Life After the NICU

Bryce and I have been working with videographer, Whitney Milam, for the last few months on a special PSA video for Hand to Hold.

The title is Life after the NICU and the idea is to give a realistic view of what a day in the life of a NICU graduate can be like.

We shot several hours of video spread out over several different days and locations. 

I said a LOT of stuff, most of which was either useless, dumb or repetitive. Thank goodness editing has me sounding moderately intelligent and with it! ;-)

It was impossible for me to know what the end product would be like even though I was an integral part of it. So I'm pleased to say that I think it's fantastic. And I hope you enjoy!

What to do, what to do?

Why is it that anytime you're supposed to relax and take it easy life makes it impossible to do so?

Turns out that Medicaid will not be paying for Bryce's in clinic therapy any more than they will pay for his in home therapy - which is not at all. I am so disappointed because I thought we'd finally figured out a way to get him the therapy he needs over the summer between when he turns 3 and when school starts in the fall.

I have to be careful though because Medicaid does help pay for doctor's visits and Botox treatments when our high deductible primary insurance falls short, which is often.

I got in touch with said insurance company last week as Bryce's speech therapist said that they may cover more than the current limit of 12 therapy visits per year based on his neurological diagnosis. After essentially copying the policy copy back to me they said that in very, very rare circumstances they would cover up to $25 of 10 additional therapy visits per year, after his $5000 deductible has been met. Well, gee - thanks so much! At $110 a visit they're basically agreeing to a very expensive discount program.

So we're back to square one. Except that it's January 2nd and Bryce just completed his first therapy visit of the year, leaving 11 covered visits for 2012. I talked in depth with his physical therapist this morning during her visit and feel like we have a better handle on our limited options.

We could choose to decrease PT from 4x a month to just once, keep ECI Speech at weekly since insurance doesn't pay for it anyway and stop private Speech, Developmental Specialist, Dietician and Occupational Therapy all together. This would mean that we would save enough visits so that he could still be followed by a PT once per month for all of 2012. A far cry from the therapy schedule he's had for the 2 years since he's been home from the hospital. (How is it even possible for time to move so quickly that Bryce has been home 2 years??!!)

Or we could stop everything right now, except ECI speech, and save all 12 visits for a semi-intensive summer therapy regimen in a clinic setting somewhere. But this would still be limited to PT and leave OT out all together.

OR we could just continue to use all of the therapy we have available from ECI: PT weekly, Speech weekly, OT and Developmental Specialist each twice monthly and Dietician every other month, until he turns 3 in June. This would mean that we wouldn't have any covered therapy for the remaining 6 months of the year but as his PT pointed out, the summer will likely go by fast and we may need a therapy break by then anyway.

And with the new baby on the way we really have no business making concrete intensive therapy plans for six months from now. For all we know, I could be on bed rest or - God forbid - we could be back in the NICU. At the very least, we know that I'll be making weekly visits to the OB for checks beginning at week 13.

He'll get therapy from school beginning in the Fall and through the end of the year. We're sure it's not going to be everything he could ideally use but it's certainly better than nothing. And that gives us 6 months to try our hardest to get him walking (with a walker, independent walking is likely much, much further out for our Bryce) before he goes to school. That would make me, his PT and I'm sure many others feel just a little better about our baby going to school.

We still have a lot of talking and deciding to do. At the end of the day the last thing any parent wants is to feel like they did anything less than the most they could muster for any of their children. I want nothing more than to continue to give my everything to Bryce but somehow I have to save some of my fight for the baby on the way. And maybe a little for work, Caleb and me too.



Your thoughts, input, opinions, experience and comments - as always - are not just welcome, but encouraged and appreciated!

NICU Reunion

Well Thursday marked Bryce's one year anniversary of when he finally came back to the place he was born - home.

Man, time flies.

The NICU seems all at once a lifetime ago and just yesterday. And we've come a long way in that time. Bryce was on oxygen, a pulse oximeter to monitor is oxygen levels and a nasal gastric feeding tube to supplement breast feedings with tube feedings. We were on strict lock down - no visits out unless absolutely necessary and few visits in but no children (aka little germy people) inside our home, period.

All of that is a thing of the past and although we have many struggles and hurdles yet to face we can look back and see that whatever it is, we'll figure it out. I'm one proud Momma of one amazing baby boy.

