Little Scuba!

Usually the nurses bathe Brecken, but this week we were allowed to give him a bath. I think we were more nervous then he was. It was a wonderful experience. His cords were taken off and his heart monitors stickers were removed. He looked perfect. At first he squirmed and cried, but once we began to pour the water over his body he began to calm down. He really enjoyed having water slowly poured over his head. He was adorable. He laid in the water cooing.





Earlier this week the doctors decided to turn down his Vapotherm (pressurized oxygen) again for the third time. He seemed to be doing well the first day with his oxygen at 2.5 liters, but by the second day he was squirming a lot, and he was pulling a lot with his chest so the doctors turned him back up to 3 liters. Tomorrow they are planning to turn him down again. We really don't have any high expectations that it will work again, but we are hoping that the new dieretic he is on will make a difference.

The main problem is that his kidneys are still premature and instead of telling his body to get rid of excess fluid, the fluid is left in his body. Therefore, he gets swollen and his lungs fill with fluid. The medication that he was on would basically tell his body to get rid of all the excess fluid. He would have HUGE wet diapers, to the point that he was need new clothes, blankets and sheets. The new medication that he is on is not as intense and does not pull all the fluid out of his body. We are hoping that it will make his weight loss and gain more stable.

{Swing, Swing, Swing}

Brecken is starting to wake up a lot more during the day so the nurses decided he might like to sit in a swing and look around. He was so *cute* he sat there sucking on his pajamas and staring at his little stuffed dog.






First time I have seen Brecken without tubes on his face...


Being weighed on a scale before breastfeeding so we can "attempt" to guess how much he has eaten.


my new "fave"!!!

{Frustrating is the name of the game}

So a couple days ago we went into the hospital and Brecken had this horrible rash under his tendergrips (aka the bandages on his face). I kind of freaked out because my first thought was that they weren't checking or changing his bandages enough and the end result was my poor little baby breaking out in a horrible rash. We really tried not to complain because we knew it wouldn't make the situation any better. Cyndee, my sister-in-law, who always make reference to her trailer trash roots decided to call the hospital and give them the 411. Disclaimer: we didn't know she called. So her tactful smackdown basicallly led to her telling them to get their crap in gear and take care of Baby Brecken.

So when we got to the hospital that day the nurses and doctors were VERY attentive. I mean not just attentive, they were so attentive that it was kind of funny. And because of the lack of communication (thus them assuming we knew hospital terms that we didn't know), we were able to find out that the rash was caused because Brecken has very sensitve skin, and we also learned that Brecken has Chronic Lung Disease. here it is, check it out: Chronic Lung Disease.

So since the "incident" Brecken has had awesome care. His rash is clearing up, his eyes are getting better, and they turned down his Vaportherm to 2.5 leters. However, they turned the Vapotherm back to 3 this morning. John and I are both kind of frustrated but we realize that we need to just be patient and do what is best for Brecken.

On a good note, well actually there are two good notes, Brecken took a bath and he {LOOOOOVED} the water. He splashed and kicked around and had a good ol' time. The second good thing has nothing really to do with Brecken, it focuses on trailer trash Cyndee, again, she had us open one of our Christmas presents this morning. She and Kelty got together (scary I know...) and sent our Christmas tree decorations so we could experience a little bit of home. Now everyone say "ahhhhhh". We love both of them (Kelty and Cyndee) they bring a new definition to the word crazy.

Merry Christmakwansika!

So we attempted to take a family Christmas picture. Brecken kept moving around, John forgot to take off his name tag, and I was blurry in every photo. We managed to get finally get a good picture.


Try to hold yourself back. I know you are jealous of the hats;)
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Love the Bishops!!!

{new car seat}

Brecken had an uneventful week. John and I joke that we are in the home stretch, but we know that this phase may take the longest. He is still at 3 on his Vapotherm, but he seems to be breathing a lot better. When we go see him he is able to drink around 40 cc's from a bottle and he is usually wide awake when we show up. Last night he was rather comical. He would smile, pucker his lips and stick out his tongue. The doctor's say the only thing holding him back right now our his lungs.


You may not recognize this guy...it is John with a haircut;)


Brecken taking a bottle from John for the first time!


One of John's co-workers had this hat made for Brecken.


His car seat finally arrived in the mail, Austin (John's 3 year-old nephew) keeps sitting in it. He says that it is his new car seat.

"Oh I loooove those eyes...."

