May 31st

Today is our 8th Wedding Anniversary and we are so blessed. Brody weighs 5 pounds, 14 ounces! His cannula was turned back up to 3 liters today. It was on 2 for a while, but he was having apnea spells so it had to be turned back up. He just isn't ready yet. He continues to enjoy his baths and he has outgrown the premie outfits! On to newborn...

Memorial Day

Thank you to the veterans this Memorial Day. On this day, we pray for the soldiers who serve or have served. We honor and thank the soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us.

Last night, we went to Breezy Point for the first time since Brody was born. It was the furthest we've been away from Brody. We missed hiim, but it was really nice to get away from the NICU for a little while. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for having us over, and good to see you Mulhollands!

Tonight, Brody and Mom snuggled for 3 hours! He was sleeping so happily, she couldn't put him down. He now weighs 5 1/2 pounds! Mom used to think he looked just like Russ, but now that his cheeks are filling in, she thinks he resembles his Mommy's baby pictures.

Thursday

Hi! We don't have much of an update today, as things are pretty much the same as yesterday with one big exception! Brody gained 100 grams last night, so he now weighs 5 pounds, 2.5 ounces! We are proud of our little Brody for getting so big!

Wednesday

Today, Brody weighs 4 lbs., 15 oz.! He didn't gain 5 oz. overnight. The weight on yesterday's post was a day or two old. Anyway, he is very close to 5 pounds!

His oxygen needs have stayed the same for quite some time now, and he hasn't been weaning further from the high flow cannula. His Albumin (sp?) level is low, which causes fluids to leak out of cells and then the body (including lungs) retains water. To help him with this, he is getting Albumin and Lasiks starting today for three days. Hopefully this will help him get better!

Tuesday, May 24th

Brody is getting to be a big boy and now weighs 4 lbs., 10 oz. He was able to ween from 4 liters on the cannula to 3 liters. He is eating 36 mL every three hours. Mommy went back to work and misses Brody very much.

So, you know the stories about Brody's blowouts. Well, he has gotten several new isolettes since he has been back in St. Cloud, the most recent one being today. The nurse put him on the scale while she cleaned his isolette and he exploded all over the computer! She had to call housekeeping. Things in the drawers had to be thrown out. Oh, Brody, you know how to keep us entertained. You get this all out now before we bring you home! Mom and Dad have learned to keep the diaper on you, though.

Wide Awake

Brody has been more alert lately, and is really starting to look around. He now weighs 4 lbs., 7 oz.! His oxygen needs are still around 35-40% on a goal of 21%. When he needs less oxygen, he'll be able to ween from the high flow cannula. The air in the cannula is set at 4 liters and it needs to be around 1 liter before he can start learning to eat from the bottle. He has a long way to go, but he's getting better every day.

He just loves his baths. He doesn't cry at all.

Wide Awake

Brody weighs 4 lbs., 3 oz. today! He has been staying awake longer lately.

Brody and Daddy hanging out while Mommy is at work

Sunday

Brody weighs 4 pounds! Who would have thought we'd be saying "that's huge!"?

Last night's nurse learned a valuable lesson; don't pick up Brody's legs too far up when changing him. He got a new isolette again last night. :)

My Easter outfit from Aunt Sandy

2 Months Old! Bath Time and Shots

Mom gave Brody a bath for the first time. Since he still has his PICC line in, he can't soak in the tub yet, but he gets a "sponge" bath with a washcloth. He really enjoyed his bath and slept through most of it.

And then there were the shots... Brody got his 2 month shots. Can you believe he is 2 months old today?

Check out my Snoopy Band-aid

In my premie outfit from Auntie Rae

Back to St. Cloud!

Look at me, I'm so happy!

We found out late last night that we were coming home today! Brody was loaded up into the ambulance at around noon and the trip went well. We are so glad to be back at the St. Cloud Hospital!

Brody had another blowout. Boy, this kid has an impressive talent.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, a day late.

Brody has graduated in several areas over the past two days. He is on the cannula now, which is just a clear tube with prongs. It has a continual supply of air and oxygen and he is breathing on his own! He was also moved to a crib instead of the isolette. His body temperature has been a bit on the cold side, so he may need to go back in the isolette but we are giving him a little bit of time to adjust. Also, he is now wearing clothes! We had Papa bring down the premie outfits and we will wash them and start posting some pictures. We have enough premie outfits; the nurse thinks he will probably grow out of them in a week or two!