And what a better way to celebrate all of this than to attend the Dell NICU reunion yesterday? Bryce commemorated the event with his first tattoo - a "Proud to be a NICU graduate" tat on his bicep, of course.


It was a beautiful day and we had a great time visiting with all of our old nurses, respiratory therapists, neonatologists and friends of the NICU. It was really awesome to see some of Bryce's old NICU-mates too. Jaden has gotten so big that I thought at first he was someone else's kiddo - way to go Joanna! And Luke was sans helmet and as cute as ever! The Whitakers are one amazing family!

I also finished up my training to be the Dell NICU's March of Dimes parent-to-parent volunteer. I need a TB test, shot record and badge to finish up preparation for this exciting new role. I'm planning to make weekly visits to the NICU where I'll visit with any family on the unit and offer an "I've been there" ear. I just know that this would have been a priceless asset while Bryce was in the NICU and I'm so looking forward to the opportunity to do that for someone else!

There are only three more daily opportunities to vote for Bryce and spread the word about prematurity. Then we'll find out if the celebrity judges also agree that Bryce is the super hero we think he is at the Preemie Power Family Celebration on Saturday.

Please take a moment to click here & vote for Bryce.

Weekend Update

So much to tell! First of all, Bryce slept last night from 10 p.m. to this morning at 6 a.m.!!!! Holy, wonderful sleep filled night!!

Again, it has to be because he ate, ate and ate some more yesterday. Ending the eating fest with a huge bottle with rice cereal in it too.

And then this morning he had some more rice cereal:

And then this afternoon he had some sweet potato - his first real food:

As you can see, Bryce thoroughly enjoys eating. We are unusually grateful for this because we know from our experience in the NICU that many, if not most, preemies who spend months intubated have feeding issues well beyond the poor sucking muscles. Many have oral aversions, they don't like anything in or near their mouths - which makes eating, even from a bottle, a huge undertaking for them and their amazing parents. And the problem only gets worse as the varied textures of food are introduced.

So we are so proud of our baby Bryce - we may not know what the future holds for our precious boy, but we can certainly relish in the present!

And don't forget to sign up to walk with us in the March for Babies!

March with Us...PLEASE!

**You missed it! There was a silly e-card here with my face on a cartoon walking in the March for Babies but I had to take it down for technical reasons so if you didn't get a chance to see it you'll have to keep an eye out for similar new posts...sorry!

But you can still donate or sign up to walk...

Click here to help me reach my goal!

You Gotta Be Kiddin Me

I'll admit it, I really thought I was going to escape this illness unscathed. No I mean, I really, really thought I would. Naive? Just plain dumb? Optimistic? Yeah, yeah and whatever.

It started yesterday, just as Bryce and Caleb both proved to really be on the mend. A scratchy throat, a body ache and a general feeling of apathy.

Now it's been quite awhile since I've been sick and I credit it to two things: I finally had my tonsils taken out a couple of years ago and should I feel a sickness coming on I take vitamin C like it's going out of style, drink lots of fluids, stay warm and go to bed early. It's like magic I tell ya.

Unless of course you happen to have a baby at home that doesn't sleep through the night. And is still a little grumpy and overly needy due to his still getting over the very same sickness which threatens to ruin your Valentine's Day.

Oy, Valentine's Day. Did I forget to mention we have our first romantic anything since Bryce was born (8 months ago) planned for Saturday night? Yep. Movie tickets bought. Dinner reservations made. Hotel reservations made. Grandma baby sitter booked.

And all I can think of is sleeping through the night.

Sad, I know.

Despite all of my complaining I really am looking forward to it. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let this little bug keep me down for long!

Home Sweet Home part deux

We are home and so happy to be! We've already had a welcome home, Bryce visit from Poppa too!

Bryce is like a new man today. He's still on the extra oxygen and not eating full blast but the progress is impossible to ignore.

And how nice to come home to this in my inbox...

I barely recognize the baby in the picture and can hardly believe it's Bryce on the very day we began this latest healthcare endeavor with him. Yep, that was the last time I saw my baby boy truly happy - Tuesday, a week ago tomorrow.

Thanks Sweet Mary for the sweet reminder of what we have to look forward to as Bryce continues to improve, as I know he will.

