The Howlands: New Arrangement

Well, Braylon continues to have his brady spells which for every day he has a brady will buy him an additional five day stay at Hotel NICU unless the doctors decide to discharge him on a monitor. Since his brother Kaden is getting closer to being in a crib, today’s nurse decided to do a little rearranging in their suite. She got a portable monitor for Braylon and hooked it to Kaden’s boom (the boom holds the monitors and has a power supply) and also moved Braylon’s crib over to Kaden’s side of the room. This way we can hold them together anytime we want, the boys are closer to each other, we don’t have to feel shut out from one baby when we have the curtain closed to other baby’s side of the room, and they are all set up for co-bedding when that day arrives.
Last night Braylon became a member of the 5lb Club. When the doctor called today he said, “Braylon is just a little stud, he has been nippling almost all of his feeds.” I guess this is pretty impressive for a baby his gestational age. He only has to meet a few more requirements to be able to leave the NICU since he has had no trouble maintaining his temperature in his crib and continuing to gain weight. In order to leave he has to not have any apnea or bradycardic spells for five days (unless they are minor spells and will have a monitor), nipple all of his feeds, and pass the car seat test. The majority of his brady spells are related to reflux and/or obstruction (when he gets milk caught in his throat that he can’t swallow or cough up and gags himself, or his head falls too far forward and pinches off his airway), which they are expecting him to outgrow in the next week or so because he will start gaining more muscle control in the weeks to come.
Kaden also gained weight last night. He weighed 3lbs 15oz, just 1 oz shy of the 4lb Club. He will probably weigh 4lbs tonight. Once he reaches 4lbs and maintains it for several days plus maintains his own temperature he will trade in his isolette for a crib, which means he will more than likely be sharing his brother’s crib. Finally! I am thinking this may take place this weekend.
Kaden has also been moved from continuous feeds which run at a slow rate all day long, to bolus feeds which is a feeding given over 1 ½ hours. The doctor said that they may try letting him nipple some of his feedings next week. The occupational therapist have been working with him over the past couple of days and said he has been doing very well with his pacifier and will probably take to breast feeding and bottle feeding very well and they expect him to really take off after that.
This Friday we are all taking infant CPR, which is a requirement if the boys go home on any monitors. The nurse yesterday said to be sure and get it done this week because she is not sure if Braylon will be in the NICU long enough for us to get it in the following week. This would be very exciting but we are not going to get our hopes up because this is the type of thing they have warned us about, just when you think you are about to leave there is always one thing holding you back. We have just been taking it day-by-day and trying not to look too far ahead because we have found that it can get very frustrating otherwise. I keep telling the nurses, “No rush. We will be here until Kaden gets to go home anyways. When he gets closer is when we will be in anxious to get home.” Although we would love to have Braylon discharged, the longer he stays in the NICU the longer he will get to co-bed with his brother and the easier it will be for Bryan and I to visit Kaden. As long he is in the NICU we are able to be with both boys at the same time and not worry about having someone watch Braylon while we are in with Kaden.

Braylon's 5 week picture with his bear