FANTASTIC NEWS!

We keep getting such wonderful phone calls, blog comments, letters and e-mails asking about sweet Braden. We are happy to report that he's doing a fine job of recovering from his surgery. He is no longer on the ventilator and he's eating like a champ! In fact, on Wednesday night his MoMo went to visit him and he was very fussy and would cry and cry. It turns out that he was just hungry! Also, Braden absolutely loves his pacifier and he will just chomp and chomp on it until he finally dozes off. If that pacifier happens to fall out of his mouth while he's chomping, be prepared to hear that boy scream!

One question I've been asked a lot is, "When will Braden get to go home?" The truth is, there are a few milestones Braden will have to pass before he gets to come home. For example, he will need to eat from a bottle, he will need to breathe on his own, he will need to have fully recovered from his surgery, etc. Fortunately, he is very close to these milestones. Right now he is on room air and basically breathing on his own. He is up to 38 CCs of formula every 3 hours and he now gets 1 feeding through a bottle each day!

Ok, so you must have read the title of this entry and you're probably wondering what the fantastic news must be. Well, yesterday Steve and PoPo spent some time with Braden. The doctor came in and spoke to them about the timeline regarding Braden's release. If all goes well Braden should be released from the hospital sometime in the next 3 weeks!!! It's amazing that we now see the end in sight. It's incredible to think that in the next couple of weeks he could be packing up to go live with his mom and dad. Of course, anything can change at anytime in the NICU so we are a bit guarded with this information. But for now, we're going to remain positive and start getting ready for that baby to come home!

Our family has been talking about a shower/welcome home party for Braden. Right now we are tossing around ideas, talking about possible dates/locations, and trying to figure out how to invite those who don't actually know us but want to meet Braden. If you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to contact me at cjackso1@pisd.edu and let me know.

Below are some fun pics of Braden - hope you like them! Thanks for stopping by to check on that sweet boy and thanks for keeping him in your prayers.

Don't get in Braden's way when he's hungry!


PoPo's hand gently rocked Braden on a sunny Thursday afternoon.


Braden's new crib decorations show he's ready for the summer!


Braden likes to gaze out of his window. In this photo, you can see one of the scars from his shunt surgery. It's on the top of his head above his right eye.