It sure was scary being back in the hospital, especially in the new way in which we don't know exactly what is wrong with him (i.e. he was born to early) and exactly what we need to do for him (keep him going until he can do it for himself).

But we had a secret weapon that I'll be forever grateful for. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Good news! All tests came back clear, going to try to take Bryce off fluids and go home today! Virus turned into an infection in his lungs but all else is ok!

Preliminary Results

The preliminary results from the spinal tap show that Bryce has almost no white blood cells in his spinal fluid, this means that an infection is unlikely. This is wonderful news because that would have been about the worst thing I could imagine at this point.

The cultures will take 48 hours to grow, or hopefully not grow, anything. They took a stool, urine, blood and spinal fluid sample to rule out infection pretty much anywhere in the body.

His lungs this morning sound much more junky all over which leads the docs to think he has developed bronchiolitis from the virus he's been fighting. Apparently this is quite common at this time of the year, even in kids who don't have such poor lung tissue.

He also did eat a little last night and was awake more than all of yesterday combined. He's hacking up a lot of stuff this morning which makes him very angry and usually leads to a bit of a desat but otherwise I'm optimistic that he may be turning a corner.

We're keeping our fingers crossed.

No Answers, More Questions

Bryce's lethargy and lack of appetite today were significant and have the doctors concerned that there is possibly something more going on. They've done a series of xrays and a CT scan of his head to check for possible shunt malfunction. Fortunately that all

looked good but now there is a concern that Bryce may have meningitis.

They are planning to do a lumbar puncture in the next hour or so and start antibiotics just in case.

We should hopefully know more in the morning. I'm sorry for the lack of real information but he's

pretty much got us all stumped.

I'll be sure to post more as I know more. Thanks for thinking of us!

We're Back

We kept waiting for Bryce to start feeling better but it seemed he was only getting worse as the days mounted.

His fever began on Tuesday and hasn't yet let up. Yesterday he seemed pretty good in the morning but by late afternoon he was wheezing, coughing and satting in the low 80's. He should, and usually does sat between 95 and 100, without extra oxygen. But he's been on extra oxygen for the last two days.

He scared Dad and Abuelita while I was out yesterday afternoon by turning a little blue all over and becoming extremely lethargic. So off to the ER we went for the second time in a week.

And the same old routine there: medieval chest xray (and now Caleb can vouch for the fact that my description does not even begin to do justice to its awfulness), draw blood, put in IV, swab nose. Only this time they swabbed his nose for RSV again and Pertussis, a.k.a. whooping cough, as well. Both came back negative.

We also had to call in the special forces for the blood draw and IV poke. After one poke and several nurses examining Bryce for access the NICU nurses came down and made it look like a walk in the park. Those ladies saved us, yet again. I wonder if they ever tire of being such heros.

Speaking of the NICU, I think the ER must have been terribly ready to get rid of us and Bryce's entourage of visiting RTs and nurses from upstairs. Word travels quickly in the NICU and we didn't even make it out of the car in the ER drive before we were recognized and Bryce was shuffled away by a former nurse of his.

It was looking like we might be taking him home last night again but then Bryce had several coughing spells that resulting in a complete inability for him to breathe. His entire body turned beet red and he simply couldn't get a breath in. After one I noticed what appeared to be a rash all over his neck and up his face. It was broken blood vessels from his forceful coughing.

And that's when they decided to keep him overnight to monitor his oxygen needs. The residents on the floor they put us on found his history quite intriguing. I had hoped that would encourage them to return after their millions of questions with some clue as to what is going on. It didn't.

Bryce slept quite well after we all finally got settling in right at 2 a.m. And since then he has eaten almost nothing and despite Tylenol is still running a fever over 100. But his lungs sound clearer now than last night and he isn't wheezing constantly any more.

I suspect that we will be discharged today but will be battling this thing for many more days. Unfortunately Bryce has also mastered the pitiful look in the last couple of days so even though I haven't gotten the illness yet, I'm in a lot of pain.

I'll be sure to keep the blog updated as the day progresses and we learn more. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to sign up to walk with us on May 8 at Auditorium Shores for the March for Babies (by the March of Dimes). And thank you as well to those of you who have so generously donated - we're more than a quarter of the way to our goal of $1000 raised already!

Much as the expertise of the NICU never ceases to amaze me, your love and support of us never does either.

Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.

