Braden's Newborn Pictures

Here are a few of my favorite pictures that I took of Braden the other day. He slept like a champ right through it all. I have more to show, but he is calling me now - he needs to eat. The last 2 are my favorites I think! Enjoy!

Our Little Man is Finally Home!

Praise the Lord - today we brought our little Braden home! He is doing so well and has come a really long way in his short 13 days of life! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. Enjoy the pictures from today!

Finally at home!

First car ride.

Mimi is just as happy as we are to have Braden home - and to be able to love on him!

And our Mersadie. She LOVES her little bro! She couldn't wait to hug and kiss him. Brian and I got her a little baby doll and gave it to her when we brought Braden home. In this picture she is trying to share it with Braden.

Sadie is showing us how the baby eats and how she is going to help with Braden. She's got this big sister thing down already!

Kisses! This melts my heart!

She couldn't stop touching his "yittle" face.

Proud big sis!

More pictures to come soon - Sadie wanted to hold him tonight and we got some great shots of that!

Braden's Update

Before I get to Braden (because blogger put my pictures in reverse order) - here is our little Sadie. She has been such a trooper through this entire process. She has not fussed one time in the million times that Brian and I have had to leave her. It's amazing. She's pretty independent anyway, but I figured us leaving all the time would eventually get to her - but she is just great staying with Mimi or Brian when my mom and I go to the hospital. Anyway, here is how I found Mersadie the other morning. She had her hat, my shoes, her suitcase and her money and she told me she was going on a trip - on an airplane. I don't know where she was headed, but it looks like she was ready for fun!

And for Mr. Braden ~ he is doing SO much better! He is now completely bottle feeding - the nurse took his feeding tube out of his nose while I was there this morning! He is back under the photo therapy light for jaundice, but his levels were down this morning, so they are just keeping him under it today just for extra precaution. The only reason Braden hasn't been moved to a regular open air crib is because of the jaundice. He is doing well breathing with only short periods of faster breathing. The doctor said today that he has really come a long way and we should be looking forward to having him home soon! We CANNOT wait! Bring on the sleepless nights - we just want our healthy boy at home!

This picture was taken yesterday morning - that is why he still has the tube in.

My mom finally got to hold Braden! Here he is with his Mimi!

And I couldn't resist posting this picture because I just know he is smiling because he's in his mommy's arms! Thanks for your continued prayers!

More Updates on Braden

First photo of Brian and I together with Braden. We can't wait until Mersadie can be in the picture too! Because of the H1N1 virus, children under 14 are not allowed in the hospital for visitation whatsoever. Don't you love our fashionable blue gowns? We have to wear them EVERY time because of the virus as well. Lovely.

Anyway...as you can see, Braden only has one little tube going into his mouth for feeding. He is off of the respirator, has the chest tube out and the tube that was going to his belly button. He was also taken off of photo therapy (for jaundice).

Since all of this was done, we FINALLY got to really really hold him. I sat and held Braden for an entire hour and a half today and it was SO good for my soul.

What the doctors are concentrating on now is getting Braden's digestive system to work. They were feeding him small amounts through the tube, but they were getting a lot of residual left in the tube which indicated that Braden was not digesting it well, so they stopped the feeds for today and will try to start again in the morning. After his digestive system starts working (he needs to have some bowel movements), we will start trying to get him to learn to suck. In the meantime, I am just thrilled that Braden is doing better and I can hold my precious little guy.

Mid-yawn. So cute.

Brian and his boy. Awww.

Mommy and Braden. Just love that little guy to pieces!

Now you see why I just sat and held him for an hour and a half!


And, of course, SADIE!!

My sister and mom have been helping us with Mersadie and it has been a life-saver! Here is Mersadie having Cocoa Puffs for dinner while she is still in her p.j.'s from this morning. (It was my sister's turn to take care of her). Don't you just love the look on Sadie's face? She knows she's getting her way and getting VERY spoiled. I'm afraid I'm going to have a lot to fix once Mom and Marisa leave, but I'm incredibly thankful for the love and support!