Topics · 33 posts
Feeding & weight gain
We tracked every ounce, from Brady's first tiny feedings through a long fight to learn the bottle and a possible g-tube. These posts cover weigh-in days, reflux, and the slow climb from 1 lb 7 oz.
More good news
Brady starts feedings after losing weight, and Nikkie takes her temperature and changes her first diapers through the isolette's arm holes.
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already having trouble coming up with new blog titles
Brady's feedings go from 5 cc to 7 cc, she starts smiling at visitors, and we have our first baby shower.
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Some are good, some are bad, some are in between
Nikkie answers a critical commenter: NICU parents are allowed hard feelings. Also, Brady comes off her IVs and gains another ounce.
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she's growing
Nikkie holds Brady for over an hour without one heart-rate dip, and we learn she's grown to 1 lb 11.5 oz and 13.5 inches.
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First Birthday as a mommy
Nikkie's 25th birthday is bittersweet, spent mostly apart from Brady, who now weighs 1 lb 14 oz and is up to 17 cc feedings.
Puttin Meat on Those Bones
Brady breaks the 2-pound mark at 2 lb 2 oz, and Nikkie goes back to work after five weeks as we figure out how to keep visiting.
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it's been a few days
Brady gains 3 ounces to 2 lb 5 oz; Nikkie visits on her lunch break while doctors watch whether Brady needs a blood transfusion.
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Great News
Brady will move to the NICU's intermediate area and starts one bottle a day, though she won't suck yet; Nikkie is sick and can't visit.
New Pictures
Erik posts 14 new photos, holds Brady, tries a bottle she doesn't understand yet, and gets peed on for the first time.
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Big Girl Now
Brady wears her first clothes and gets her first bottle from Nikkie, but her oxygen dips while she's held and she needs a mask.
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Update on Weight and Stuff
After a scary night, Nikkie calls at 8 a.m.: most of Brady's oxygen dips corrected on their own, and she's gained an ounce to 2 lb 6 oz.
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beep free day :)
Four people hold Brady, including both grandmothers for the first time, without one monitor alarm, and she drinks 10 cc from a bottle.
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Just a Short Update
Brady is off antibiotics and back in the intermediate area, and a specialist is coming to help with bottles that sometimes turn her blue.
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2 pounds gained!
Eight weeks in, Brady weighs 3 lb 5 oz, is off all breathing support, and is still learning to breathe and swallow with the bottle.
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Moving on up!
Brady moves out of the NICU to the step-down nursery, drinks a whole one-ounce bottle, and a doctor checks her for a possible hernia.
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growing like a weed...finally
Brady gains 7 ounces in three days and gets her own crib, but still chokes on bottles and has stage one eye disease of prematurity.
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patiently waiting
Weigh-in Mondays become our favorite day; Brady finishes a whole bottle, gets her first immunization, and our pastor visits to pray.
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Another Update
At two months Brady weighs 3 lb 15.9 oz, so we round up to 4, but her vaccinations bring apnea and put her back on oxygen.
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2 steps forward and .9 ounces back
Brady loses 0.9 ounces after her shots and her first week in an open crib, but she comes off oxygen and drinks about half of each bottle.
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a specific prayer
Brady chokes on hospital nipples and refuses the slow-flow one, so we buy our own bottle at the mall and ask for prayer that she'll take it.
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long road ahead of us
Two months in, Brady drools out her bottles, may need a stomach tube, and will need hernia surgery, but her oxygen monitor comes off.
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chunky little baby
Brady gains about 7 ounces to 4 lb 6.3 oz, has neck rolls, and starts watching people who talk to her and lifting her head.
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Almost Five Pounds!
Brady is 4 ounces shy of 5 pounds, and Erik shares a one-minute video of her.
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still almost 5 pounds
Brady is 4 lb 15.3 oz; doctors blame reflux and float surgery, we push back, and a "ready, set, go home" card appears on her crib.
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Specific Prayer
At 5 1/2 lb and nearly 85 days in, we're worn down, offered a g-tube for Brady's feeding, and ask for prayer to decide this week.
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short update on previous post
Brady takes a whole bottle at 5 a.m., and her doctor agrees to hold off on the g-tube while she keeps improving.
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Day 87 (new video)
On day 87, a breathing scare sends Brady back to the NICU for an upper GI and head MRI while we wait to see if bottles or a g-tube get her home.
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and... the surgeon's been called off!
Brady's upper GI and brain scan are normal, she starts draining 3 to 5 bottles a day, and the surgeons are called off.
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she's growing :)
Brady reaches 8 lb 4 oz, sleeps 7 hours straight, and a high-risk follow-up finds her on track; Nikkie thanks Brady's NICU nurses.
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Nine Pounds
Brady reaches 9 lb and 19 inches, comes off Reglan, eats 4 to 5 ounces a feeding, and sleeps until 5 or 6 a.m.; we've all stayed healthy.
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Double Digits!!!
Brady weighs 10 pounds at her Synagis shot, and we share her first Christmas: books, noisy toys, and a singing teddy bear.
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she weighs how much?
Brady weighs 13 lb 10 oz at her RSV shot, comes off her apnea monitor after no episodes at home, and may start going to church in March.
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Doing better :)
Brady recovers and starts solids, while Nikkie dreads going back to the NICU for follow-up clinic and thinks about donating Brady's preemie clothes.
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