Don't Touch a Thing

Last night after his big episode they were able to get Brodie stable and keep his stats up. We were able to go home last night and we arrived around 12:15 We got everything done we needed to do and called about Brodie around 12:45. They said his numbers were good but the co2 has actually gotten too low. We have been fighting for weeks to get it low and now it is too low. They said they would make a change on the ventilator and would do another blood gas. The nurse said to call around two and they would have the numbers. We did not get to talk to them until 2:30 but when we finally got in touch they said that it was better. He did well through the night and this morning. They were able to wean his oxygen to 97% but there are now instructions to just leave him alone. Don't try to wean him or anything else that may cause him agitation. This is great news to us. Hopefully he will stay stable and maybe we can get home early and get in bed before 11 so webcan get lots of rest. Overall we are pleased with his progress but they keep reiterating that he is still very sick. Have a great rest of your day and Happy Labor Day to everyone.

Get Me Off of this Rollercoaster

Today started good and we thought it was going to be a laid back day. We couldn't have been more wrong. LaVona went and picked up Bradie and then we went to lunch. We got back from lunch and walked in to chaos. All we could see when we rounded the corner was a room full of doctors over Brodie. We looked at his oxygen saturation on the monitor and it was around 78%. The doctors were working on him and not telling us what was going on. They then started to bag (hand ventilate) him so we got very concerned. We soon found out that they were trying to get some mucous out. They ended up getting quite a bit from his mouth but not the tube. His numbers got better but then they went down some again. They changed a setting on the oscillator and we went to get Bradie squared away. About thirty minutes later we were coming back to his room and we could see from far away that he was in the 90's. When we got into the room we noticed that he was 95 again. He has stayed that way for the past 20 minutes we have been here so hopefully he will stay on this track. We can't quite understand how things can change so quick. I am sure that the nurses think that we are nuts at this point but you just don't understand how emotionally draining each dip is and what it takes out of us. You just know that there are going to be dips but each one blindsides you just as much as the first. Please pray for Brodie and our sanity. I should probably swing by the heart doctor sometime this week to make sure my ticker is still good. In the last almost four weeks it has felt much excitement, pain, love and been broken. I am not sure how much it can take but judging by the past it will need to endure much more to make it through. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Brodie, We Are Proud of You

I am going to preface this post by saying that Brodie is still very sick and is far from out o f the woods. However, HE HAD A GREAT NIGHT LAST NIGHT! When we got back to the hospital from putting Bradie to bed he was between 95 and 99 and was doing well. We felt good about things and went to our room at the Ronald McDonald house and got some much needed sleep. LaVona had to wake up in the middle of the night to pump so we went and check on him again. He was at 100% oxygen saturation and they had started to wean the oxygen on the oscillator and brought him down to 89%. We then woke up around 9 and went down to catch rounds and he was on 82% oxygen on the oscillator and they had decreased the pressure again by one. It is great to see the faces of some of the people that have had him the last 3-5 days when they come by to check on him. They are amazed by his progress. Not sure yet what they are going to do yet today because they have not rounded on him yet because they round on the sickest babies first. We do know that this can go the other way quickly but have to hold on to the good moments. We believe that All of the prayers have gotten us this far so please keep prayer for our precious boy. Thanks for all of the support and we just pray that things continue in a positive direction.

Best Day in a While

Today was a good day for Brodie. He had good oxygen saturation all day and we even saw 100% for a quick moment. He also went down twice on his oscillator pressure and he managed that as well. The first arterial line they put in this morning worked for an hour and then quit working. They got the second one in after lunch and that seems to be working great. The one negative about today was that he has been heavily sedated most of the day. He tries to do too much on his own and that causes problems with the oscillator. Tomorrow is a big day. They told us that they would like to change him back to the conventional ventilator so that should cause us to be on edge most of the day. He is making progress today but he is also being referred to as the "sickest baby in the unit". We are getting ready to go home for a couple of hours so that we can spend some time with Bradie and then come back up here after we put him to bed. The 45 minute drive is pretty rough when you are as tired as we are. Little Brodie is worth every second and we just look forward to the day when he accompanies us on the ride home. Everyone have a great evening and thanks for everything.