Business Time

Okay, so this is something near and dear to my heart.

I'll first begin though with an update on my baby boy.

Bryce is such a strong little boy. He still has a fever but it remains at or below 100. He does have a cough that is getting worse but the doctor told us to expect this. I hate that I know he doesn't feel well. He coughs and then looks up at me with the saddest little, tired eyes. It breaks my heart, as I'm sure most of you are all too familiar with. I can only hope and pray that it will get better instead of worse as I'm seriously beginning to worry that he needs more oxygen due to this more and more frequent hacking.

All in all though I feel that Bryce is on the mend and continuning to once again prove his fierce toughness.

So to the business. A couple of things:

I tried unsuccessfully to find a link to this great story we saw on ABC news tonight. It featured Dr. Lee (the neurosurgeon who originally placed Bryce's VP shunt) doing a groundbreaking procedure to separate the two sides of a 16 month old Austin girl's brain, Aahlaya. The poor baby had "hundreds" of seizures per day. She's now home with her mom and thriving.

The doctors at Dell never cease to amaze me.

But I digress.

Which brings me to my other point.

The March of Dimes.

Do you know that before Bryce was born I literally had no idea what purpose the March of Dimes nor the Ronald McDonald house served? It's sadly true.

And now that I have first hand knowledge I am compelled to give back.

Premature birth is the #1 cause of newborn death in our country.

Though my doctors strongly suspect an infection caused Bryce's premature birth they have say nothing for sure. They insist that should I ever attempt to have another baby my pregnancy and care would be drastically different.

I believe it is imperative that we find out why premature births happen and how we can prevent them.

I have created a March of Dimes team, in honor of Bryce, that will be raising money for this cause. My goal is to raise $1,000. It is a meager goal but one I feel is only the beginning of a life long cause.

By supporting Bryce's team you can show that you care about this cause too. That you believe that although Bryce may be a preemie he is a lucky one that decades of medical breakthroughs made possible. That you want to be a part of the generation that saved millions of babies lives. That there is hope for future generations.

Bryce's team, BAM, will be walking in the March of Dimes on May 8th at Auditorium Shores here in Austin. We'd love it if you'd show your support by walking with us. And if you can't walk please donate. The money raised will support research and programs that will help moms like me have full-term pregnancies. What a thought! As well as bring comfort and much needed information to families with babies born too early.

Please, please, please help us by visiting Bryce's team website and contributing anything you can.

When we woke up early yesterday morning to go about our day Bryce seemed fine. He didn't seem sick. He didn't eat as much as usual and wasn't as happy as we're used to him being in the morning but I shrugged it off.

When Mary dropped him off to me at work yesterday afternoon he was sleeping, as usual. She noted that he hadn't eaten much and had taken only one long nap instead of his usual two short naps.

He was a little fussy when he woke up so I finished what I could, fed him a bottle and we headed home.

On our way home I called to talk it over with Caleb. That's when Caleb said he was feeling worse then yesterday morning, which was worse than the day before, which was worse than the day before. I heard, "I'm sick and contagious...blah, blah, blah."

So I told Caleb he'd have to sleep in the guest room and when I got home I fed Bryce and put him down on his play mat to play while I went about sanitizing and disinfecting every surface in our home. Next thing I knew Bryce had fallen asleep on his play mat. And I thought, that's weird, he never just falls asleep like that.

I finished disinfecting every knob, door handle, counter top, remote control, power button, appliance, faucet, bottle, nipple, pacifier and light switch in the house. I stripped all of the linens from Bryce's room and ours and set about washing them.

Then I went to pick up Bryce and put him in his crib. That's when I felt that he was burning up hot. I took his temperature and he was 101.4 under his arm.

I freaked.

I called Danielle and Lisa, two of our NICU primary nurses. Danielle said without a hesitation to take him to the ER at Dell. Lisa said call your doctor, they should have someone on call. Tiare, another of our NICU nurses, said over Lisa's shoulder to bring him in (bring because they were both working last night).


I did not want to take Bryce to the ER last night. I did not want to go back to Dell, not like that. The on call doctor for our pediatrician confirmed we should go to the ER because he could change drastically over night.

So at a little after 8 p.m. I began packing for every imaginable circumstance of ER inconvenience or germ exposure.

