Coming home from the hospital outfit

As soon as David and I found out that I was pregnant we knew immediately what we wanted to bring Brantley home in. A CAMO OUTFIT!!! It was really big for him, but we didn't care. He looked so cute!! He had a onsee, pants, and matching shoes. The only thing that was missing was a hat...I am just going to have to find one.

HE'S HOME....MY BABY BOY IS HOME!!!

He is home!! I can hardly believe it. This past month has, at times, felt as though it would never end but at the same time has gone so fast. Brantley has come so far and has made such good progress. He did come home on a heart monitor but David and I are kind of glad. The monitor gives us peace of mind. It tells if his heart rate drops to low or goes to high or if he stops breathing. But since he came home on a monitor we had to stay at the hospital again but this time we got to put him in our room. It was a LONG night for both David and I. We weren't quite sure what to expect but we got a real eye opener into parenthood. Last night when we brought him home was so much better. He sleeps good, he eats pretty good (we are still working on nursing but he does fantastic with a bottle.) and thankfully we haven't had to really use the monitor. He seems to be breathing and heart beating wonderfully.

We went to his first well baby doctor appointment today and he now weighs 6 pounds 14 ounces and if 21 inches long. He is getting so big and is filling out quite nicely. He is becoming a cute little chunky monkey.

Adjusting to parent hood is hard but he is so cute and he makes all the lack of sleep worth it. I love watching him and holding him. I am so glad he is mine. We are home for RSV season and will be locked away for a while. Life is good, we are so blessed and are grateful to everyone for their prayers on our behalf and that we are able to have our baby boy home with us!

Well...

Life is so great!! Today we are on a 12 hour request what does this mean you ask...it means Brantley is coming home SOOOO soon!! What it also means is that for 12 hours straight I get to feed Brantley with every feeding when ever HE wants to eat. We can let him go as long as four hours before we have to wake him up to feed him, but he is getting so close.

I have had some amazing showers the past couple of weeks and got some absolutely fantastic things. I will post pictures later. I have some fantastic friends and family. Thank you to everyone!!!

Brantleys room is almost complete. I found a boarder that matches his bed set and I also painted some letters for his name. I can't wait until it is done!!

Brantley is now 37 weeks old and 6 pounds 7 ounces from the last time they weighed him two days ago. He is looking so good and is so cute I just can't get enough of him. Soon we will have him home and I can hardly wait!!!

Today is a great day...Brantley is one month old and making WONDERFUL progress.

Well to start off Brantley did very well breast feeding today. Not at first, we were struggling until I had this thought to pull out a nipple shield that the nurse gave me a long while ago. I hadn't used it but maybe once before. After I put that on he did great. He got 50% of his feeding. So the nurse said he has done so well with his bottles and gets about 50% of his breast feedings that she moved us to 4-a-day feedings. YAHOO!! I am so proud of our little man! He is doing so well and if he keeps up the wonderful progress he could be home sometime NEXT WEEK.

*Brantley Update*

WE ARE GETTING SO CLOSE TO COMING HOME!!! There are still lots of things that need to happen, but we are to the point where the talk of home is a regular topic. But let me update on what has happened since the last update post.

Brantley had his acid reflux test and ijt came out that he has it pretty signifcantly. He is on medications to help him and his heart rate and oxygen saturation. The medication took about 5 days to kick in so they put him back on oxygen until the medication kicked in.

They took him off the oxygen last night and the nurses are just watching him to see how he does.

We moved to 3-a-day feedings, so I have been feeding him at 10:00am 4:00pm and 10:00pm. I started doing two bottles and one breast feeding. But the doctor told me that I needed to do two breast feedings and one bottle. But Brantley hasn't been doing well at all with breast feedings. I know it is because we gave him the bottles but I have been getting so frustrated. I know breast feeding takes time and he is still really little but I want him home so badly. Once he is eating 75% of two of his feedings and 50% of the third that is when they will move him to 4-a-day feedings. I don't want to give up on breast feeding but he does so well with the bottles I have struggled not doing bottles exclusively. I don't want to give up on breast feeding. I feel it is important so I will keep doing atleast one breast feeding a day.

David gives Brantley a bottle at night. I LOVE watching him do it. He is the sweetest daddy. There is nothing in the world like watching David smile and hold Brantley and talk to him. I can't really put it in to words. He is absolutely wonderful!!!

He now weighs 6 pounds 2 ounces. But he still feels so tiny. We are so proud of how he is growing! We sure do love him.

Oh How Brantley has changed over the past couple of weeks....

We had just given him a bath and his hair was so fuzzy! The pictures don't do justice.

These pictures are from the test I mentioned in the previous post.

The poor boy was miserable with all the extra tubes.

The first (real) bath David and I got to give Brantley

He loved it

We didn't even get a real whimper from him during the whole thing.

Brantley loves being held by his daddy!

being held by his dad

Just chillin

I love this picture...he looks like he is laughing!

I absolutely love his picture it just makes me smile!

So wide awake after his feeding! Such a cute little man!

I can't believe how much love I have for him!

and I thought we had it bad....

So the NICU has what they call a parent support group. This group puts on a dinner every Tuesday night with pizza and salad. David and I decided to go for the first time on Tuesday. While we were there some of the couples were talking about their baby's and I was blown away with how blessed David, Brantley, and I have been blessed. One of the women had her baby at 26 weeks and the other at 27 weeks. Both baby's were under 2 pounds. The 27 weeker has been doing fantastic and is now over 5 pounds but they have been here for quite a while and will still be here for a while. They are from Price so the mom brought their 5-wheel and has parked it in the parking lot across the street and lives there most of the time. She only occasionally goes home. The other couple just had there baby a week or two ago and she hasn't even been able to hold her baby yet. They can only touch and that is at a bear minimum. They also live quite a ways away and will be bringing a trailer to park in the parking lot across the street also. I couldn't help but to count my many blessing. Brantley was born at a small but great 4 pounds 6 ounces. We were able to hold him right away. We live so close that I am able to come and go as I please and continue to do the things I need to at home but come and see Brantley as much as I want and need too. The thought just kept coming to me of "no matter how bad I have it, someone always seems to have it worse." and that is so true. We really have been so blessed. Brantley is healthy and strong (for the most part) and he is eating well and continuing to grow and improve. We are so glad to have him as part of our family.