Sweet Lucy Kate

Lucy Kate has been all over the place and staying with everyone. When we first arrived at the hospital Charles' mom and Catherine would switch up watching her on the ground floor of the hospital and at night my mom would take her to my cousin's house in Germantown and keep her. We are so thankful to Pete and Kim and the boys for helping us out so much and opening up there doors for us to stay. Once we moved to the floor Lucy Kate started spending the day in the room and heading out at night. Then the doctors told us that Bryant had staff infection and Lucy Kate did not need to come to the room, so I have started driving out to Germantown for the afternoons and spending some time with her. Charles stays at the hospital and I return later in the afternoon. The schedule has been so crazy for Lucy Kate but she has done really well. Here are some cute photos of her hanging our waiting on Bryant to get out of this place.

5 Weeks Old

Lucy Kate and Bryant were 5 weeks old this past Wednesday (4-23-08) and I am just now posting. To get a photo of both of them I had to lay her in the hospital bed with him and she was not happy about it. Hopefully we will be taking the weekly pictures from home and they will be much cuter.

Daily Update at LeBonheur

Things are going well and hopefully we will be heading home Wednesday or Thursday. We have to finish out trach training tomorrow, complete a CPR course and then start our 24 hour care with Bryant. The hospital requires that the parents keep the baby without any help from the nurses with all the equipment we will be taking home. Soon our house will look like a hospital with all the supplies and medical equipment. We are so thankful for everything that everyone has been doing for us. The phone calls, visitors, text messages, and e-mails have really been great! We are also so thankful for our wonderful neighbor Val who has been taking care of our house and dogs. I am also so excited that Rachel and Jennie are coming to Memphis to get trained in Trach care and then we will be able to train a few more people. I will feel so much better having other people close by that know what is going on and how to help Bryant. I have posted a few photos from the stay and they are a little scary at first but he really does look so great now.

God Is Good

We have seen the sunshine again and things are looking good for Bryant. You spend each day on pins and needles that things will be good and that all that you have prayed for will come true. It has been our prayer that the CT scan would show the best possible outcome for Bryant and of course God answered our prayers. Dr. Thompson came in this morning around 10:00 and told us that the CT of the mid face revealed that Bryant does have slits in his nose and that their are openings behind the bone. This means that Bryant WILL NOT HAVE TO HAVE SURGERY!!!!!!!!! Dr. Thompson will leave the trach in and allow him to grow and it will open up on its own. We will have another CT scan in 6 months and this will let us know where we are in the growth process. As for the tailbone issue, Bryant is missing vertebra S2-4 which makes up your tailbone. This is not an issue right now and may never cause any problems for him. We will cross that bridge later in Bryant's life if we need to, but right now we are only concerned with the trach. He is doing so well and Charles is wonderful with him, I am the one that is scared to death. Your prayers are getting us through this and God has truly answered them. I will post some photos of Bryant soon, I did not want to at first because I wanted everyone to know exactly what was going on before they see the photos.

Original Due Date

It is hard to believe that today is Bryant and Lucy Kate's original due date. In the 5 weeks that they have been with us we have only been home for 2 of those weeks. We spent the first 10 days in the NICU at Baptist Women's Hospital, discharged on March 28th. We drove away from that hospital and never planned on returning to another, we were headed home to start our new lives. Things were really going well at home and everyone was adjusting to the new life style. Bryant and Lucy Kate were eating well and on a great schedule. Our baby nurse was coming at night to help us out and allow us to get some sleep, motherhood was really looking great. As a mother all you want to do is protect your precious babies and make sure they never have to endure any pain. We were home for about 2 weeks and we were scheduled for an ENT appointment on April 16th for Bryant. On April 17th Bryant was in surgery having a trach placed. I never imagined this is what we would be doing and as sit by his bedside each night I pray and cry. I have yet to accept that Bryant has received a trach and that I will soon be sent home with him and I am supposed to take care of him. I am scared to death and I pray each and every day for the strength to make it through this time in our lives. I would give anything to trade places with Bryant and take all his pain away.

