Welcome Home Braxton

So Braxton finally got discharged from the hospital today after being in the NICU for 7 weeks. He made such tremendous progress over the past 7 weeks that he didn't have to stay as long as they thought he would. He was sent home on an apnea machine because of his little "episode" he had last Friday (when he was originally suppose to come home) They don't think that he will really have any more since that was kinda a one time thing, but they just wanted to take precautions just in case. So we're not sure how long he will need to stay on it. Hopefully, not long cuz that thing is FREAKIN loud!!! Having him home has been great... besides the fact he peed on me already, the dogs keep trying to lick him and I have to lug that machine from room to room but other than that, we couldn't be happier to finally have our little one with us. My mom was here to help me with him today and she even let me take a nap since I got no sleep last night being at the hospital. I have a feeling it is going to be an interesting first couple weeks trying to adjust to this whole new lifestyle, but it's worth it. Once again, we just want to thank everyone who kept us in your prayers. I know that is part of the reason he is doing so well.

Braxton McKay
Born: 3/7/10
Weight: 3 lbs 3 oz
Length: 16 1/4 in.

Released from Hospital : 4/27/10
Weight: 6 lbs 14 oz.
Length: 19 in

Oh, one of my best friends Kallie finally had her baby today, Easton Henry Brown. He is so cute! Yay! Braxton has a little friend now!!!

Month Summary

So here's a little summary of the past month or so, or weeks, or I don't know I have lost all track of time these days!

Jesse held Braxton for the very first time. It was the most special momment for me. I loved seeing Braxton with his daddy! I can't wait for both of my boys to be at home with me 24/7! I love them more than words can describe!

My best friend,Michelle,came to visit and brought her son Colt (I forgot to take a pic with him, I'm retarded) She was suppose to be coming for the shower, but oops Braxton was already here! Michelle is like my other half. So I couldn't wait for her to meet my little one and I couldn't wait to meet hers. Colt is Braxton's "Wingman" and we know they are going to be BFF's!! He is such a good baby! (Seriously, I'm not just saying that!), although he did teach Braxton how to flip people off. haha! JK. Michelle got me hooked on Young and the Restless... and she is obsessed with her Faith Newman toy for Colt, long story.. see Michelle's blog for explanation. Hopefully, her whole little family will be able to come out here when we go through the temple... Hopefully sometime soon!

Braxton loves his Auntie Buchelle!!!

Braxton got his oxygen off and feeding tube out. He looks so cute now that he is wire free!

He is taking all his feeds by bottle! He now eats a little over 1.5oz, well he's suppose to. He does so well at night but only takes 3/4 during the day most times. (I'm hoping thats not a sign that he has his days/nights mixed up!!!) But he is doing so well. We have both gotten to feed him!

My other best friend Tiffany came to visit this month as well, with her husband Jared, and new baby Brighton! We love when they come to stay at "Hotel Rucker"! Brighton is soooooo stinkin cute and she too, is such a GOOD baby! I like to say that Brighton is Braxton's little girlfriend. I think they could be the next power couple! It has been so much fun having Tif here. It really makes me sad that my bestest girl friends live in other states.(Tif, I'm still working on getting Jesse to move to GA, but I don't know if it will happen.)

So here is the latest pic of Braxton (and Me) He is now 6 lbs and 19 in long! He is doing so good that they think he will come home either this week or next! I can't believe it is almost time for him to come home. I am so excited and nervous! So we are going to be crazy busy this week getting everything ready! I will most likely have a breakdown like everyday trying to get his room all put together. So, I appologize in advance to anyone who might suffer my craziness! But seriously, we can't wait to be with our little one all the time.
Oh, and a little note we are working on going to the temple!!!!

King B Update!!!

So it has been a little while since we have updated the blog so I thought I would take a few minutes to keep people posted of what's been going on. Braxton is doing great. He is just advancing so fast that no one can even believe. He has finally moved to the CCN where he has his own little room that we can spend the night in. It has a tv for us and a little fridge to put stuff in as well. It's kind of like a little hotel room in the hospital for the parents. We will find out tomorrow how tall he is but he has gained over a pound in the last week. So last we posted he was 4 lbs 5 oz, he is now 5 lbs 5.7 oz. So he is getting bigger by the day. He has been gaining on average from 2-3 oz per day. Which is what the nurses want to see. So all we are really waiting for now is for him to consistently take his feedings fully from the bottle on a consistent basis. His feedings are now at 45 CC's, and on average we would say he takes between 8-10 CC's for each feeding. Some feedings he takes more and some he takes less. The most he has taken from one feeding I believe was 22 or 25 CC's. But he still has a ways to come for taking his full bottle feeds. So as soon as he does that we will be able to bring the king home. That's really all I have for an update, but if there are things you all would like to know just let us know in a post and we'll be sure to update you all. The only things we can't update but once a week on Sunday's is his length. So every Sunday we will update his length. As for now, he is doing great and we expect to bring him home in about 2-3 weeks. So we look forward to that day! Thank you all again for the love and support and the many prayers you have all said on behalf of Braxton. We do hope you continue to pray for him cause we know how much he loves it and also have seen how strong the power of prayer truly is.

BABY SHOWER & B UPDATE

This is the diaper cake I made for the shower. I love making them. They are so much fun and a cute center piece.


Here is a pic of the food table... we had soooo much yummy food. Too bad I didn't get to eat any of it!


This is me opening presents. We got SOOOO much cute stuff! .


