Priorities

Ever since I was in elementary school I've loved March Madness. I've always enjoyed filling out brackets, watching as many games as possible, and staying up late after the championship to see "One Shining Moment". I never filled out a bracket and I haven't watched one second of the tournament this year.

It was a record breaking weekend for weather in Minneapolis with high temperatures reaching 80 degrees for the first time ever on St. Patrick's Day. Ali and I spent the entire weekend inside a hospital room.

And neither of us would have wanted it any other way.

Brady's time in the hospital has forced us to focus on what's really important in our lives. We're taking turns holding Brady and telling him how much we love him. We're leaning heavily on family and friends. We're praying several times each day. We're talking constantly to nurses and doctors to learn more about Brady's growth. We're cherishing the time we have to play with Ava and Casey, read to them, and tuck them into bed.

We're not watching any television. Our DVR is full of shows we've taped over the past three weeks but haven't seen. We're spending more time as a family talking, laughing, crying, and being there for one another.

It has now been 19 days that our schedules and routines have been completely turned upside down. We're so fortunate to have two sets of grandparents taking turns watching Ava and Casey. For everything that's happened, we feel like we've been able to create a sense of normalcy and new routines for our family and we're very grateful for that.

Ali and I spent most of the morning and afternoon with Brady. Today was very similar to yesterday. We learned that Brady took 75 ml at his 9 p.m. feeding last night (a new record). He also had 40 ml at midnight and 50 ml at 6 a.m. He slept through the 3 a.m. feeding. We hope that becomes routine before he comes home. :) He seems to be getting stronger and is really eating well at night.

He was wide awake for us to nurse at noon, but he only took 2 ml. We have been told that it is common for babies like Brady to take a longer time learning to breastfeed. We'll keep trying every day and hope that he continues to improve. Brady will have a swallow test tomorrow morning to make sure there aren't any other issues preventing him from eating well.

My parents brought Ava and Casey up to the hospital for about an hour this afternoon. Casey played in a family meeting room while Ava spent some quality time with Brady. She was even more comfortable holding him today.

Ali and I took turns giving Brady some tummy time this afternoon. We reclined in a chair and placed him face down on our chests. His neck is getting stronger and he fell asleep for long periods of time.

The two nurses in our room today have both worked for over 30 years. We were listening to them reminisce about how much the NICU has changed over time. They said nurses and doctors used to smoke in the NICU (near oxygen tanks and babies with breathing problems). They also talked about how much ventilators have improved. When they first started they needed to bag babies (using hand-held ventilators) for two days or more taking turns when their hands got tired. They talked about how fortunate Brady is to have all of the new technology today (especially new ventilators and the cooling blanket).

Ava and I go back to school tomorrow and have one full week before spring break. We're holding out hope that we could spend spring break together playing outside as a family of five.

Maybe Brady and I can watch the Final Four together in our family room at home.

With love,

Tyler, Ali, Ava, Casey and Brady