4 Weeks Old (Last week)

These are Bryant and Lucy Kate's 4 week pictures (4-16-08) and I started the post last Thursday and did not get to finish. My sweet friend Kate brought us some things today and I am now able to post since I have my computer. I will try to get 5 week pictures to post as soon as I can. Bryant is doing well and is so strong. To only be 5 weeks old this little man has been through so much. We are in a room now and Lucy Kate is able to hang out with us all day and stays with my mom at night. Yesterday we laid Lucy Kate in the bed with Bryant and he was so happy. He was trying to hold her hand and wanted to love on her.

What a day

Bryant is doing well and we are waiting to move to the floor and they will begin to train us in trach care. The day has been a roller coaster ride and we are doing better now. This morning everything looked great and he has been doing well with his O2 levels and his heart rate. They tend to change when he is in pain or gets mad, but other than that he is very strong. This afternoon Charles and I were sitting at his bedside waiting for respiratory therapy to start our training and the resident came by to inform us of the results of Bryant's skeletal x-ray. He informed us that Bryant had some syndrome known as caudal-regression syndrome, which meant that he was missing vertebra's S3-5. Charles and I were trying to ask questions and he proceeded to tell us that a genetics doctor would come by and speak with us in the morning. We requested that we speak to someone and sure enough the resident had things messed up. Bryant is missing his tailbone but this is not a big deal he does not have a syndrome and nothing to worry with at this time. We are concerned with his airway and the future CT scan to show exactly what is going on behind that little nose. Things are better now that we have that behind us and we are moving up to the floor. Charles and I are allowed to stay in the room with him and we will have a trach sitter tonight.

Lucy Kate is doing great with her Nana and Kammy taking care of her. She just eats and naps and is starting to wake up a little more. She misses her brother and really doesn't know why we are dragging her all over the place. Please continue to pray for our family as we are about to travel down this new road in our lives.

Our sweet Baby Boy

I wanted to let everyone know what is going on with Bryant. We came to Memphis this past Thursday for an ENT appointment. Bryant has always grunted and wheezed while breathing and his palate looked a little different to me, so we wanted to see a pediatric ENT. Our appointment was at 1:30 and we were at LeBoneur by 6:30 that same day. Dr. Thompson broke the news to me at the ENT office that Bryant needed to have a trach put in. This was extremely overwhelming and not at all what we expected to hear. After the ambulance ride to LeBoneur they got Bryant all set up in the ICU and the surgery was done Friday morning. I have cried so many tears but we know this is what he needed. All day Friday he was sedated and on a vent to keep things easy for him. The surgery went well and we are waiting for him to get strong and move to the other part of the ICU. They will soon start training us on Trach care and we will take him home sometime in the next 2 weeks. This is the start of a long road but we know that God is watching over us and this is part of His great plan for Bryant. Please pray for our family and I will try to keep the blog updated.

4 Weeks Old

Lucy Kate and Bryant are four weeks old! It was actually yesterday on the 16th, but I am a little late posting. This week has been busy with company. Kathy, Charles' mom came to visit from North Carolina and will be staying with us until Saturday. I will post some photos of the babies with Meemaw as soon as I get a chance. We have a doctors appointment in Memphis today with apediatric ENT. Bryant does a lot of grunting and sometimes when he gets worked up it is hard for him to breath, so we are going to get things checked out. Tomorrow we go to the pediatrician for a weight check and I really thing they will be around 6 1/2 pounds! Here are some 4 week photos

Happy Birthday Matthew

I went to Cleveland again, but without the babies. I left them at home with my parents and Charles because they can't be around a bunch of kids and it was freezing today. Matthew had a wonderful birthday and he was so excited about turning four years old.

An outing to Cleveland

Last week the babies, Kamey and I went to Cleveland. I really wanted to see my friend Heathers new home and it was wonderful! I can't wait to take the babies and stay for the weekend. We also went to the Punkin Patch and I got Bryant and Lucy Kate some cute things. It was a great outing and we were so excited to see the Shorts!

Bryant, Anderson, and Lucy Kate

Matthew and Emma got in the pic. I love all these kids so much!

Emma all dressed for her dance pictures.

