It’s been a while since Erik or I have updated. I think it’s safe to say that Erik and I have slacked off, although I am sure many of you understand why. This blog is to update you on where Brady is right now.

Last Thursday I somehow forgot to tell you what Brady weighed. She gained about 6 ounces from Monday to Thursday which made her 4 pounds 12 ounces. Considering her recent weight gains Erik and I figured she would gain another 6 ounces, but she didn’t. She now weighs 4 pounds 15.3 ounces. It’s so close to 5 pounds but I learn from my mistakes. Last time we rounded up she lost weight.

So, now an update on her health. As most of you know she has been having issues with taking the bottle. She has actually gotten better and yesterday took her whole bottle both times that she fed. Several of the nurses and the occupational therapist who helps Brady with her feeding believe that the issues she is having are due to reflux. They have her on the strongest medicine for reflux they have and she is still having some issues. They are going to do a test on Thursday to gauge the severity and consistency of her reflux. They are going to stick a Ph Probe down her throat and hopefully after this they will have a better idea of what they need to do which will most likely be surgery.

Erik and I have a few issues with this like any parent would naturally have when they are told there child will probably have surgery. Our biggest concern is that they are trying to do a quick fix to get her out of there. They keep telling us if she has the surgery she will be able to go home. From what we have learned from reading and talking to people who have had babies with severe reflux, there are some ways to control reflux along with the medicine without resorting to surgery. One is to thicken the formula by adding cereal, rice, (not sure the exact terminology) to it as well as letting them eat less in a sitting. Although, it seems as if making the formula thicker is one way the doctors generally deal with reflux, they have yet to try it with Brady. After Thursday we will hopefully be able to know where to go. The doctor’s put a positive spin on it by saying that she will be able to go home, but I would rather her go home and me feed her every 2 or so hours than have her go home with a feeding tube.

Please pray for Brady and her reflux. Even if she doesn’t need the surgery she does have a problem with it. They had to take her off her reflux meds to get a true reading from her test on Thursday so she will probably be a very uncomfortable baby until they put her back on them.

One neat thing happened yesterday. The March of Dimes is very involved with the NICN with doing classes and just being there for the parents of premature babies, and they have the little cards that say “ready, set, go home”. If this is on your babies bed it in a way means that your baby is close to going home. Brady has one of those on her crib now so that was nice to see. I guess someone told them that Brady was going to be going home sooner rather than later. It was just a nice surprise and hopefully it does mean we will have her home soon :) .

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!