Back on Track

Brodie is still very very sick but at least we are stable again. His oxygen saturation is 92% and his blood gas was better than the last one. They just decreased the pressure by one on the oscillator. They took him from 17 to 20 last night so hopefully today when can get back to 17. We are still a little in shock over last night's shenanigans but we are going to move forward as is Brodie. He got a new arterial line this morning which is good. Things are moving in a better direction so I am encouraged by his progress. We just love Brodie so much and our bond gets stronger everyday. I don't want to lose him so let's keep the prayers coming. The outpouring of support and kind messages let us know that we are doing our best and we will never be able to thank each of you enough. How do you repay someone for giving you hope and love when you are at your lowest. As you go through your day today please use our situation to help you appreciate what you have and not worry about the things we cant control. I don't know what the outcome is going to be but I do know that God put Brodie here to touch each of your lives. It is up to us how we let it change us. LaVona and I will forever be changed for the better and I just pray when we go back to our "normal" lives that we will remember the things that really matter. Have a great day and it's Friday of a long weekend.

Yesterday was a difficult day for Brodie. They are confused on what to do for him because all of his X-rays and echos show that he has been improving but he doesn't seem to be increasing his blood gas numbers and oxygen saturation. They told us that it was just going to to take a little while for him to get back to where he needed to be. They were going to stay the course and see how he did. The day team switched out with the night team and we met the most amazing nurse. In just a few short moments we knew Brodie was in great hands. Because we thought he was in great hands we left to go home around 8:45 so that we could sleep in our own bed. We went home and ate something and hopped into be at around 10:45 and we called to check on him and the nurse said his numbers were not great but that they had gotten better. Then she said hold on the nurse practitioner wanted to speak with you. LaVona put me on with her and the night went south from there. She said they thought maybe he had a mucous plug in his breathing tube so they were going to do a fairly risky procedure to get it out if there is one. She said that if this does not change his numbers that he could deteriorate and they may have to call us in. They said there is a possibility that in his current state he would never recover. I then asked her if we had reached this point an she said yes. This goes against all we have been told from the day team. The day team are neonatal doctors, surgery, pulmonary, neurology and respiratory. They collaborate and come up with the best solution based on how he has been doing. I tried to let her know unless it was urgent that we would like to wait until morning to see what the team wanted. She pushed on and said there were doing the procedure at midnight. We sprung out of bed got dressed and rushed to the hospital. When we got there they were calling in a bunch of people to help with the procedure and we patiently demanded to talk to the attending physician. He said nothing else was working so they thought this might. We went back and forth and I let him know of the thoughts of the doctors on the day team and he finally agreed to wait until morning as long as his lactate levels were good. This was the hardest thing I had ever done as a father. To step in and tell a doctor that I didn't agree with his opinion was not only hard because he is a trained professional and most of all because I did not want to get in the way of the care of my child. I truly felt in my heart that if they would have done the procedure that we would be burying Brodie. I was not ready and it was time for me to fight for him. They ended up giving him heavy sedation and his oxygen saturation went from the low 70's to 89. We will be going to rounds this morning and I am very anxious to hear what they have to say. I also just pray that they don't tell me that I should have let them do the procedure. We all have alot of fight left in us so I am not ready throw in the towel yet. A special thank you to our nurse last night. God put here there for us last night and without her last night would have been far more difficult. Allison you are amazing and we will forever be thankful. We have a busy day ahead but the nurse set us up with the Ronald McDonald house. After 44 hours with no sleep we finally just crashed. We need your prayers more than ever today. Sorry this one was so long and I will post something after rounds.

A Rough Night

I don't even think I can begin to describe the night we had. I think I have officially gone insane and it was a very emotional night. A little before we were leaving to go home to put Bradie to bed a baby came up and was getting quite a bit of attention. When we got back the baby was getting even more attention and about 4 this morning we noticed that the monitor went black and found out that the baby had passed. You know in a place like this that it happens but until you see it firsthand it is not real. It really hit home and made us realize that there are some parents that leave here without their child. In our current situation that is not something you want to see. Right after that Brodie's oxygen saturation went down to 70 and he just never seemed to recover. I have literally been staring at a monitor begging for the numbers to go up for the past 10 hours. Between the two of us we got a little over an hour of sleep. The positive news is the he usually does better during the day than at night. His chest X-ray looked better today but they just aren't sure why his oxygen saturation isn't better. Please say a prayer for the family of the deceased baby and for Brodie. New doctors start today. A fresh set of eyes never hurt anything. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!