Bath Time

These are some pics from the first time in the baby tub! Lucy Kate enjoyed it a little more than Bryant but it was a lot of fun. Charles helped out and it went pretty smoothly, we only had one little accident in the water and it was not big deal.

Bryant did not really enjoy it

He was a little shocked

What a look!

She loved it so much

New Feeding Technique

This is a great way to feed both babies at the same time!

3 Weeks Old

Uncle Jeremy Came to Visit

We are so cute!

Swaddled and in daddy's arms

Cute matching Pajamas

All dressed to go to the doctor.

They looked like baby dolls

Weight Check

We went to the doctor today to have a check up and the babies are doing great. Bryant weighs 5 pounds 13 ounces and Lucy Kate weighs 5 pounds 11 ounces. Dr. Jill was so proud and wants to see us again in 2 weeks. We will also be going to a pediatric eye doctor to have their eyes checked. This is normal with preemies and we just want to have everything checked out. We will also follow up with a physical therapist and an ENT to check out Bryant's flat palate.

Hanging out with Daddy

Taking care of Bryant's Jaundice and Lucy Kate loving her daddy!

Watching the Memphis Tigers play

Kamey Left

Kamey is my mom and she left this past Sunday to go back home. She only lives 30 minutes away but it was horrible to see her go. She has been such a big help and I hated to see her go. Lucy Kate and Bryant miss her so much and hope that she will come and stay some more to help there mommy out! We love you Kamey and miss you so much.

First Trip to the Pediatrician- April 1, 2008

We made our first trip to the pediatrician and it was the babies first outing. We had an appointment on Tuesday since they were NICU babies we had to do pretty quick for a weight check. Lucy Kate and Bryant both weighed 5 pounds and everything looked good. Bryant did have to have his blood drawn to check his levels red blood cell levels. The results were an 11 so they said to get some natural light and make sure he continues to eat well.

Pictures from the doctors visit

Getting a rub down

This is what we consider the first bath. I scrubbed the babies down after setting up on the changing table. Neither one cared for it and I guess it may of been a little cold for them. To make it a little better we warmed up the towels and daddy held them after the wipe down.

Lucy Kate is up for her bath first

She had such a fit and does the same thing when you change her diaper

Now Bryants turn

All wrapped up and so happy with our daddy

We are Home!!!

I have not had the chance to blog since we have been home and I wanted to share with everyone what all has ben going on. We went to the NICU on March 28th to start our usual daily routine and I had really been sick thinking about taking one baby home and not the other. I had been praying about the situation and shared with my mom that morning as we were scrubbing in how sick I felt about it. We had only been in the NICU a few minutes and I was talking to the nurse about it and she said she felt like they were ready to go home. We waited for the doctor to make his rounds and sure enough he said they were both ready to come home, we were in shock. Charles was not even in Memphis yet so I called him to let him know the good news. He was so excited that we were all going to be going home as a family. Mom and I started running around like crazy getting prepared for the trip home. We had to have the carseats checked by the hospital, fill out the discharge paperwork, speak with the physical therapist, and go over a million other things. Charles arrived around 1:30, his grandad brought him so he could drive my car back to Lyon. We left the hospital a little after 2:00 and we had a peaceful ride home as the babies slept. Even though the babies had been in our lives for 10 days this really felt like the beginning as a family. It was great and Charles and I are so thankful that they came home together. Since we have been home we have been trying to get into our routine of daily feedings, diaper changes, and lots of laundry. My mom is staying with us and we have had many friends and family stop by to check on us. Charles has gone back to work but he gets home early so there is still plenty for him to help with. We also have a baby nurse that helps us at night time so we can get a full nights sleep and be on top of our game during the day. It is great to have all the help and we feel so fortunate. Thanks to everyone for all your prayers and because of this we have two beautiful healthy babies at home with us.

A few shots of us leaving the hospital.......

Val finally got to come see the babies and then we found out we were going home.

Here we are at home...........

Aunt Emily was one of the first visitors

All bundled up

Proud Grandmothers

Nana giving those babies some love

Jennie snuggling with Lucy Kate

Papa D loves these sweet babies

My good friend Ginger came over to visit Lucy Kate and Bryant

Our cute matching outfits Paige gave us