I packed up Bryce and an iced coffee, blankets, diapers, wipes, pacifiers, nipples, extra clothes, bottles, medical records and shot records and even a canister of Lysol antibacterial wipes. Imagine what a freak they thought I was walking into a hospital with my own disinfecting wipes. Hey, control what you can and, well try to control what you can't too - that's my mothering motto. For better or worse. Probably worse.

And so Bryce and I made the drive to Dell.

Caleb wanted so bad to go with us. I think he wanted to be there for me as much as he wanted to be there for Bryce. He knew it would be hard for me but I insisted he stay home. If he was in fact the reason Bryce had gotten sick I wasn't about to let him get another child sick too.

We checked in and due to Bryce's fever and high respiratory rate were immediately triaged and sent to a room. One disaster averted - no waiting room. I was beginning to think I might survive.

The doctor came in and looked him over. He was so sure it was RSV I was wondering why we were testing Bryce for it. But then he said due to Bryce's shunt he wanted to take extra precautions - i.e. chest x-ray, urinalysis, blood test and CBC.

Okay, I can handle this. After five months in the NICU and countless surgeries and procedures I was feeling pretty confident. Unreasonably so as I soon learned.

First we went back for the x-ray. I walked him back to the x-ray room where I was instructed to undress him to his diaper and sit him on a tiny bicycle seat that was sunken down into a hole in a small, counter-height table. Then I was to hold his arms straight up above his head so they could clamp a clear PVC tube around him.

The icing on the cake wasn't the yanking on his arms or his wiggling and whining but the honest-to-God leather strap that held his head in place.

I mean, this thing was straight out of a Hitchcock film and I was participating!

I seriously considering yanking him out of there and running. But I'm the mom now (really, how did that happen?) and I have to be strong for him. So I walked behind the wall to wait as he wailed and riled.

As soon as I could get him afterward I did. I scooped him up and calmed him down. I kissed his tears away and told him how sorry I was.

Back in the room it was time to collect urine and believe me the catheter was no picnic but he's such an amazing little trooper he made it look easy.

Finally the blood. I knew they'd want an IV and I also knew that wasn't going to happen. If I had a penny for every time a NICU nurse, and those NICU nurses can put an IV in anything, sighed with frustration about Bryce's "squiggly preemie veins," well you wouldn't be reading this because we probably wouldn't have time for blogging from our own island paradise.

The second nurse to try for a vein actually had the nerve to get mad at me because Bryce was kicking him. I'd been kicking him too if I thought I could have gotten away with it.

Three and half hours after our arrival the doctor came back and delivered the good news. The flu and RSV tests both came back negative. The urinalysis and blood tests would take a couple of days to grow anything but he doubted they would. And the CBC showed his white count was right on. So we were informed Bryce has some unknown, un-named virus and we should follow up with his pediatrician in the next 1 to 2 days.

And so we've spend the time since then quarantined to one room because Caleb has reinfected the rest of the house with his germs. Bryce has slept more than I ever thought possible but I stay firmly by his side just in case. His fever is controlled by Tylenol and although he's a little grumpy I've managed to coax a smile or two out of him too.

We'll see the pedi first thing tomorrow morning and hope that this is all behind us soon enough.

As for mom? Well, I'll make it. But not without too much worry and anxiety. I'll tame it with a little Zoloft, a little counseling and a lot of faith.

Virus but not flu or RSV. On our way home to follow up with pediatrician tomorrow.

ER

In the ER with Bryce. 102 fever and a cough. Last place we want to be. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Somedays

Somedays it's so easy to get caught up in the moment, to forget where you've come from and how long the trip has taken.

And others days you can't shake it any better than anything else.

You wake up with it, from a dream that haunts you all day and into the night.

You roll over to take in a good, long look at the miracle peacefully sleeping within arms reach.

Your heart fills with the warm fuzzies that you've heard so much about but rarely truly encountered.

You'd think this would do it. Off to the day. To deal with the weather and the traffic, the suddenly never ending poopy diapers and the hurry, hurry, hurry.

But not this day.

Everything you do, you do with a nagging something in the back of your mind. A slight tugging from behind. It implores you to stop and recall, it tempts you into its wonderment. You can't help but feel it's lure.

Eventually you give in. You go to the diaper bag and finally bring yourself to reading the discharge summary. You get to the bottom of page one and are amazed at how quickly your mind heals over the harsh. By page 12, of 19, you've hit your max and have to turn away. It's still too fresh, to sore to fully deal.

