Doctor's Visit

I took Bryson to Dr. F, our pediatrician, yesterday and we did not get the news we were hoping for. Bryson had lost an ounce in a week. We are going to give Bryson a bottle with my milk in it and the added calories at every feeding instead of me nursing him every other time. I wish I could nurse him every feeding, but right now, this is what he needs, the extra calories. We will go back on Friday to see if he has gained. Please pray Bryson puts on a few extra ounces between now and Friday.

Dr. F also took some blood the check for kidney function, electrolytes, iron, potassium, etc. and the results were good. We thank God for answering our prayers and we pray he continues to hear us.

I have been sticking to giving him a bottle, every 3 hours on the dot, and he has been pretty good at finishing those bottles. Sometimes he gets lazy and wants to sleep instead of drink, which is normal for any newborn, but Bryson HAS to stay awake. It is crucial. Sometimes we have to change a diaper, unbundle him, or undress him to get him to stay awake, whatever it takes. :)

Last night, instead of letting Bryson sleep through the night, only waking up once like he has been, I sat my alarm to wake me every 3 hours to give him a bottle. Maybe this will help him put on some weight. It's so hard to wake a sleeping baby at 3 in the morning!

Please pray for good news when we go back for a weight check on Friday. We still need those prayers.

Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day it has been! I stayed home with Bryson this morning while Greg and the girls went to church. We aren't quite ready to get him out around crowds yet. The dr. said B's immune system shouldn't be any weaker than any other newborn, but we just want to stay on the safe side. :)

Bryson is doing well. The only problem we've had is that he has made it a habit to throw up once a day for the past 5 days. It wouln't worry me so much if his gaining weight wasn't crucial. Other than that, he has been the best baby! He's so content.

He has been waking up only once at night, but I have tried to be good and wake him up at least one other time to eat. It's so hard to wake a sleeping baby! :) He is by far the best sleeper of my three babies. He has been awake almost the whole day with only a couple of cat naps. (One while his big sister Chaney held him). She is definitely a little momma, she begs to hold him.

We will go back to our pediatrician on Tuesday to make sure B is gaining weight. We pray for a good report. Please continue to pray for Bryson for many days to come.

Home Sweet Home

Sorry about slacking on updating the blog. I tried updating the day we left the hospital from my phone but obviously I was unsuccessful. I didn't mean to leave you hanging but we have been really busy since returning home.

Bryson was discharged from Childrens Monday night at about 5:00p.m. and we got home about 9:30p.m. There was TONS of traffic because of a wreck near Conway and it was already a busy time of day. We sat in traffic for nearly an hour, barely moving. I was very inpatient because I was so ready to get home.

Monday morning, the doctor on duty, Dr. Dyamenhalli, came to our room and said he wanted some blood tests done and chest x-ray before he would release him. Mom had already carried pretty much everything down to the car, Greg had already come home to return to work. The blood tests would show his kidney function, electrolytes, and check bili level.

The bili level had continue to drop and kidneys looked good. The x-ray showed no change from the x-ray over a week ago. Lungs were still a little cloudy, but not any worse.

We were set up to see our pediatrician here at home Tuesday for a weight check and for Dr. Froman to assess his breathing. She said he looked great! He weighed 8lb. 6oz. We will continue to see her weekly for weight. Bryson will have a harder time gaining weight than a healthy newborn because of his heart working harder and burning more calories.

We will go back down to Little Rock on May 7th to see our cardiologist for a follow up. We will then find out how often we will make the trip down to Childrens.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support and please continue to pray for Bryson's strength.

Go

The H word

We talked to Dr. Fontanot today, Bryson is still doing well and all we are waiting for is for him to take all feedings orally and gain weight. HOME is in the near future! He is still breathing a little bit hard because of the holes in his heart. Dr. F said by the high pitch sound he heard when listening to Bryson's chest, the VSDs are closing. They also turned Bryson's flow on the oxygen down to 1 and it is still providing 21% air (atmospheric air). The air is just giving him a little boost, he is doing the work on his own.
Our doctor is off as of tomorrow and we will miss him. He is a very laid back, very knowledgeable man, that makes you feel good everytime you talk to him.
Please continue to pray for Bryson to make steady progress. God hears our prayers and we can all see that he is answering those prayers. Thanks again for all the support from our family, friends, and even strangers, we are so blest. Please know we do not take you for granted, we thank the Lord for you daily.
p.s. My battery died in my camera, but I will try and upload some pics from my phone soon.

Good Night

B had a good night last night. He is still retracting a little with his breathing, but it is better than yesterday. He will probably just coast today and might see a slight drop in the air flow to his cannula. He has also done well with his bottle feedings. We are working towards getting that feeding tube out!

Dr. F update

Since we last posted, a few changes have been made. They decided to put Bryson back on room air just blowing in his nose. His stats have been great, he has just been retracting a bit when he breathes. They believe it is just him trying to transition to do ALL the work on his own. But we still have been getting good news. Vitals have always been good, he's doing good on tolerating his feedings.