Pulmonary visit

Braden's Dr. visit this morning went well. They decided to take Braden off the Zantac. If he needs additional meds. for his reflux they will discuss at a later time. They are not weaning Braden off the oxygen right now. They want his growth to be steady before making any changes. The nutritionist also met with us today. She put Braden on prune juice to see if it will regulate his system. We are going to check in with her on Friday or Monday for a report. Additional changes may be made if necessary. Braden weighs 7 lbs 13 ozs.

Braden has been more playful lately. He has started smiling on a daily basis. He gets startled with loud unfamiliar noises. He gets the cutest pouty face and even pushes out his bottom lip. He is also more tuned in to his toys. He will swat at them and has even started noticing his wrist toy when I put it on him.

A look back to then and now

I thought this would be cute to post Braden in his alligator outfit from months ago to now. The first image was taken on 7/22/08 the second 3/31/08 .

Braden Update

Well it's been a calm week so far. TEIS (Tennesse Early Intervention) came today to discuss a plan for Braden's development. It went very well. They will be working on his motor, speech and interactive play (social skills). They will have someone come out once a week to work with us. That should start in a few weeks. So we are looking forward to it. Braden is still not taking a full bottle at each feed. But he is taking a little more than last week. If he gets the hiccups or gas that interferes with the process. But we are working thru it.

Braden Update

Well this week seems to have worked out well for Braden. He had a weight check in with the Pediatrician and he is now 7lbs 7ozs. So the NG tube is working well for him. We were hoping Braden would be taking more by bottle than by tube feeding. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. So now we are just hopeful that as he grows he will become stronger and take more and more on his bottle. We will be working with a nutritionist to keep Braden's growth and feedings on track. All in all a good week but very exhausting for both of us. Braden and I both are in much need of rest and can't seem to catch up.

Monday's Update

Braden made it home today. He got home a little before 5 this afternoon so it still was another long day but he handled it well. He continues to do good on his feedings and is happy to be home. He went into the hospital weighing 7 lbs even and he left today at 7 lbs 5 ozs so he is moving in the right direction again!

Sunday Update

Braden has continued to do very well today. Today he has taken almost all of his complete feeds by bottle. He is more alert and seems to feel better too. We are scheduled to be able to take him home tomorrow. We don't know what time but tomorrow should be another long day with trying to get everything wrapped up at the hospital and getting him moved back home. Braden is ready to be home with his toys and movies - not much to look at in that hospital bed!

Saturday's Update

Today went much better for Braden. He took 35 cc's in both of his afternoon feedings and took the entire 47 cc's at his first feeding this evening. He looks much better and seems to feel alot better too. We are glad that the medicine seems to be working and just hope that it takes care of the issue. There is still no word on whether he has an infection or not but he still is acting good and is not running a temperature. Hopefully his eating continues to get stronger and we will be able to bring him home soon.

Friday's Update

Today's tests went pretty well. Braden's suck/swallow test looked good and that doesn't seem to be an issue at all. Their best guess right now is reflux. It seems to be causing an irritation to his esophagus which is preventing him from eating without pain. That is only a guess right now and we should know more later this weekend - possibly Monday. The doctors want to look at everything and be certain before telling us what is going on. Unfortunately Braden did test positive for an infection in his blood today. The doctors feel that it was a false positive and are retesting his blood to make sure. Braden hasn't shown any signs of an infection so we are hoping it will come back negative. As for the reflux, they have decided to put him on a stronger medicine and see if it helps him this weekend. He will eat as much as he can take from his bottle and the rest will go through his NG tube.

Braden is looking good and getting some of his energy back. He seems to be getting more and more girlfriends the longer he is here (don't worry, he still holds his Baptist nurses and RTs above all others!) We will likely be at the hospital through the weekend and possibly into early next week. We will try and keep everyone posted as we have information. Thank you again for your support and prayers!

Today's Update

Not much to update from today. Braden is scheduled to have his Suck/Swallow test on Friday and a couple of other tests too. Hopefully these tests will let us know what might be wrong. He was able to get some food today through an NG tube (in his nose). Hopefully this will help him feel better and get some energy back. I will try and post as soon as we know something tomorrow. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Braden Update

Well today was another hectic day. Braden continues to have issues taking his feeds and began getting fussy while eating. We spoke with the pediatrician and then decided to take him to the Vandy ER out of fear of possible dehydration. He was admitted this afternoon and is resting in his room tonight at Vandy. They are going to run a series of tests tomorrow and see if they can find out why he isn't eating well and what the problem might be. We don't know what all is in store tomorrow but we will try to update everyone as soon as possible. Please keep Braden in your prayers as he is tired, hungry and in a strange new place.

Braden update

Well today's Pulmonary Dr. visit turned into a visit about Braden's feeding issues. We are not cutting back on Braden's O's or taking him off during the day so that we can conserve his energy. Vandy also had us meet with a nutritionist. She came immediately to discuss a plan of action. We will try the new plan for two days and then call to discuss. We are also going to be scheduled for a suck swallow test within the next few weeks. The Pediatrician visit went well. She was glad that we met with the nutritionist. Braden did loose an ounce of weight since our last visit. :-( So we will just have to wait and see what the results of the new feeding schedule bring and the suck swallow results. The Pediatrician agreed with Stephen that Braden does have a touch of thrush going on his tongue. So we are going to start treating that and maybe that too will help with his feeds.

Braden Update

Our visit to the Urologist was yesterday. It went pretty good. Braden has a hydroseal (not sure if that is the correct spelling) not a hernia. Which is good news. We were still on the fence with that one so it was nice to get the confirmation. That still doesn't mean that Braden won't have surgery at some point. We would hope that the hydroseal goes away on it's own but only time will tell. The Dr. said that he thinks Braden does have kidney-bladder reflux. Which he will test for Aug. 19th. If it is confirmed it will be something Braden can grow out of. The only down side is he'll be on a low dose antibiotic until he does. So all in all not to bad.

Braden was doing better on his feedings but with yesterday's Dr. visit he is not doing so well today. He is getting over 300 cc's per 24 hours but he is suppose to eat 375 cc's. So he is falling a little short and I have to feed him more often in smaller amounts. I hear that even full term babies can be hard to feed. We are just hoping Braden will continue to gain weight. We do a weight check on Monday after our Pulmonary Dr. visit. Next week will be a big week. We have Dr. visits on Monday with Pulmonary and Pediatrician. Then on Thursday we have to meet with Infectious Disease again.