sorry that this is going to be a picture free post...
i'm posting from the ronald mcdonald house at tch. thank goodness there is computer access here so i can see what is going on in the outside world! not to mention my cell phone is not working, so it's the only way i can communicate with people!
anyway, i just wanted to give a quick update on the little man. brandon has been doing really great the last day and a half. he is slowly being weaned off of his oxygen. they are saying that in the next couple of days he will hopefully be off the cannula. of course, they remind us that this is like a roller coaster ride, so we have to be prepared to get back on it if brandon has difficulty maintaining his saturation levels. he nursed today for the very first time. they say that eating difficulties usually go along with those babies with respiratory problems, so the doctors were very happy that he's nursing. because of all these milestones, he has been downgraded to a level II baby and as soon as a bed becomes available, they will transfer him to the level II nursery. yeah!!!
i'll be spending the rest of the day here loving on my baby and bringing in the new year with him. i hope everyone has a happy new year! be safe if you're out and about tonight.
UPDATE: we have been moved to the level II nursery as of 7:00 p.m. we are in room H151. thank goodness it's a private room. i can now stay the night with the baby in the room. makes me a much happier mommy!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
sweet baby love
three posts in one day...having trouble organizing my thoughts with all this sleep deprivation!
we spent the day at the hospital loving on our little man. he spent most of the day in my arms. i am pretty sure that he's going to be spoiled rotten!
a few updates...he's on the cannula still but the doctors are hoping to wean him off in the next couple of days. he tried eating from a bottle. the first time he ate 7 cc's on his own. the second time he finished all 39 cc's. he was a little tired for the third feeding, so we let him be lazy and take it through the ng tube. we are hoping that sometime next week he'll be home. he just needs a little more time to grow.
until today, james had never gotten to hold his baby boy. he's been so sweet to me letting me enjoy that special time with the baby. but today, i did share and it just melts my heart to see him hold and love on his baby boy. i hope that james, jared and brandon always have a close relationship. my boys are so lucky to have james for a daddy. i'm so proud of our little family!
we spent the day at the hospital loving on our little man. he spent most of the day in my arms. i am pretty sure that he's going to be spoiled rotten!
a few updates...he's on the cannula still but the doctors are hoping to wean him off in the next couple of days. he tried eating from a bottle. the first time he ate 7 cc's on his own. the second time he finished all 39 cc's. he was a little tired for the third feeding, so we let him be lazy and take it through the ng tube. we are hoping that sometime next week he'll be home. he just needs a little more time to grow.until today, james had never gotten to hold his baby boy. he's been so sweet to me letting me enjoy that special time with the baby. but today, i did share and it just melts my heart to see him hold and love on his baby boy. i hope that james, jared and brandon always have a close relationship. my boys are so lucky to have james for a daddy. i'm so proud of our little family!first visitors
baby brandon has gotten to meet lots of special people in the first few days of his life. despite the circumstances, it has been such a blessing to share our sweet little man with our family and friends.
when we found out that brandon was really sick, my mom stayed up half the night talking to me about the procedures and terminology we were hearing. she made sure that we knew what was supposed to be happening in the nicu and fussed at a nurse when she saw how she restrained him (at the first hospital). we'll have to start limiting her time at the hospital though...she's a baby hog! ha ha.
when we found out that brandon was really sick, my mom stayed up half the night talking to me about the procedures and terminology we were hearing. she made sure that we knew what was supposed to be happening in the nicu and fussed at a nurse when she saw how she restrained him (at the first hospital). we'll have to start limiting her time at the hospital though...she's a baby hog! ha ha.
yesterday allison came to meet brandon. it was so nice to see a familiar face and just spend time laughing about the good 'ol days. i was thinking about it today, she has been there for me so many different times in my life...good and bad. i am so lucky to have a friend in her. 
brandon also got to meet his uncle todd. i'm sure that brandon will soon get in on jared and lauren's game of yelling "uncle todd, uncle todd" from the backseat of the mini! 