Here is a pic of just some of the guests who came.


Just some of the decorations we had up.


This is the hooded towel that Auntie Beth(my sis in law) made for Braxton! Is is so cute! I love it! I can't wait to have him use it!

So the baby shower was a great success, despite the fact that I had to move up the date and plan everything for it right away. Everything turned out perfectly though and just the way I had imagined, except for the fact Braxton was already here. He must take after his Mommy. I actually got to attend my baby shower since I was born a month early!. We got so much stuff for B, we almost have everything we need now already here! We are still waiting for the furniture to arrive and for the bedding to be finished. Then we can finally put his room all together and get ready for when he comes home! I was kinda sad that I didn't get to do the game when you have people guess his birth date and weight/height. So we decided to have people guess the date and weight when he comes home! So if you want in on this, just post a comment with your guess! Anyways, So thanks to everyone that came and especially to those that helped get everything ready! It was so much fun catching up with all our friends and family we don't get to see all the time.


BRAXTON UPDATE:
1. As of today, he weighs 4 Lbs. 5 Oz. and is 17 1/2 inches long! He keeps getting bigger and bigger by the day!
2. When we had the meeting with his whole team, the Dr said that he will probably get to go him in 4 weeks. She also said that she has no serious concerns about him.
3.Last Saturday, they took him of the CPAP and put him on nasal prongs ( like what old people wear.) His oxygen level is at 25% and they are slowly weening him down to 21% (what we breathe).
4.They started feeding him by bottle. He can only eat about 10-15 cc by bottle then they have to tube feed him the rest. But it is so amazing how well he is doing with it. The amt he takes by bottle keeps going up. I actually got to feed him twice! BEST day ever!
5.He gets to wear little outfits now! He looks so cute in them.
6.He pooped while I was changing his diaper, TWICE! I started to gag the first time it happened. At least I haven't gotten peed on yet!
7 He's looking better and better each day! I think because he is filling out more and more. All I know for sure though, is he looks just like his daddy!

Like Father, Like Son

Yep, our baby Braxton is already a die hard SUNS fan just like his Daddy!

So since Braxton is in the hospital and we dont get to dress him or decorate a room for him, we decided we would do a little something to make him feel more at home. The hospitals provide these blankets that go on the incubators, so when they are sleeping the lights from the room don't bother them. They are of course, well, UGLY! (no offense) So we had our good family-friend Sameera sew a Phoenix Suns one for B. I wasnt too fond of this fabric either, but I know how much Jesse likes the Suns and he cant wait to watch the games with B. I think we are going to have her make another one, so we can switch them out. I'm thinking this next one will have a skull print on it. The nurses loved that we made him one! Now, hopefully it wont get lost at the hospital!

A Little Update

Here's a little update... Braxton is still doing really well. In the past week they have put him back on the phototherapy just to take him off again a couple days later. His breathing had improved so they tried taking him off the CPAP but yesterday they decided to put him back on it since he was using so much energy to breathe. Hopefully he wont have to be on it much longer. I love being able to see his little face. I just stare at him trying to figure out who he looks like more. I still cant figure it out!!! His feedings are now 13 mL every 3 hours and he now weighs 3lbs. 10oz. I have gotten to hold him almost every day this past week. I love being able to spend time with him. I cant wait to take him and be with him 24/7. We have a meeting this week with his team of drs, nurses, aids,social workers etc... EVERYONE. We will go over what has happened, what will happen, goals for him etc. It will be nice to go over all of this with everyone there at the same time. Maybe then we will have a better idea of long it will be until he comes home.

On a side note, we registered last weekend for my baby shower. We had to move up the date since our little guy decided to come early. We have already gotten our baby monitor, car seat and stroller. I love my carseat/stroller. I cant wait for my carseat cover to get here (if it ever comes... thats a whole other story. Im so annoyed!!!) . Its freakin so cute!!! Now this week we get to stress about getting ready for the shower... I hope it will all come together by next weekend! We'll see! We will post more after we have the meeting with his team later on this week! Thanks again to everyone for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

1 Week Old and Some BIG Milestones

So I will make this quick since we have been posting so much. I can't believe that Braxton is 1 week old already. Wow, does time fly. When we showed up to the hospital today, the nurse told us that Braxton was a bad boy and pulled out his breathing tube again :-(... but then went on to say that the decided to not put it back in. I couldn't believe it. They switched him to the c-pap instead. So NO MORE ventalator. Just oxygen being given to him through his nose. (like shown in the picture) She also informed us that they removed his UAC (the line that measured his blood pressure through his bellybutton). This meant that we could actually hold him sometime soon. I was so excited... and so excited that he was doing so well. I couldn't believe how much he improved in one night!

I, too, hit some milestones of my own. I changed his diaper (by myself) for the VERY first time today. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I kept asking the nurse if I was doing it right. She probably thought I was retarded. I also got to feed him, well it was my milk and I got to give it to him through his feeding tube, so technically I was feeding him. Then the BEST thing of all, I GOT TO HOLD HIM FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME(since the hospital). It was amazing... It was the best feeling in the world. It felt completely right. I seriously never knew that I could love someone so much. I didn't want to put him down. It kills me everytime we have to leave the hospital and say goodbye and today was even harder... he began to cry when I put him back in the incubator. Luckily, he had his pacifier. Yep,thats right. He already has a binkie... its so small. Its crazy that he already knows how to suck on it and the nurses say he loves it. I can't believe all that happened today. Wow, so much to take in!