33 weeks, 4 days

I'm so sorry I haven't updated sooner! I've had my hands full these last couple of days holding tight to my baby boy. Oh, and we went home on Saturday night and spent our longest time away from Bryce so far - almost 24 hours. It was good to get away but we were ready to be back.

Well, Bryce's second CPAP trial didn't last long but he gave it a fighting chance. We're working toward a more reasonable goal of weaning his vent settings as low as possible before trying again.

Of course, that'll also depend on surgery.

A follow up ultrasound on Monday showed a shift of excess fluid from the side that had a new shunt placed last week to the other. The "plan" is to wait and watch. As long as the fluid doesn't build then they'll leave him alone but if it does than they'll likely place one more of these temporary shunts before finally doing the permanent, VP, shunt. A baby like Bryce, though, cannot go to surgery without being on a ventilator so it's hard to get excited about extubating him to CPAP only to put him back on the vent at least once for a surgery.

Otherwise Bryce is doing great. He's still on full feeds and tolerating them very well. He's been on a 24 calorie milk mixture but today they went up to 27. Since he is still on his pain medication they can't go up on his amount because it would over hydrate him. But the plan is to have him off of his pain med. on Saturday and then they'll probably go up on the amount then.

Gain, gain, gain - weight and strength - that's the goal.

Weight wise Bryce was up to 3.99018 pounds two nights ago (I prefer to be exact, if you couldn't tell) but is down a little over the last couple of nights. I suspect he'll hit the four pound mark any day now though. Very exciting!

He's also on a trial of maintaning his own body temperature. They started him by turning his bed on just fan a few days ago. That went well so last night they opened his bed and bundled him up to see if he can handle being in an open crib. We're working our way toward a real crib. Once we do that and get him on CPAP we'll be able to just reach in and pick him up pretty much anytime. That will be a great day.

Lastly, the eye doctor came by for his second exam yesterday morning. He seemed shocked and said that it was amazing that this former 24 weeker doesn't have any signs of eye disease. He'll continue to check him every two weeks until 45 weeks just to be sure though.

Bryce is 33 weeks and 4 days now. He still has six weeks and a few days until his due date.

CPAP Attempt Numero Dos

A little out of the blue this morning the docs decided to give Bryce another try at CPAP. It was just two days ago they were saying the plan was for next week. I rushed over just in time to catch them trying to calm him down after all of the commotion. It's been non stop since then.

He's trying really hard and I don't want to jinx it but my feeling is that he's not quite ready. I hope I'm wrong and that he just needs to settle into it but his oxygen needs have been between 70 and 100% since extubation, and he's still only saturating his body with between 80 and 90% oxygen. He's also had a couple of serious desats (59% to 69%) that he's taken a long time to come back from.

Feeds went up again today and so far he seems to be tolerating that very well. But he was supposed to eat at noon and didn't due to his still being so upset. If they have to reintubate they don't want him to have a freshly full belly.

I'll update more as I know more.

Shane

Unfortunately, Caleb's big brother, Shane, passed on in the early morning hours yesterday.

Shane was one of those people that was always bigger than life. He pushed the boundaries relentlessly, took chances many of us only dream of and lived a life so full of daredevil acts that we can only look back on his life in awe, with a smirk on our faces.

Whether he was scuba diving for ancient relics off the coast of Bahrain, trying to land the big one out at the lake or hunting for arrowheads in the hill country, Shane did everything with a sense of adventure and enthusiasm I've always envied.

We are so sad that baby Bryce will never get to know his uncle Shane and his crazy ways. Shane told Caleb that he wished someday he could throw a football with Bryce. Shane, we wish the same - more than you could know even from where you are now.

But we find peace in the knowledge that Shane is back to his whole self now. He's somewhere up above or all around. I like to think he's watching over us all; willing us to take a few more chances, travel a little further, laugh a little louder, love a little harder and give in to this crazy ride that we call life.

Thanks, Shane. We love you and will forever miss you.

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Visitation to be held at the Dripping Springs Methodist Church on Ranch Road 12 in Dripping Springs, TX from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursday Aug. 6, 2009. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. and followed by the burial at Phillips Cemetery also in Dripping Springs. Lastly will be the receiving of friends and family at the First Baptist Church of Dripping Springs' banquet hall.

Surgery Recovery Going Well

Bryce's surgery was deemed a success by the neuro team yesterday and his recovery continues to impress us all. He seems quite comfortable, focused on sleeping and growing. He'll have feeds started back today and we've got our fingers crossed that he will tolerate them well. Maybe he'll even be back to full feeds tomorrow. We can hope.

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Happy 8th Anniversary!
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