It was fun to wake up in our house and spend the morning with Ali, Ava and Casey. I snuggled in bed with Casey for about an hour, and we all ate breakfast and lunch together. Our normal routines have really been thrown for a loop, and we're so proud of how Ava and Casey have handled all of the changes. We're very fortunate to have our family nearby and that our kids are totally comfortable spending entire days (and sometimes nights) with both sets of grandparents and their cousins.
Jerry and Rita watched the kids today this afternoon while Ali and I visited Brady. When we got there, he was sitting in a bouncy chair and dressed in a new outfit. In talking to the nurses, it sounds like there wasn't much change from our last visit. His oxygen levels are the same as yesterday. He drank 3 ml from a bottle this morning (compared to 7 ml yesterday).
Ali and I were both able to hold him for a while. Once again, he opened his eyes for long periods of time. He had a few briefs cries, but we're still waiting for him to sound like our other two kids did at this age. Brady did a good job of sucking on his pacifier today when we held him. In addition to the milk coming through the tube in his nose, the nurse also fed him a small amount through a syringe in his mouth. She did this while he was sucking on a pacifier to get him used to that sensation. We've learned that the hardest thing for NICU babies to learn is how to coordinate the suck-swallow-breathe process. Brady needs to be able to breathe on his own before we can make major strides in his feeding. And he needs to do both on his own before he can come home.
While it's frustrating that there wasn't any "major progress" with Brady today, we've learned that patience is so important for NICU families. Our primary nurse has worked at the U of M NICU since the early 70's. She told me that some babies have stayed in the unit for as long as 18 months. I can't imagine what type of strain that would put on a family.
To think of how far he's come in 10 days, we're happy to wait as long as it takes. He's in great hands with the doctors and nurses there.
We keep asking Ava to join us up there. We show her pictures and video of Brady on a daily basis to get her comfortable with her new brother and his surroundings at the NICU. She still is scared to visit, and we don't want to push her until she's ready. Ava was so excited to see and hold her baby brother and it breaks our hearts that she still hasn't met him. Casey also is starting to understand that we have a new addition to the family, and we're interested to see how things will change with him now as a middle child.
We'll keep visiting Brady for as long as it takes. We can't wait to get him home and get our family of five together for the first time.
With love,
Tyler, Ali, Ava, Casey and Brady
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