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!!!!!!!!

Change is a coming...

My oh my, I can't believe the time is here already. Tomorrow Bryce will be staying with Miss Mary and Lil Miss Adalyn for 4 whole hours while mommy goes to work.

This will be the first time I've left Bryce alone with anyone except his father and my mother. And neither of them has had him for more than a work day.

One might say I'm a little, okay a lot, attached. But hey, he's MY baby. I share him with no one. Except now Mary and Adalyn.

Obviously I'm confident he will be in capable hands, otherwise I never would have asked Mary for "the favor," as it is now referred to. Beginning tomorrow Mary will watch Bryce on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that I can go in to work, without distraction. Tomorrow is our test run, only four hours and only once this week.

And I've got her all set up with a new, full package of diapers and wipes, a new pre-made bottle of formula, a Boppy, a car seat base, an extra set of clothes, two bottles, our two favorite nipples, two pacifiers, a folder with all of the medically necessary information anyone could imagine, emergency contact numbers beyond reason, doctors' contact information and handmade, printed spreadsheets for tracking his bottles, sleep and diapers...oh and one precious baby boy.

I suspect poor Mary has no idea what she has signed up for, but boy will she when we show up with all of our necessities in tow tomorrow morning. I'm anxious to be committing myself to be away from Bryce so much in the coming weeks but sure we're doing the only thing really possible. At least on Wednesdays when I have to be away at work he'll be home with his daddy. It'll be good for us all.

And as a side note, we had the most unexpected treat today. I took Bryce to get some more formula and while I was sitting in the car feeding him I thought I saw a familiar face. Upon further inspection I was delighted to confirm that that face was Dr. Imm.

Dr. Imm was the neonatologist who rounded on Bryce the first two weeks of his life. I very much credit him with helping to save Bryce's life. This otherwise stranger has seen me in a more vulnerable and weak state than I care to recall, he's seen the worst of me as he was the very doctor that somberly informed us that Bryce's brain bleeds (IVH - intra-ventricular hemorrhages) had in fact worsened to a stage three and four. I, for some unknown reason, pride myself for not crying in front of people but Dr. Imm witnessed a breakdown like none other that morning. It is forever etched in my mind's eye.

Needless to say, I literally bounded out of the car, ran around to snatch Bryce out of his car seat and nearly trampled poor Dr. Imm and his family to show off how far Bryce has come. It was funny too because this must happen to them fairly often. His wife barely seemed surprised. Dr. Imm immediately recognized me pummeling toward him and lit up when he saw Bryce. I bragged on and on about how well Bryce is doing and he went on and on about how great Bryce's head looks.

I suspect that even when your job is saving babies lives, most often the sickest of the sick, you still remember having to tell a mother that her baby could be severely handicapped, neurologically delayed or wind up with Cerebral Palsy - and there is not a thing in the world you can do about it.

Thanks again, Dr. Imm for doing what you could about the things you could do something about. And thanks again, to everyone at Dell Children's hospital NICU for saving Bryce's life. We think of you all daily and hold a new found hope that we'll have to opportunity to run into you someday and show off how well our baby is doing.

Hallelujah

Oh glorious sleep, how I have missed thee. Let me count the ways:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep in a row!

That's right ladies and gentleman, for the second time in the seven weeks Bryce has been home he slept completely through the night. He had a bottle at 10:30 p.m. last night and was asleep by 11 p.m. When he awoke this morning and it was still dark outside I naturally assumed it was his regular 2 a.m. wake up. Imagine my surprise when the clock read 6 a.m.

I even asked Caleb what time his clock said because I couldn't believe it.

Now we're left to wonder whether it was the 10:30 p.m. feed (an unusual feeding time for Bryce) or the fact that none of us has slept longer than 2 hours in three days. Was he just completely exhausted or content?

Rest assured, I'll be scouring the Daily BAM report's plethora of stats and data for any clues that might help me solve this great mystery. But if you think you know something I don't please do tell!

Better Late Than Never

After I took all of the ornaments off of our Christmas tree this past weekend I realized that we didn't have any pictures of Bryce in his myriad of Christmas outfits or in front of the tree. So we played dress up this afternoon for as long as he would stand it and captured these wonderful pictures.

Although sleep has been a challenge the last couple of nights, Bryce is making strides in other areas. He's holding his head up from his belly quite well, he's smiling more and more, constantly riding his invisible bicycle, making tiny little baby sounds and tonight for the first time he tried to reach for a toy. He never fails to amaze us, our miracle boy.

The Daily BAM Report

Ever wonder what Bryce is doing?

Oddly enough, sometimes I do.

Let me clarify. I ALWAYS know exactly what Bryce is doing at that specific moment in time. But if you asked me when he sleeps and when he eats? My "mommy brain" would mutter something about educated guesses.

But this information is really quite important, at least for any self respecting type A personality. But really, even types Aish's like myself feel compelled to seek out the trends, the specifics on intakes and outputs, the best-time-to-plan-a-shower times, especially the shower times.

And so in a state of shear helplessness I began making a log of everything I could write on a notepad that went everywhere with me. Everything. Everywhere. Exausting.

And then it occurred to me - a spreadsheet! Yes, why didn't I think of that days ago when I began this endeavor? Blame it on the mommy brain. It's my go to for everything these days anyway. I mean seriously, there's a whole other post on mommy brain. Another day.

Anyway, today, after my spreadsheet epiphany, I found myself googling for templates to get what I needed in a jiffy. And then I stumbled upon my new obsession. The Daily BAM report.

As in The Daily Bryce Alexander Moline report. As in an online application that takes my silly little log in a notepad and sprinkles it with some magic fairy dust. It's like the pinnacle of the pinnacle of baby tracking. And as anyone who has ever had a baby knows (or at least I prefer to imagine that every one of you out there agrees with me) nothing could be more valuable.

Seriously though. Bryce isn't growing fast enough; because he's not eating enough. And I know, as a preemie mom knows, that he needs to have 24 ounces of his 22 calorie formula in every 24 hours in order to even have a shot at the "catch up growth" his doctors are all stammering on about.

But in my no sleep longer than 4 hours marathon I can't always recall exactly how much of that bottle he took at 2:15 a.m. - his favorite meal time. Let alone, what time of the day he is most likely to eat well, or be sleeping, or smiling, or gassy...and sometimes if I remembered to give him his multivitamin. How about the two doses of this and one dose of that.

An apparently brilliant and otherwise like minded stay at home dad developed Trixie Tracker a few years ago for this very purpose. I discovered it today and fell madly, deeply in love with it.

And the best part is - I can share it with you all!!!! GO here, to the Daily BAM Report, at anytime of the day or night to see if Bryce is awake or asleep, eating or not, when the last time he pooped was, how much he weighs or if he's had his medicine for the day. You can even see that although Bryce is 6 months, 23 days old today his corrected age is a mere 3 months, 4 days.

I could go on and on about my new best friend but Bryce will be up to eat again in only two hours so I have to say adios for today. Thanks for checking in with us!

P/S for Bristelle: Please tell baby Kolby's family that I would be honored to hear from them. Some of the best resources I had during our hospital stay with Bryce, and even since, have been other micro preemie moms. Ladies who once were strangers are now the first person I think of when Bryce is going through something. Because I know that they know like very few do. Baby Kolby and family will be in my prayers. Much love.