3.16.11 Brandon update: 55 days

 After 55 days Brandon finally got to COME HOME!!!

4 pounds, 12 ounces

17 ¾ inches

It is so nice to have Brandon home! No more daily trips back and forth to the hospital.

Now let the fun begin :)

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. What a miracle!

3.13.11 Brandon update

3.13.11

Brandon is up to full feeds now (40 cc’s every 2-4 hours). He is eating it all orally (either by bottle or nursing) and seems to be doing really well. If all goes well he will get to come home soon!

3.9.11 Brandon update

3.9.11

Brandon is now up to 25 cc's every 3 hours. As his feeds slowly icrease, the amount he receives through his IV slowly decreases. Hopefully he will be up to full feeds soon (approx 40 cc's with his current weight) and be able to get his IV taken out.

Eating...

Scott's mom is here visiting right now...

3.5.11 Brandon update

3.5.11 Brandon update

Today Brandon “graduated” to a new bed. He will have to use his own energy to keep warm since there is no heating system with this bed. His feedings increased from 5 cc’s to 10 cc’s.

My family came to visit and Rebekah and James met Brandon for the first time.

3.4.11 Brandon update

3.4.11
Brandon seems to be doing well with his feedings. He is still being fed 5 cc's every 3 hours. I have been wanting to get a cute picture of Brandon now that he doesn't have any "stuff" on his face, but he didn't really cooperate. Oh, well.

3.3.11 Brandon update

3.3.11



Brandon is six weeks today. He has now increased his feedings from 5 cc’s every 6 hours to 5 cc’s every 3 hours. He is being fed with a bottle right now and not with a tube—so that is good. So far he is handling it pretty well. He now weighs 1880 grams (4 lbs and 2.31 oz)!

3.1.11 Brandon update

3.1.11

Feedings continue to be on and off depending on the day/time, but right now he is back up to 5 cc's (he had been receiving just 2cc's). Hopefully he will be able to start increasing his feedings soon so he can get more nutrients via milk and less IV.

We greatly appreciate all of your thoughts/prayers for our little guy.

2.24.11 Brandon update

After a few days of feedings on and off (starting at 6 cc’s every 6 hours) the doctors decided to lower his feedings to 2 cc’s every 6 hours. This is practically nothing, but hopefully will help trigger his stomach etc., to start working.

2.22.11 Brandon update: feedings try 2

2.22.11 Feedings try 2

So today they started feeding Brandon for the second time. They are going to start small and slow to see how he does (6 cc’s every 6 hours). They placed his ng tube today and took an x-ray to make sure it was in the right place. Before each feeding the nurse will suction his stomach to see how much milk is still in there, if it is less than half (and he hasn’t spit up a bunch) then they will give him his next feeding. If there is more than half left (or he has spit up a lot), then most likely they will skip that feeding. Let’s hope he does well!

2.20.11 Brandon update: one month old

Brandon is one month old today! He seems to be doing well; we are just waiting for his stomach to be ready to handle feedings. (He currently receives all of his nutrients through IV.) He is still doing really well with breathing on his own.

Here are his one month stats:

Weight: 1570 grams (3 pounds, 7.38 ounces)

Length: 42 cm (16.5 inches)

And a few recent pictures…

2.12.11 Brandon update: pictures

2.12.11

Here are a few recent pictures of Brandon

2.10.11 Brandon update

2.10.11

Today when I went to visit Brandon, they told me he was anemic and would most likely need some more blood soon. So I went and donated blood and now I’m dizzy and lightheaded. Woops.

It doesn't look like he will be ready to start feedings again tomorrow. Maybe next week?

2.9.11 Brandon update

Not too much has changed. Brandon is still getting all his nutrients through his IV. Hopefully he will be ready to try feedings again on Friday (through a tube). He is gaining weight little by little and is now 1330 grams (2 pounds, 14.91 ounces).

2.7.11 Brandon update

After two days of feedings (approximately 3 cc’s of milk every 4-8 hours) the doctors decided Brandon wasn’t ready yet. So they pulled his feeding tube out and will wait a little longer to try again.

The good news—Brandon still doesn’t need any help breathing!

2.5.11 Brandon update

2.5.11

Yesterday Brandon started feedings. Hope it goes well.

2.2.11 Brandon update

Brandon no longer needs help breathing (no more nasal cannula)! Of course it is always a possibility that he would have to get the nasal cannula back on--but for now it is off. I can't believe it!! (Again, remember I am comparing him to Matthew who came home from the hospital on oxygen 2.5 months after he was born).

