First Bottle

Today the doctors decided to give Brayden a go at the bottle...and not only did he down it in five minutes, but he fell asleep while continuing to eat. Our nurse (she's never been Brayden's nurse before) was shocked...before she gave him the bottle she told us that she didn't expect him to eat anything because he wouldn't know what he was doing. Not only that, but it might not go into his stomach (risk of aspiration). Oh and that he might not properly digest it.

As his mom, I knew that he would know exactly what to do and that he was going to surpass her expectations of him...and I was so right! Right before she gave him the bottle she said that he would only have 20 minutes to eat it and if he didn't finish it to not be surprised. Well, I was guessing that he would be like his daddy and have no problem with it, and when he downed it and was fast asleep five minutes later, she was so in shock!


We just found out that they checked his stomach and that he had properly digested everything so they will continue his feedings, but tonight he will be getting food through his tube. We will have to see what tomorrow brings as far as how he will eat.

They wouldn't let me give him the bottle because the nurse was afraid something might go wrong, so here is her feeding him (at this point he had fallen asleep but was still eating):


Here is Daddy holding him and rocking him to sleep:

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go up on the roof of ACH and see the helicopter that brought him to the hospital:

One major thing happened today...at least its major to me. Chris and I were on our way to the coffee bar downstairs while Brayden napped (he fights sleep if we stay there) when my phone rang. It was a 501 area code which let me know that someone from the hospital was calling. I handed the phone to Chris because I was scared something wasn't right and I knew he would handle it better than I would.

Brayden's doctor was calling to let us know that they were sending a helicopter to Willow Creek (where they picked Brayden up at) and wanted to know if we would want him to go with them! They said he has made so much improvement and is no longer critical and they feel that WC could adequately treat him until he is ready to go home.

We only had five minutes to decide because the Angel One needed to leave. We ran into my parents and the four of us discussed it. We decided that it would be in Brayden's best interest to remain here for many reasons...the doctors and nurses know and love him, I worry about him riding in the helicopter, we feel like the ICU here takes more precautions against sickness (any little cold we have can equal RSV for these babies) etc. I also think that he would be released to go home sooner from here than he would from WC because they know that he is improving by leaps and bounds each day and WC would probably want to treat him slower than ACH is treating him - because they just don't know him.

I know this is a long post and I thank you for reading. Thank you for continuing to pray for our baby and all of the other sick little ones here, in Tulsa and everywhere else!