Crazy Good Day!

It's been another crazy day! I have spent the last day and a half at the hospital so that I could feed that little man. The plan was that if today went well and he did O.K. with eating, breathing etc. he would be coming home tomorrow (Friday). Well... that "was" the plan...

This morning I decided to come home for awhile to get a break from the hospital, it was long overdue! Not to long after I got home, the phone rang. It was one of the neonatologists. I usually don't like to hear their voice on the other end of the phone...It usually comes with bad news. Not today!

They had decided that because Bridger is a champ at eating and doing so well with breathing they were going to bend the rules and let him come home today! Our little man is now home and doing well! The only breathing problem he has now is NO breathing room! These five siblings have waited long enough to hold him and are going to make up for lost time.

The NICU at Timpanogas Hospital is outstanding! We have two little miracles at our house because of them and a third thanks to the staff at UVRMC! Modern medicine is amazing but the special love and care the doctors and nurses gave our babies made all of the difference.

We couldn't have done this without the help & prayers of our family and friends! Bridger & his Dad and Mom thanks you all!

Getting Ready!

Let's go Home!

Happy to be home!

Happy Boy!

Today was a Great day for Bridger! I walked in to a great surprise...No Oxygen! He has done awesome all day!  They also pulled his feeding tube halfway through the day! If everything goes well we could be out of here very soon! He has to be off the oxygen for 48 hours and pass a few other tests. He is such a happy baby! Let's hope that when he gets out of this quiet, calm environment he can stay happy! It's going to be a big adjustment, there is a lot of noise going on at our house.

Thanks again for all of the love and support you have all shown. We couldn't ask for better friends and family!

This is what they call a "Swaddle Bath"
Bridger LOVED it!

If you look close you will see he is under a heat lamp after his bath... I think I need one of these!

All nice and clean! NO Oxygen, NO feeding tube and NO tape!

Good Boy!

Today Bridger was a very good boy. When I first got to the NICU I noticed that his oxygen was down. He was doing pretty good. Still breathing a little fast at times but overall he was good. At  3:00 P.M. the respiratory therapist decided to turn it down again. He has done really well all day. He is eating by mouth most of the time but still wears out easily and needs to be tube fed sometimes. It all takes time! We have been so happy with todays progress. We can't wait to have him home!

Big Boy Bed

May 13, 2013

Well today when I got to the NICU, Bridger was in a big boy bed...(That is what the nurse called it)
Last night they were able to take out his PICC line and he has been holding his own temperature so this means he graduated to a normal bed like you see in the well baby nursery. He was also dressed in a little sleeper and all swaddled up like a healthy boy. The only things we have left to get rid of are the feeding tube and the oxygen... To Bad they are both so important!  He still struggles with keeping his breathing in a normal pattern. He sometimes gets up to 120 breathes per minute, normal range should be below 50. He still has a ways to go with that and until we get the oxygen levels down, the feedings are mostly through a tube. I still get to hold him a little bit so as long as that doesn't change things will be o.k. :)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers day to all of the Moms out there!

We had a surprise today. The RSV season officially ended yesterday! (Apparently it was extra long this year) This means that visitor rules were changed and Bridger got to meet his big Brothers and Sister. Tucker wasn't allowed...You have to be over 5 yrs. old to visit. I don't think it is fair to leave Tucker out considering that he paid for at least half of the new NICU wing!

The kids were beyond thrilled at the news that they got to come. Brady, Taylor and Brinnley couldn't get over how tiny he is and Bronco just stood there and giggled!
It was fun to see their reactions.

As for Bridger he had a mild set back, he isn't tolerating being weaned down on the oxygen. His respiratory rate keeps sky rocketing, so for now they have stopped trying. He gets so stressed out that it wears him out and they really try to avoid that. We will be patient! He was pretty sad today. I think he has had enough of it all!

I am hoping for better luck tomorrow! He is a sweetheart and he is making it harder and harder to leave him there each day!

Brady & Bridger

Bronco & Bridger

Big Sis. Brinnley

Taylor & Bridger

Exhausted after all of my visitors!

Bronco was pretty excited to find that they had "FREE" masks at the hospital!

Yay!

May 11, 2013

Yay! No more lights as of today! Little Bridger is doing great! He finished his I.V. antibiotics as of tonight and is quickly weaning down on the oxygen. He is awake most of the time and wants all of the nurses’ undivided attention. He doesn’t seem to understand why he has to share her. He had one all to himself the first few days and now that he is doing so good one nurse takes care of him and 1-2 other babies…

They were happy to see me and let me hold him for three hours today. He was a happy boy! He still has a ways to go on the oxygen but if he is anything like Brinnley and Tucker were, he will be off of it in no time. Once our other babies turned the corner they took off and surprised everyone. He is doing the same thing already.

He had a great day today and his Dad finally got to hold him!

Let’s hope he keeps it up!

May 10, 2013

Bridger made some good progress today. They decided to switch from the umbilical line to a PICC line so that he could be held easier and safer. The PICC line is a line that threads through a vein in his arm all the way to his heart. They call in a special team to do it and all I know is it took forever for them to get it in. I think it was about an hour and a half before they called and said I could come back in. They also changed his feeding tube to one in his nose so that he can have a binky and start to learn the sucking reflex. It is so nice to start seeing things coming off instead of adding more and more  to him.

Once the PICC line was in I got to hold him during two of his feedings.  He is still on a lot of oxygen support, so for now the only food he gets is through his feeding tube. He is a pretty happy little guy for what he is going through. Hopefully he will keep on making big improvements everyday!

They are hoping to get rid of the lights tomorrow!

This picture was taken before they moved the feeding tube.

No goggles for a minute while my Mom holds me!