brandon's other grammy finally got to come meet him. she was so kind to be patient about meeting brandon so that she could help us with watching jared and lauren.
jennifer also stopped by to see us. we were so excited to share the updates on his progress with her. thanks for taking time out of your work day to come see us and meet the little guy.
but the best treat for brandon (and for us) was jared and lauren meeting their baby brother. on sundays and wednesdays, texas children's has "sibling day" and the siblings of patients are encouraged to come up and spend time with them. we were pretty sure that jared would react sweetly to his brother. for days he's been saying that he wants to give his brother a green light saber when he gets home and that he wants to play blokus with him. the first day i came home from the hospital, he was so concerned about brandon being alone! anyway, every time someone walked by our station, he would wave and yell, "this is my baby brother!" it was so cute! we were concerned about lauren and how she'd feel being dethroned as the "baby." she had the biggest smile and just kept staring at him. she was so sweet asking before she leaned into the crib to kiss him on the shoulder. when we were leaving she asked if she could go back and say goodbye to him one more time. of course, how could we say no?
thanks everyone for stopping by and making this hospital stay more tolerable! we really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to make us feel special!
jennifer also stopped by to see us. we were so excited to share the updates on his progress with her. thanks for taking time out of your work day to come see us and meet the little guy.
but the best treat for brandon (and for us) was jared and lauren meeting their baby brother. on sundays and wednesdays, texas children's has "sibling day" and the siblings of patients are encouraged to come up and spend time with them. we were pretty sure that jared would react sweetly to his brother. for days he's been saying that he wants to give his brother a green light saber when he gets home and that he wants to play blokus with him. the first day i came home from the hospital, he was so concerned about brandon being alone! anyway, every time someone walked by our station, he would wave and yell, "this is my baby brother!" it was so cute! we were concerned about lauren and how she'd feel being dethroned as the "baby." she had the biggest smile and just kept staring at him. she was so sweet asking before she leaned into the crib to kiss him on the shoulder. when we were leaving she asked if she could go back and say goodbye to him one more time. of course, how could we say no?
thanks everyone for stopping by and making this hospital stay more tolerable! we really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to make us feel special!all dressed up
i have to hurry and get out of the house before the traffic gets bad, but i wanted to jump on and tell everyone that brandon is doing so much better now. when i arrived at the hospital yesterday morning, brandon had been weaned off the cpap and was doing really well on the cannula. he's getting ready to transition to the level II nursery! yeah!
yesterday was a really special day for the little man. he got to meet my sweet friend alli. she was with me when i arrived and got to see the excitement in my face when i saw all the major tubes gone! i was hoping that she'd get to hold him, but they had to take his uvc line out and didn't want him agitated. he also got to meet his uncle todd, and my favorite neighbors mr. steve and miss kathy! but the best thing...was that he got to meet his big brother and big sister. it was sibling day at texas children's and so they were allowed to come into the nicu and meet the little man!
in preparation for all his visitors yesterday, brandon got his first {sponge} bath. he was not a big fan of it. it was really sweet to hear his raspy cry though! i was so proud of myself for getting his diaper on in less than five minutes too! ha ha.
thanks again for all your continued prayers. james and i are humbled by the outpouring of love and support for us and our precious baby boy. here are some pictures of brandon in his very first outfit. much love...
yesterday was a really special day for the little man. he got to meet my sweet friend alli. she was with me when i arrived and got to see the excitement in my face when i saw all the major tubes gone! i was hoping that she'd get to hold him, but they had to take his uvc line out and didn't want him agitated. he also got to meet his uncle todd, and my favorite neighbors mr. steve and miss kathy! but the best thing...was that he got to meet his big brother and big sister. it was sibling day at texas children's and so they were allowed to come into the nicu and meet the little man!
in preparation for all his visitors yesterday, brandon got his first {sponge} bath. he was not a big fan of it. it was really sweet to hear his raspy cry though! i was so proud of myself for getting his diaper on in less than five minutes too! ha ha.
thanks again for all your continued prayers. james and i are humbled by the outpouring of love and support for us and our precious baby boy. here are some pictures of brandon in his very first outfit. much love...
