Three Weeks & Setbacks

It's hard to believe that it's been three weeks since Brady's birth. The past 21 days have flown by quickly. At the same time, it's too long to have a family divided.

When we were tucking Ava in to bed tonight she asked when Brady would be home. What do you say to her? It's hard to answer when we don't know and the doctors can't even make predictions. We understand that every baby is different, and we know that Brady is a unique case. We're just taking everything one day at a time.

Even if we did know, Ava doesn't completely understand the concept of time. We keep telling her that Brady is getting better, and he still needs to stay in the hospital until he is a little stronger. She told us she's looking forward to spring break so she can spend more time with him. She already has a special bond with her little brother.

Casey was looking at pictures of Brady today. He knows that Brady is his brother, but it's so strange to think that he's never met him.

Today was a step backward for Brady. His feedings at night have been consistently around 50 ml and were as high as 75 ml. Last night they were around 20 ml. Ali tried bottle feeding him at noon and he took 10 ml.

The OT said they will give him about two more weeks to get his full feedings from a bottle (100 ml every three hours). If he's unable to do that, the next process would be to insert a gastrostomy tube (G-tube) into his abdomen (this would replace the tube in his nose).

This is a surgery that would take less than an hour to complete. The G-tube would stay in his body for several months. We would continue trying to feed him by bottle and the G-tube would supplement what Brady was taking in by mouth.

The OT also said Brady has gotten tighter in his arms and legs. We hope this is just a temporary setback, and we hope he will continue progressing as time moves on.

Ali had her staples removed today. She is still very sore and it hasn't completely healed. She will go back in on Tuesday to have it checked again.

Brady has come so far, and we know these are just small bumps in the road. We continue to be inspired by his toughness and perseverance. Once again, we appreciate all of the messages and prayers for Brady and Ali.

With love,

Tyler, Ali, Ava, Casey and Brady