But you feel an odd sense of renew, refreshment, encouragement...hope.

We've come so far. It's cost so much, more than $2.8 million at last note. Must be something spectacular in the future.

For another parent that might be Yale or perhaps an M.D. but we're quite content with smiles and kisses.

It's been hard, it still might be, but I thank God for it every single night. I do.

Rice Cereal

Monday night Bryce had rice cereal for the first time...

Try as he did to get as much of the soupy cereal in his belly most of it ended up running down his belly. But it sure was cute.

It was very difficult to get a decent picture of the event because it was just the two of us and every time I put the spoon down to try and snap a photo he'd get quite mad! He was not a fan of the whole waiting for another spoonful o' food and still much prefers to attack his bottle as if at any moment someone might forever take it away.

In the same vein, he's begun eating quite ferociously. As I've said before, ever since he came home our biggest challenge has been trying to make him eat as much as the doctors prescribe. When we were still in the NICU they were fond of saying that eventually something would just click and one day he'd suddenly begin taking in all of the food he needed.

Well, turns out the NICU was right once again. Surprise, surprise. Last week Bryce went overnight from taking an average of 16 ounces per 24 hour period to an average of 20 ounces. But on some days he can even take more than the prescribed 24 ounces. And we've discovered that this directly relates to how much sleep we all get.

Dare I dream of a full night's sleep? Indeed, I do!

Bryce Babbling

It's been a long week and we're only half way there so here's a video of Bryce babbling. He's making all kinds of new sounds every day and they never fail to amuse his silly parents.

Hopefully this will make up for my lack of posting :-)

Sorry it's sideways...

Busy Day

And Momma's beat!

We were up before the sun this morning to head out for Bryce's monthly RSV shot. No fun. Poor baby was in such a good mood, there were mirrors in the doctor's office and he was having fun looking at the baby in the mirror, playing with the crinkly paper on the bed. And then the nurse walked in and stuck him in the leg with that big bad needle. Poor Bryce went completely red in the face instantly, screaming and crying huge tears that would melt even the hardest of hearts. Fortunately for me he forgives fairly quickly. It took a couple of minutes to calm him down but he's since forgotten.

Good thing too because we had to rush home for physical therapy. That was pretty good, despite a sore baby leg. He played and cooed and bahhed at Danny, his therapist. He did not however show any interest in turning his head from his left side to look at anything Danny could conger up on his right. Therapy always wears him out and he was sound asleep before we'd left his room. Just long enough for Mommy to grab a quick bite and wash some dishes.

And before I knew it 2:30 p.m. had come around and the ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) people were here for Bryce's assessment. A nurse, case manager from Williamson County's Pride Program and speech therapist came by to determine what therapy Bryce qualifies for. They decided that he will get speech/feeding therapy once a week for awhile. A nurse will also come by twice to teach us some exercises and infant massage. They'll also be putting me in touch with a therapist to talk to about the PTSD that is the usual result of a long NICU stay. At their expense too. I'm looking forward to talking to a professional about how all of this has changed me and it can't hurt in helping me be a better mom - which is always at the top of my list.

So at the end of the day we accomplished a lot but we're exhausted. And we have another early day tomorrow. You wouldn't believe how long it takes to get me and a baby out of the house for an entire day away - add thirty degree weather and we'll be up before dawn once again.

Night, ya'll.

Hook 'Em!

Is it a match made in heaven? Bryce's 7 month birthday (lucky number 7) and UT playing for the national championship on the same day...I dare say not.

Bryce and his many visits from UT football players, in order of appearance.

Bryce (and us, too!) with Brandon Collins and Eddie Jones...here's to hoping ol' Brandon will make a career of football instead of crime, but that's a post for another day.

Bryce, us and TX kicker Justin Tucker.

Bryce in his game day gear, my oh my how he has changed! NOTICE: this is the same onesie he's wearing in the last picture, from today, it fit a little better back when this picture was taken!

Bryce, Caleb and UT linebacker Dustin Earnest.

Bryce and us with Colt McCoy and Adam Ulatoski just over a week before Bryce got to come home - what a farewell!

And today...Bryce and Daddy ready for the championship!Hook 'Em Horns!!!!!!!!