Braden May Be The Next Dallas Cowboy

Hello to all! Annie and I wanted to write personally to give everyone an update. Today was a good day for our son, Braden. He has gained weight, he is at 1lb 12oz, up 5ozs from birth. The nurses are allowing a little more contact. Annie was allowed to change his diaper, take his temperature, and touch him ever so slightly. They are retrying Braden on formula. Based on preemie history it is common for them to not respond to real formula for the first or even 2nd, third, or fourth try. It takes a while for their bodies to adjust, so we are hoping his body accepts it on the 2nd try, if not, we will go for 3. All Braden's vitals and gases were right where they needed to be today, his oxygen level is still slightly off, but not unrealistic for his age. Braden will be 2 weeks old on Monday, but only 26 weeks gestation, I usually get confused when I think of the two. To put it in perspective, Braden's cousin in Memphis is due in I believe July. Braden was due in June. Braden will be apprx. 5 months old in July, but he and his cousin should only be a month apart in age. In July they may be similar in size, although Braden will be 5 months his/her senior. It gets tough to swallow at times, but we know it will work out fine.

Now for some more news! Braden was fortunate enough to be blessed by a member of the Dallas Cowboys: Dexter Coakley. He actually just signed with the St. Louis Rams after a long stint with Dallas, but that's another story. The facts are that Annie and I were eating at the hospital cafeteria when I saw a man that looked familiar. I told Annie I thought he played for the Cowboys. She walked by him and his family and Dexter's daughter dropped her drink. Annie bent down to pick it up and when she did, saw his hospital admittance bracelet. Sure enough, it was him. We rode on the elevator with Dexter and his daughter to the 7th floor, which is the maternity floor. We struck up a conversation with him and found out his wife had just delivered their 2nd child. As usual, Annie dominated the conversation, so I didn't get to tell him I knew who he was. We saw which room he went to though. We decided to write him a note, explaining that we didn't want to bother him, but if he would be so kind as to maybe give our son his autograph. We also explained Braden's condition. I was nervous, but slipped the note under his door. To our surprise, he not only responded, he gave a signed photo made out to Braden, gave us some parking passes to the hospital, and visited with Annie. His wife, although still recooperating from giving birth, told Annie that they would be praying for Braden. She and Annie hung out, visited a while, and cried together. She told Annie to not give up on having more children. Seems they hit it off pretty well. They were so considerate even though it was their special time. We have Dexter's autographed picture hanging up on Braden's incubator. This is something we will never forget and will pass on to Braden. Just to clarify, Dexter Coakley is a undersized Linebacker in the NFL. He has played about 8 years with the Dallas Cowboys. He played collegiately at Appalacian State in North Carolina. My dad and I had the privilege of visiting App State when I lived in Charlotte - a beautiful campus. Dexter just signed with the St. Louis Rams. They will be getting a fine player, but an even greater MAN. Thanks again to the Coakley family.

The next order of emphasis is on an organization I want to recognize: NIN - Newborns in Need. I had no idea organizations like this even existed, until a manager from another department where I work approached me. Patricia came up to me and let me know a little about the Dallas Area Chapter that she volunteered for. She explained to me that they provided clothes for premature babies, since clothes that size don't really exist. Even when these babies are big enough to fit into so called "preemie" clothes, they are extremely expensive. She asked me for several of Braden's measurements. I provided her with that information and the next day she had stitched him a BEAUTIFUL blue cap and some booties/socks to wear. I can report that as of Saturday 3/12 Braden was wearing them proudly (pics coming soon!). He is a show off by the way.

How you can help Newborns is need? You can use your sewing, quilting, knitting, tatting, and crocheting talents to make much needed baby clothing and blankets. Some patterns are available from them. You can also donate sewing notions or fabric appropriate for babies to be used for their benefit. Their group sews baby clothing, quilts, and blankets. They can be reached at NEWBORNS IN NEED- TEXAS, DALLAS AREA CHAPTER - P.O. BOX 59717 - Dallas, Texas 75229-0717 PHONE 972-620-7939 or e-mail dallastx@newbornsinneed.org ---- Please keep them in mind - they have already kept us in mind and we are grateful.

I guess we should close with that. Annie meets with her doctor this Thursday. Hopefully everything will go well and she will be allowed to go back to work the following Monday. Everything else is going well. We again want to thank everyone for their concern. We are doing as well as can be expected and appreciate the well wishes. Will close for now, hope everyone is doing fine and please keep reading for future updates - We thank you - Annie, Steve, & Braden Bunger.