C-Pap and Baby Cry

Here is Mr. Brody on his C-Pap machine. He likes to move his head now, so that is why it is so far back; he liked it that way. He has been sucking on a pacifier since the tube came out. It is so cute!

Since Brody has been intubated most of his life, we haven't heard him cry because the tube goes past his vocal cords. Now that the tube is out we can hear his voice for the first time. We haven't had much luck with posting videos on this blog, but we tried Papa's camera this time, so we hope it works!

Thursday

We were finally scheduled to transfer to St. Cloud on Friday at noon, but we hit another fork in the road.

Brody's breathing tube came out last night. The good news is that the doctors felt he was ready to try the c-pap instead of being re-intubated. The bad news is that he will need to be stable with his breathing before he can be transferred. He will be on c-pap for an undetermined amount of time (it depends completely on Brody), and then they will switch to a cannula. A cannula is the tube that runs across the bottom of the nose with two prongs up the nose. They want him to be stable on the cannula for a few days before the transfer.

Papa and Mommy were up all night with Brody. He did a very good job transitioning to the new way of breathing, but he is very restless. He will sleep for a few minutes and then start crying. He still isn't making much of a noise, but every once in a while we will hear the cries now that the tube is out of his throat. We can sure see it when he cries, though. His stats are good, he is maintaining pretty good oxygen levels with only a few dips. His blood gas tests are coming back good (these tests monitor the levels of carbon dioxide and other gases in the blood to make sure he is getting the waste products out of his system through his breathing).

Wednesday

Well, we were planning to be transported back to St. Cloud tomorrow, but we are caught up in insurance company red tape. The insurance company won't authorize his transfer back to St. Cloud. The case manager at the St. Cloud hospital is trying to convince them that they should authorize the transfer because they will recover the money in a few days based on what they will save in the difference between NICU costs at Minneapolis vs. St. Cloud. Meanwhile, we wait for phone calls to be returned and people to make decisions. Right now we have no idea how long we will be stuck here, but Medica plans to leave us here until the end of June, 70 miles away from home. So much for 4 or 5 days, huh?

Brody is slowly weening further from the ventilator. It shouldn't be much longer now. His potasium level is low, so they are giving him a continuous infusion. Today is the last dose of steroids, which he has been getting to help his lungs clear up. He had a fever yesterday for only a few minutes; the nurse thinks it was just because he was agitated from a bunch of activity all at one time. But they took blood and urine just as a precaution and so far no infections have shown up on the cultures.

He is resting peacefully today and continues to rest and grow.

Tuesday

Brody has been cleared by the surgeons to go back to St. Cloud, but we are in discussions with the insurance company about the transfer. We still hope for Thursday, but we don't know yet. We'll keep you posted.

Brody is doing well. He is getting agitated because he is being weened from the pain medicine. There was a change to once every 12 hours from once every 6 hours, so he isn't too happy. Otherwise, he's good. They are weening him from the ventilator and he is turning his head as though he wants it out. It won't be long now!

Monday, May 2nd

Brody's surgeons cleared him to go back to St. Cloud, so now it is a matter of clearing insurance and getting a transfer team together. As of today, we are being told we will transfer back to St. Cloud on Thursday. We are told by other NICU parents not to make plans because things change so often. We know this to be true, as we were told last week that he would be going to St. Cloud on Monday or Tuesday and here we are.

He is weening from his ventilator, but there is no time estimate yet for when he will be free of it. It all depends on how his lungs do as he grows. If Mom had to guess, she would say he will be on it for another couple of weeks. He is 7 weeks old now, and 32 weeks corrected gestational age. His vitals are more stable and his alarms are not going off as often. He is now getting 22 mLs per 3 hours and he is no longer needing the additional nutrition through his IV.

He has been opening his eyes for long periods of time and looking around. His new thing is that he loves being tucked in. The nurses put this bean bag thing on top of him and he just loves the weight of it. They say it comforts a newborn to be confined. Another new thing is that he can not stand a dirty or wet diaper. He cries and cries when he needs a diaper change. We can't hear him because of the tube, but his face sure shows it.

Hopefully soon we will be posting updates from home!