Sunday, December 28, 2008
brandon reid
it's been quite an eventful holiday season!
brandon reid must not have liked my last blog post...so he evicted himself on his own terms! i won't go into the gory details, but my labor lasted most of christmas eve, and at 10:07 p.m. he made his entrance into the world. we thought everything was okay. he is definitely a feisty little man like his mother and sister. screaming at the top of his lungs. we noticed as they were cleaning him up that he started making some awful grunting noises. the nurses wrapped him up and took him right away to the nursery. i had a sinking feeling about what was going on, and probably what was going to happen. it was like deja vu from when i had jared. little did we know how similar their beginnings of life would be the same.
this is one of the first (non-gory) pictures of brandon reid. he weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. he does have hair, but it's hard to tell what color it is right now with all that "stuff" on him. he has the LONGEST little toes. he seriously could play piano with them! he's a sweet combination of his brother and sister. hopefully though...he'll have more of his brother's temperament. don't get me wrong, lauren is a sweet little mama, but she's feisty and i just don't know if i can take another one. isn't there a limit on one per family???
this is one of the first pictures i have with him. it's just my hand and his, but something about holding your baby's little hand for the first time just melts my heart. 
for most of christmas morning, brandon seemed to be doing okay on the oxyhood, but then he started retracting more and more so dr. friedman put him on the cpap. he stayed on that through the morning of the 26th, but the doctor got concerned that he would need more care than he could give at our hospital so he decided to transfer him to texas children's hospital.
thankfully the kangaroo care staff understood how i was feeling and they were so helpful in me documenting the little man's first ride in a vehicle! they even let me ride with him while daddy and grammy followed in the car.
brandon reid must not have liked my last blog post...so he evicted himself on his own terms! i won't go into the gory details, but my labor lasted most of christmas eve, and at 10:07 p.m. he made his entrance into the world. we thought everything was okay. he is definitely a feisty little man like his mother and sister. screaming at the top of his lungs. we noticed as they were cleaning him up that he started making some awful grunting noises. the nurses wrapped him up and took him right away to the nursery. i had a sinking feeling about what was going on, and probably what was going to happen. it was like deja vu from when i had jared. little did we know how similar their beginnings of life would be the same.
this is one of the first (non-gory) pictures of brandon reid. he weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. he does have hair, but it's hard to tell what color it is right now with all that "stuff" on him. he has the LONGEST little toes. he seriously could play piano with them! he's a sweet combination of his brother and sister. hopefully though...he'll have more of his brother's temperament. don't get me wrong, lauren is a sweet little mama, but she's feisty and i just don't know if i can take another one. isn't there a limit on one per family???at 4:45 a.m. on christmas morning, i finally got to see my little christmas present. it was so hard to see him under the oxyhood. his hair kind of looks like it could have a little curl in it!
this is one of the first pictures i have with him. it's just my hand and his, but something about holding your baby's little hand for the first time just melts my heart. for most of christmas morning, brandon seemed to be doing okay on the oxyhood, but then he started retracting more and more so dr. friedman put him on the cpap. he stayed on that through the morning of the 26th, but the doctor got concerned that he would need more care than he could give at our hospital so he decided to transfer him to texas children's hospital.as a new mom, you think about all the "firsts" your baby is going to have. the last one you probably would ever think to be having would be your "baby's first ambulance ride." logically you know you shouldn't even be worrying about that. but you go into having a baby with all these dreams and expectations, and when they don't happen...it's heartbreaking and overwhelming. and then you think about how selfish you're being when you know that your baby is struggling for every breath that he takes. 
