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!

May 9, 2013
Today was a HAPPY day! I got a phone call from Jaret. He had stopped to see Bridger on his way to work. When he walked into the NICU he was happily surprised to see that he was no longer on the ventilator!

Yesterday when we left they told us to expect a few more days o the vent, then sometime overnight our little man decided to turn the corner and surprise us all. He is still on quite a bit of oxygen support and still has in the lines through his umbilical cord to his heart. If those lines get bumped or pulled, he could bleed a lot and it could be really bad... Because of this he is still sedated some and we are not able to hold him except that...

This afternoon his nurse was awesome. I was sitting there by him and had been for quite awhile. She looked at the clock and then said...I am off in an hour and you are going to hold this baby before I go...We were very careful and watched his lines extremely close. I got to hold him for almost the whole hour. then she said lets get him back before the next nurse gets here! I love rule benders! So YES! I got to hold him but I am not sure when it will happen again. He opened his eyes for a bit and just looked straight at me. He was so content and I even got to see that he has a dimple on one side. He is a sweet little man!

May 8, 2013
Today when I got to the NICU Bridger was wearing a new pair of glasses! He looks pretty funny with them on. He had a good day with no chest tube in. We think we have seen the last of that. He had a few bad labs but nothing to serious. They have started him on a few new meds and extended the duration of antibiotics he is being given for the pneumonia. They are suctioning his lungs out every hour and I was shocked to see how much gunk they can get out of such a little thing. He got a little feisty while I was there today. I think it is crazy that he has the instinct to pull on the vent tube. Every time I would let go of his hands he would go straight for it...even though he is sedated. The nurse upped his sedation so he would settle down and leave everything where it was suppose to be!
Sometime late tonight they will be doing an Echo of his Heart. He might have something going on there. Tomorrow we should know more. He is such a sweet little man and feisty or not I loved seeing him moving around today!
Lindy

May 7, 2013
We have been waiting all day to hear if the chest tube gets to come out. Finally at 9:00 tonight a nurse called to let us know that YES! They were able to take it out and so far he is doing O.K. They will take another X-ray around midnight to make sure he isn't leaking any air. Baby steps toward getting better! The good news that comes with the chest tube removal is that they can decrease his sedation a little. The Chest tube is really painful and so they kept him very sedated to keep him comfortable. He will still be sedated because of the ventilator but we might be able to see a little bit more life in him in the next few days.
He is a little jaundice so in the picture you'll see he is sporting a new pair of goggles. and getting a tan under the lights!
Hopefully more good news tomorrow!
The Gordon's

Muscle Man

Today Bridger didn't change much which is actually good news! We are hoping he has hit the bottom and in a few days he will start climbing uphill. We are so glad we were here when he was born and they were able to start helping him right from the start, our other kids had a 8-12 hour disadvantage :(

He is a cute "little" (For us) guy and he has already won us over! He looks like Brinnley and Tucker and for now has Taylor's blonde hair. Is it a coincidence that our three NICU babies could be triplets? I stand there looking at him and have to remind myself that two years have passed and this is a new little guy.

The picture of the X-ray shows all of the tubes and gear he has going on. The chest tube is the one that curls in his rib cage. We thought it was interesting. The other is just a fun picture of him showing off his muscles. He needs to remind those brothers who is going to be in charge when he gets home.

Thanks again for all of the prayers, love and support!
The Gordons

Hi Everyone, I am so glad Jaret started this blog to help keep everyone updated. Jaret is home taking care of kids tonight so I just wanted to give you all a quick update.
Bridger is staying about the same for now. The chest tube has really helped. They were able to get a lot of pressure off of his lungs. He is fully sedated and on an oscillator ventilator which allows his body to completely rest while the machines do all of the work. By doing this it allows his body and lungs to begin healing. He looks very peaceful right now which makes me so happy. He has been struggling so much that it is good to see him relax with the help of medications. We are hoping for a good night tonight! The NICU here is awesome and I know he is in good hands! Thanks for all of your messages and prayers. It really means a lot to us.
Lindy

Bridger is relaxing while ventilator does the work. He has gotten a bit weaker as the infection has grown. There is a tube directly into his chest to allow the air to escape his lungs and drain. I think he is dreaming of gathering potatoes in Lake Shore.  

Bridger Gordon Blog is now open

Hello family and friends!

Bridger (?still deciding on middle name?) Gordon was born last night at 8:04. Weighing what is small for Lindy, 7 lbs 8 ounces and cute as could be. It was pretty apparent that he needed a bit of hep from the get go so within a few minutes was in the NICU and getting the help he needed.

Mom is doing fine just concerned about her new baby and disappointed that his first few days or weeks will not be spent in her arms. But we are so thankful we decided to have him close to the NICU.

Last night he struggled to breathe do to what they think is a tear in his lungs.
This morning at 4:00 A.M. His X-ray and labs showed that he was getting worse. The hole was bigger and his labs were showing signs of infection.

Bridger was put on the ventilator at about 10:00 this morning along with that, they inserted  a chest tube to relieve pressure in his lungs.  We want to thank you all for your love and support and prayers.

This blog may allow us to keep you a bit more up to date on what is happening. I know we should have a Facebook account but I (Jaret) am still a bit old school when it comes to this.

Thanks Jaret & Lindy.

Before the NICU

Last night, Trying to keep his oxygen up without a ventilator

                               Bridger now on the ventilator Sunday May 5 at around 10:00 a.m.