Good news today is that Mom and I went to the urgent care center for an xray of her ribs and there are no fractures. Just some very painful contusions – nothing that a few weeks of rest, narcotics and ice packs won’t fix. Whatever you do, just don’t make her sneeze! Bill’s dad is also stable. He has been admitted to the hospital for treatments but so far he is doing OK.

This morning we went to see Brendan. Last night, they had started a new drug called Clonidine that was supposed to help bring down his heart rate and help him be more comfortable. They also upped his Methadone. Although his stats looked good when we got there, as I held him he had a few episodes of apnea with bradycardia. All of the doctors agree that he was a bit too relaxed with drugs and they decided to discontinue the Clonidine. It is really a fine balancing act trying to treat his symptoms without creating new or worse ones.
He looked real cute today and he was wearing a little t-shirt for the first time.

Resting comfortably, less wires all the time.

He does have something new, it is a baby-LoJack system. The bracelet on his arm causes utter chaos and shut down if someone tries to take the baby out of the unit. It is really sickening that a system like this is necessary but I am grateful that he is safe.

Trevor got dunked in the sink again for a bubble bath. But he kind of likes it!

November simply evaporated – and here we are at the end of the year. This is the first day since the boys were born that I did not go to the hospital. Bill went without me. As much as I missed Brendan today, it was nice to have a break from the long drive and the people and the information overload. I wish I could say I felt rested, but it was a good break.

Brendan is being weaned further from oxygen support, doing much better breathing on his own. He is up to 38cc of milk every 3hrs but he was having a hard time with the volume all at once so he has been switched to a continuous drip. They wanted to do this before because it will help him absorb more nutrients and fluid. Because of this difficulty, the atrial line removal is delayed another day again.

Trevor is doing great. He is sitting here next to me wide awake and helping to write the blog post. The Little Tummys gas drops seem to help him quite a bit. He gets his tiny little drops right before eating and seems to enjoy the gross berry flavor.

He was just sitting around looking seriously cute after finishing his bottle.

And then the Gramma attack!!!

Brendan has no sympathy for Trevor’s cheeks. He does look like he will karate chop the next person who tries to touch his own cheeks again.

Gramma herself had a pretty rough night last night. The dogs decided to take her out in the hallway. Dark colored dogs lying on a dark colored rug in a dark hall leads to accidents, and she tripped and fell. She is having to recover painfully from what could be a cracked rib or at least a badly bruised or sprained side. Bill and I will be adding some night lights to that hallway. The fish tank was always there for years and we never had to worry about the room ever being completely dark.
Hopefully a few days of rest will help. She still can get plenty of Trevor time, he took a nap with her on the couch all afternoon. She’s extended her stay until the 9th so that she can be here while Brendan continues to recover. She will also have time to recover before having to sit on a 4hr plane flight.

Bill’s dad is being readmitted to the hospital tonight after a day of having no appetite and feeling short of breath. I was truly worried that my cooking had put him in the hospital again. We are just finding out that he has pneumonia so they are keeping him for treatment.

We really hope that everyone has a quick recovery, and nobody else is allowed to have medical problems!!

This morning’s checkup on Brendan was fairly uneventful. The transfusion seems to have helped his numbers and his heart rate has come down some. They moved him off of the low-flow air blender cannula and taped on a new nasal cannula that is just straight dry air. He has been turned down in his settings to less air support and seems to be handling it well even though he got seriously upset with the Respiratory Tech who had to peel the tape off of his cheeks.
His feeding advancements have continued and he is tolerating them well. He was very alert and looking around quite a bit today while I held him.
I missed rounds this morning, so I don’t know too much else other than he is stable. We are waiting to see if the surgery team will approve taking out the atrial IV.

Some pics of Brendan:

Trevor had his one month checkup today with the pediatrician. He gets an A++ today, the doctor thinks he is doing exceptionally well. He is growing super fast! Today he measured 20.75in long and weighed 7lbs 1oz!!
On the baby charts for singleton full term infants at one month of age, he comes in at the 5th percentile in weight and head measurement. The doctor was thrilled that he even made the charts!
On his height measurement, he comes in at the 25th percentile. He is going to be a tall boy!
The doctor said the the simethicone gas drops are safe to give him to control his worst gas. He also said he likes the Avent bottles for preventing excess air swallowing and has heard about the leaking from the Dr. Brown bottles. But overall, he recommends supervised tummy time to help him be comfortable while dealing with the gas. I need to drink a lot of water too, some days I have not been as good about staying hydrated.
Trevor goes back in one month for his next visit.

Here he is getting ready to go to the doctor