God- grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change . . .

It has been a very trying 48 hours for the three of us. Bryton is having a few issues and it's just not fun to watch. He is very, very puffy- for lack of a better word. He is retaining a lot of fluid which is making it difficult for him to be comfortable and it does have an affect on the way he's breathing. His eyes are basically swollen shut at this point. We also just found out that he does have a tiny PDA that might be averting some blood past his lungs and making it hard for him to properly receive and distribute oxygen.   He didn't go in for the second part of the barium study today, because there is still a lot of barium in his system from the first study. This could be part of his discomfort. A.I. duPont is a beautiful facility, but we really wish that we could have the nurses from Christiana with us. Especially now that he's having some issues. We consider some of the women we were working with to be like family. It's amazing the bonds you form with people you never even knew you'd meet, especially when they're caring for the most important person in your life. Maybe we were lucky, or spoiled, or whatever you want to call it, but we are so grateful and we really miss what we had going at Christiana. It's nice to have our son closer to us, but I'd personally rather have to deal with the bus and the shuttle and all of the crazy scheduling to have him with people we know and trust. He is doing ok right now, and we are hoping to get back over to check on him one more time tonight. We aren't even putting our hands in the isolette right now because he's so sensitive. But tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully it will be a good one.

A big day today.

Bryton was a very busy little man today. He was moved from Christiana to A.I. duPont at about 4:45 this morning and everything went well. It's not his favorite thing to be moved, but he handled it like a champ as usual. He had a baby gram this morning, and they did the first part of a two part barium study. They did the study on the  big intestine this morning, and they'll do the upper intestine in the morning, so we should have the results of both by tomorrow afternoon. The facilities are nice, but we are sad to say goodbye to the Christiana NICU staff- they are amazing. We were lucky enough to run into two of our favorite people at A.I duPont this evening. It's just going to take some adjusting- for all of us. We are happy that he's so close though- it's very comforting to know that we can go see him anytime. Other than moving him, there haven't been any changes. He is up to 1490 grams, but part of that may be water retention, because he does seem a little puffy. He's still the most handsome little man ever though! We're going to get in as soon as we can tomorrow, so we'll keep you posted. Good night everyone! 

p.s.

I forgot to mention that he was weighed last night and he's 1450 = 3 lbs and a little more than 3 oz. Yay!

Bryton is even more awesome.

It has been a good night and a good day for everyone. Last night the little man was de-sating a bit so he's back up to 42% oxygen, but he's doing great now- very stable. Nothing else has changed. We have decided to go ahead and move him to A.I duPont this afternoon. Daddy and I went over to check out the facilities last night and we're very happy with them. It's a beautiful hospital and it's definitely more geared toward children and families, not that Bryton will notice. He is most likely going to have his own room, but there's a chance that he'll have to share with one other baby, and we might even get lucky and have a room with a view. We had a chance to take a tour of the entire NICU with one of the head nurses and learned about all of the policies and procedures. It's a lot like where we are now, just a few small changes. We are so excited to have him close to us- he is literally going to be across the street and we can visit him any time we want without having to rely on the volunteers or the shuttle. We have already been over to see him at Chrisitana this morning, but we're hoping that we'll be able to go see him this evening across the street. Lets all cross our fingers that the transport goes well and that in a few hours, he'll be closer to Mommy and Daddy. Go Bryton!

Movin' time

There are going to be some big changes for Bryton tomorrow. He is still having some bowel problems, and his belly is very distended again, so the doctors have decided that it would be best to move him to A.I. duPont to do the barium study, and possibly operate. The move will probably happen during the day tomorrow, and thankfully it's a 15-20 drive at most, so he wont be in transport for long. There are a few really awesome things about him being at A.I. duPont; 1) He will be right across the street from Mommy and Daddy so we will really be able to go see him anytime we want, 2) He will be in his very own room, but still closely monitored, and when we decide to spend the night, we can sleep in the room with him, and 3) Even though there will be an entirely new nursing staff, we will continue to work with the same practice of doctors. We aren't to excited about the actual transport part, because who knows what could happen, but we think this would be a good change for all of us. There is a chance that he'll go back to Christiana after he's recovered and tolerating feeds, but there's no telling at this point. Other than that, everything is fine. He had a good night and a good day and they haven't really made any other changes. They did adjust his ventilator settings to what they should be according to his weight, but that's a good thing. Daddy and I are getting ready right now to walk across the street to check out the NICU facility at A.I. duPont, and then hopefully we'll make it over to see our little man. More info. and pics later!

Bryton is still awesome!

Bryton is still doing great. Mommy didn't get a chance to hold him last night because he was in the middle of a blood transfusion when we got there, but that's o.k. , he just had a low hemoglobin level so they gave him a little extra. Nothing else has really changed- he is still clothed and swaddled. He was getting a little chilly so they turned up the temp a little bit, but he's good. We still haven't had a chance to speak with and of the doctors about the head ultra sound or the baby gram, but according to the nurse, nothing has really changed. The head ultrasound was looking great, but he still has some dilated loops in his bowel that they're not happy with. Now they're saying that when he's closer to 1800 grams, then they'll probably take him to radiology to do the barium study. They could come up and do it in the NICU, but they don't want to risk it- if it doesn't work properly, they don't want to have to to it a second time, so they're going to wait until they can do it right. Everything else is going pretty smoothly. We'll be going in later today, so hopefully we'll be able to talk to a doctor about all of these things. Have a great day everyone.

1400!!!

1400 grams ladies and gentlemen! What a great way to start the week/month! He is growing like crazy! That is 3 lbs and 2 oz! Everything is going good today, and he has even been clothed and swaddled. It's going to be about a 2 week process, but they are going to work on bringing him out of the isolette and putting him into a crib. They have to try some things and see what he can and can't handle, but we're excited to see him in a crib. He has to be able to maintain his body temperature and be able to deal with all of the audio/visual stimulation without it causing him to much stress. He is making amazing progress and we are so proud of and excited for our son! We'll be going in to see him a little later in the evening, and hopefully Mommy will have time to hold him today. They did the follow up head ultrasound the other day, and a baby gram this morning, so we are hoping we'll have some news by the time we get in there later. We'll be on later with more info and pictures. Yay Bryton!