Brandon had a few more episodes of bradycardia today.

He pooped a few times. This is good... hopefully it means he will be able to start feedings soon.

Oh, and when I was holding Brandon today he sneezed a few times--it was the cutest noise ever!

2.1.11 Brandon update

2.1.11

Today Matthew asked if he could go see Brandon. Because this was the first time he asked and because he was pretty good when we took him before, I really wanted to try and make this happen. Unfortunately timing was not the best, so I didn't get to take him until Scott got home after 5pm. I should have known this would be a problem for Cameron since he wants to do everything Matthew does. So when Matthew and I rode away on the shuttle Cameron screamed and screamed until Scott decided to take him on a shuttle ride too.

After just two visits to the hospital Matthew is getting more daring/more familiar. He loved running down the long hallways and again couldn't help himself from getting hand sanitizer at every little station.

And now for a little update on Brandon. The last day or so it seems like Brandon's heart rate has been up and down quite a bit. Yesterday his monitor kept going off because it dropped too low and would flash with bradycardia. Then the monitor would go off because his heart rate was really high (above 200 beats per minute). But on a good note--his nasal cannula flow is down to 1 liter.

1.30.11 Brandon update: nasal cannula and Flinders visit

1.30.11

Today Brandon "graduated" to nasal cannula. Just to give you an idea about how much better Brandon's lungs are than Matthew's... Brandon is using nasal cannula after 10 days (and seems to be doing really well) Matthew tried out nasal cannula after 29 days and then had to go back to CPAP after a day because he couldn't handle it yet. Also, Matthew came home from the hospital using nasal cannula to help him breath (after 2.5 months of being in the hospital). I would be VERY surprised if Brandon came home from the hospital using nasal cannula.

Brandon pooped for the first time today.

My family came to visit. It was fun that my dad, Daniel and Miriam got to see Brandon for the first time and my mom got to hold him for the first time.

And my little monkey, I mean Brandon

1.28.11 Brandon update: Held for the first time!

1.28.11

We got to hold Brandon for the first time on Friday! Scott went to visit Brandon in the morning and he was crying, so the nurse asked if he wanted to hold him. Brandon calmed right down and loved being held. Then I went in the afternoon and got to hold Brandon as well. It is fun now that we can hold him instead of just staring at him.

Brandon seems to be doing well. He is still on SiPAP and is opening his eyes more now.

1.27.11 Brandon update: One Week old

Can you believe Brandon is already a week old? Well, we decided today would be a good day to take Matthew and Cameron to visit Brandon for the first time. 

Here's Matthew and Cameron waiting for the shuttle:

And Matthew seeing his new baby brother for the first time:

My four boys

We let Matthew and Cameron touch Brandon's toes. They thought that was pretty cool.

And our family of Five

This was definitely a quick trip. Matthew did a pretty good job just sitting on the chair looking at Brandon, but Cameron didn't want to sit still for long. He kept trying to push buttons, pull tubes, etc. They both loved getting a sticker to wear and on the way back to the elevator they wanted hand sanitizer from every dispenser (which there were a lot of).

As we were waiting for the shuttle to go back home a guy saw Scott and I running around after Matthew and Cameron. He turned to me and said, “I think this one will be a girl.” At first I didn’t realize what he was talking about and then it clicked that he thought I was pregnant. I just smiled and nodded—I wasn’t in the mood to explain. Good thing it takes a lot more than that to offend me J. Guess it goes to show you should never assume someone is pregnant… they just might have a baby in the NICU J. 

And now for the more technical stuff:

When Brandon was born he never got an “official” weight—I guess because he was in critical condition and they didn’t want to bother him. His birth weight estimation was 1200 grams (2 pounds, 10.32 ounces—or roughly 2.5 pounds). Last night they got his first “official” weight: 1110 grams (2 pounds, 7.15 ounces).

Brandon is off the ventilator and on SiPAP (similar to CPAP) As far as I understand the main difference between SiPAP and CPAP is SiPAP gives extra breaths or "sighs."

He also "graduated" to an isolette (or incubator). The most critical babies are in the open faced beds (what Brandon started in) so the doctors have easy access. But it looks like Brandon is stable enough now that he gets to be in an isolette. This is good because it is
warm, a clean environment, and helps him from noise, drafts, and infection.