thankfully the kangaroo care staff understood how i was feeling and they were so helpful in me documenting the little man's first ride in a vehicle! they even let me ride with him while daddy and grammy followed in the car. upon arrival in the level III nursery, the doctors and nurses started working on brandon. they intubated him within a few minutes. having to look at your 36 hour old baby on a ventilator, while you stand there helpless was almost more than i could take. the staff was so sweet and kind to me. one nurse hugged me for about 10 minutes until i could calm down. the doctors put in an order for cervanta, and told us we should start seeing some changes in the next 4-6 hours. and so we prayed. and prayed. and prayed. 
this is brandon's "room" at texas children's. i moved all the chairs out of the way for this picture, but they have made it comfortable for james and i to be at his bedside.
we sat vigil at brandon's bedside pretty much all day. we were able to get me a room at the ronald mcdonald house where i could get a good night's sleep and stay close to the little guy. i stayed up with brandon until 11 p.m. on the 26th and then i settled in for a good night's sleep.
i woke up at 5 a.m. and got cleaned up for the day. i went in before the shift change and brandon's nurse said he was starting to breathe over the ventilator so there was a pretty good chance that he'd be extubated soon. i could hardly contain my excitement. sorry to those of you that i woke up when i called so early to shout out the good news! the doctor came and extubated him mid-morning. she tried to put him on a cannula, but he couldn't keep his stats up. so he was placed back on the cpap. she said that she hoped he'd only be on it for another day or two and then they'd try the cannula again.
and for the FIRST time...i got to hold my little baby boy. it wasn't for very long, but it was enough to settle my heart and to give me hope that i could get through this ordeal without a major meltdown.
daddy arrived around lunchtime. he had been at home with jared and lauren. even though james' mom and aunt have been so kind to be watching the kids (since christmas eve morning), he still needed to go home and check on things. i'm sure he doesn't want to leave brandon's side either, but he sacrifices so i can stay with him. i love that man. 
james and i went and had lunch together. it was nice to sit down and visit with each other, even if it was at mcdonald's! we decided that i needed to get some rest at home (not to mention that i hadn't seen jared and lauren since christmas morning). we went back and spent a little more time with brandon, including the two of us trying to change his diaper. you'd think that after two kids, it wouldn't be such a big deal...i didn't time it...but it seemed like it was about 10 minutes from start to finish! gave a good chuckle to brandon's nurse! not to brandon though, although it was sweet to hear him cry. that was the first time since he was born.
after being so rudely disrupted from a peaceful nap, the nurse gave him his lunch and he settled down. we gave him his pacifier and several little kisses and said goodbye. 
if it weren't for jared and lauren at home, i would have fallen apart leaving him there. there were a few times on the way home that i started to cry, but i held it together pretty well. don't ask how dinner went though. i'm sure you can imagine what happened when i told the hostess that we were a party of four when really we should have been a party of five. i did manage to get through dinner, and after we got home we played games with the kids and i passed out on the floor in the front room.
it's now 3:30 a.m. and i am counting the hours until i head back to the hospital. the doctors said today is the big day where we should start seeing some big changes in brandon's progress. the nurse said they are going to try to move him to a crib since he is maintaining his own temperature. and the really neat thing is that once he's in a crib and some of his lines are out, we can give him a bath and i can dress him up.
THANK YOU all for your thoughts and prayers (and for reading this long post)! james and i feel the love and encouragement, and we know that all of the prayers are being heard. for those of you that have asked what we need...just prayers. lots and lots of prayers.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
eviction notice
went to the doctor this morning. we got to hear brandon's little heartbeat. the kids went with us and they were mesmerized when they heard it. pretty soon they'll be able to put their heads to his little chest and hear it whenever they want to!
the doctor said that i've progressed enough that if i haven't gone into labor by sunday, he's going to go ahead and induce me. so by december 28th, he'll be evicted! i'm not really sure what to think about all of this. i had my to do list mapped out to last me through the 2nd. but go figure...nothing ever works out according to my plan!
