to you if you leave a message. Thanks again for all the phone calls, emails, cards, and most of all prayers!