Ava and I are both officially on spring break. As a teacher, I've always looked forward to spring break as a time to "recharge the batteries" for that final stretch of school. I've been fortunate to travel every year during spring break since I was young. Most of the time we've traveled to Florida or some other warm place.
When we found out Ali was pregnant, we knew our annual spring break vacation was in jeopardy. Our initial due date was March 8. We figured it would be hard to travel with a baby only a couple of weeks old. We could've never imagined at the time that we'd reach spring break without the ability to travel outside of a hospital room with our new baby.
Instead of swimming in a pool or walking the beach, we're looking forward to a spring break spent together as a family at the hospital and at home.
We continue to be blessed by the sacrifices our families have made to help us. My mom had her annual trip to Florida booked for this week but canceled it at the last minute when we realized Brady wasn't going to be home. Ali's mom and dad came home early from their Florida vacation once we knew our baby would be born before the due date. Now Ali's sister and brother-in-law have traveled to Vietnam for a week and Jerry and Rita are watching their three kids in addition to helping with ours.
Our parents have taken turns every day watching Ava and Casey so Ali can spend as much time at the hospital with Brady as possible. We're going to continue that juggling act until Brady comes home. We're so thankful for their generosity, and Ava and Casey have really adjusted well to their extra time with the grandparents.
Today was another day of growth for Brady. He gained 80 grams (2.8 ounces) from yesterday. If he keeps growing at this rate, he'll reach the 12 pound barrier soon.
His feedings continue to improve. His bottle feedings were 70 ml at 6 p.m., 50 ml at 9 p.m., 55 ml at 3 a.m., 40 ml at 6 a.m., and 52 ml at 9 a.m. Ali fed him 47 ml at noon and 62 ml at 3 p.m. Once again, this was a new record for Ali and Brady.
Ali said feeding Brady still isn't easy. The OT has been working with Ali and giving her techniques to help Brady. To help prevent reflux, they are having Brady sit up while eating. Ali needs to hold his head and his chin with one hand and the bottle with the other. Sometimes the feeding takes as long as an hour. When Brady's not hungry his tongue goes to roof of mouth. To get his tongue down, Ali strokes under his chin in a circular motion and the tongue eventually goes down.
The nurses today said they are very pleased with his progress. They think his feeding amount will continue to increase over the next few days.
Ali still had a little bit of blood coming from her incision today and still has some pain and discomfort. She has her next doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Please continue to keep Ali and Brady in your thoughts and prayers.
With love,
Tyler, Ali, Ava, Casey and Brady
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