james and i will be putting the last of the nursery together today and hopefully get the guest room cleaned up enough that james' mom will be comfortable while she's here. after that, i'm propping my feet up and praying that brandon at least waits until after christmas eve to make his entrance into the world. i'm okay with him sharing jesus' birthday, but we have company coming over tomorrow! oh, and maybe my husband will go buy our new vehicle. you know...so we don't have to drive both of our cars to get anywhere as a family!
we wish everyone a merry christmas! be safe in all your travels!
the doctor said that i've progressed enough that if i haven't gone into labor by sunday, he's going to go ahead and induce me. so by december 28th, he'll be evicted! i'm not really sure what to think about all of this. i had my to do list mapped out to last me through the 2nd. but go figure...nothing ever works out according to my plan!
james and i will be putting the last of the nursery together today and hopefully get the guest room cleaned up enough that james' mom will be comfortable while she's here. after that, i'm propping my feet up and praying that brandon at least waits until after christmas eve to make his entrance into the world. i'm okay with him sharing jesus' birthday, but we have company coming over tomorrow! oh, and maybe my husband will go buy our new vehicle. you know...so we don't have to drive both of our cars to get anywhere as a family!
we wish everyone a merry christmas! be safe in all your travels!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
volcano dinner
after a weekend full of organizing and cleaning, we finally squeezed in getting our christmas photos. i am dying to post some of the outtakes here, but i want to get the card out in the mail first! thanks taylor for helping us get our last family picture (of the four of us) taken!
we realize our days are numbered as a family of four. we've been trying to enjoy the last bits of peace and quiet. playing lots of board games, cuddle time, and going to nice dinners. tonight we went to eat at hb steakhouse. for those of you not in the area, it's a hibachi grill...they cook right at your table. it's one of my favorite places to eat. jared calls it "volcano dinner" because they make a volcano out of onions. last night the kids ate with chopsticks for the first time. of course it took us twice as long to eat, but it was worth the cuteness! here are a couple of pictures. sorry about the lighting. it was so dark in there.
this is one of lauren's {elf}y expressions. she's such a little ham and she knows it! 
jared eating his fried rice. jared is definitely having a fun time at happy buddha!
we realize our days are numbered as a family of four. we've been trying to enjoy the last bits of peace and quiet. playing lots of board games, cuddle time, and going to nice dinners. tonight we went to eat at hb steakhouse. for those of you not in the area, it's a hibachi grill...they cook right at your table. it's one of my favorite places to eat. jared calls it "volcano dinner" because they make a volcano out of onions. last night the kids ate with chopsticks for the first time. of course it took us twice as long to eat, but it was worth the cuteness! here are a couple of pictures. sorry about the lighting. it was so dark in there.
this is one of lauren's {elf}y expressions. she's such a little ham and she knows it! jared eating his fried rice. jared is definitely having a fun time at happy buddha!Friday, December 19, 2008
Giving this the old college try....
i have wanted to start a blog for a long time now, but have been a little nervous to put out our information for all to see on the www.
not to mention, i'm not one to talk about myself or my family...
ha ha ha ha
but i figured with the addition of the little man (have i mentioned we are about two weeks away???), it would be harder for me to sit at the computer and send emails and pictures out to all our friends and family near and far one by one.
so i'm going to give this blogging thing the old college try. i'm pretty sure you'll get a glimpse into the chaos surrounding my life and you might get a good laugh. or maybe you'll feel sorry for me. or gain an understanding to why i'm so crazy! but hopefully you'll see the love i have for my family, especially the two, almost three kids that we have been entrusted with.
not to mention, i'm not one to talk about myself or my family...
ha ha ha ha
but i figured with the addition of the little man (have i mentioned we are about two weeks away???), it would be harder for me to sit at the computer and send emails and pictures out to all our friends and family near and far one by one.
so i'm going to give this blogging thing the old college try. i'm pretty sure you'll get a glimpse into the chaos surrounding my life and you might get a good laugh. or maybe you'll feel sorry for me. or gain an understanding to why i'm so crazy! but hopefully you'll see the love i have for my family, especially the two, almost three kids that we have been entrusted with.
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