Brecken is officially flirting with all the nurses. When he is awake he is constantly smiling and flashing those big beautiful eyes at all the nurses. Today one of the nurses kept saying, "Oh I loooove those eyes..." He has quite a fan base with the ladies.

He also got some new clothes. Aunt Cyndee bought him the cutest dinosaur sleeper and Aunt Liz bought him a sleeper that has reindeer on the feet, it is adorable.

Besides the new wardrobe, the doctors also started him on a new medication called Lasix. Because he is still having a difficult time breathing and his vapotherm had to be turned up to 4 leters again, the doctors are hoping this new medication will help to extract fluid from his lungs. So far he has been doing great with the medication. He has lost some weight, which is to be expected, and the nurses have been able to turn down his oxygen. Tomorrow they are also hoping to turn down his Vapotherm.

He also drank 25 cc's from a bottle today. The doctors are surprised that he is able to drink from the bottle, but is not able to breathe on his own very well. They said that most babies at this age are breathing fine, but have a difficult time eating--Brecken is the exact opposite. I told the doctors that he just craves the attention ;)

{Brecken is no longer naked}

Brecken is finally a baby!

Over the weekend he got to eat from a bottle. The first day he ate 7 cc's and today he actually drank 15 cc's. He also got to wear clothes for the first time. The nurses said they enjoy playing dress up with the babies. I don't think John will mind as long as they don't put him in a pink onesie.

When I was on bedrest John and I both made a couple beanies for Brecken. The nurses keep saying he looks like a little elf with his beanie on...I think he looks adorable ;)

And the most exciting news of all---he finally weighs over 4 pounds. He has gained over a pound since coming to Denver!!!

Thanksgiving and a Side of Breast ;)

Today was an awesome day. When we got to the hospital the nurses has just taken the central line out of Brecken's arm which meant he is now completely on breast milk. He is now getting 23 cc's a feeding and he is steadily growing. Over the past few days he has been growing like a weed and he is now at 3 lbs. 8 ounces.

We thought it would be at least a week more before we tried to breast feeding, but the nurses told us to just see what would happen. He did awesome. He latched on and was able to breast feed while also receiving food through his feeding tube, which runs down through his nose. It was an awesome experience because he is actually starting to act more like a baby. As he breastfed he was wide awake and kept looking around and playing with my hair.



Furthermore, today made both John and I really appreciate Thanksgiving. We are so thankful that Brecken is healthy and growing. Even though he is small we know that he is a fighter. He has such a personality and we know that he will keep us on our toes.

We are also so thankful for all those who have helped us during this difficult time. The same week Brecken was born we also bought a house. John keeps joking that all we needed to do was get a dog and then we would have completed the American Dream in one week. Over the last few weeks tons of our friends have come together to move us from our old house to our new home. The phone calls, letters, and visits from friends have meant so much to us and we are so thankful to have all of you in our lives.

Finally we are so thankful for our family. It has been their continual help, love, and support that has helped to make this trial bearable. We are especially thankful for Brice and Cyndee. Not only have they opened their home up to us while we are here in Denver, but they have fed us, entertained us, and have made their home feel like our home.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

No news is good news....

Brecken had a fairly good weekend. On Friday his Vapotherm was increased back to 4 because he was having a difficult time breathing on his own. Even though everytime we go in to see him he has pulled the Vapotherm out of his nose and is breathing on his own. The doctor also said that there may have been extra fluid in his lungs that was causing him not to breathe so well. They were planning on putting him on antibiotics, but he seems to be doing fine now so I guess they are putting off the antibiotics until they absolutely have to use them. The doctor was also worried about his heart and wanted to make sure that the hole in his heart had not opened again. When the cardiologist came to do the ultrasound he said that the hole was still open but it was so small that we would just have to do a check-up at one year to make sure it closed.

Because of the rough day he had on Friday we haven't been able to hold him all weekend, we are hoping the doctor will give us "The O.k." to take him out of his isolete and hold him on Monday. It is really hard to go in there everyday and see other parents holding their babies and we are stuck looking at him through his isolete, but he still manages to keep us entertained with all of his smiling.


Cardiologist performing the ultrasound.

kangaroo care and reflexes

Now, John usually writes the posts, but since John didn't participate in Kangaroo Care last night I decided I should write today's post. If you watched Grey's Anatomy last week then you know what Kangaroo Care is, for those of you that didn't watch it Kangaroo Care is when a parent holds a preemie next to their chest, exposing skin to skin. Many belief that Kangaroo Care helps to calm babies by listening to the parent's heart beat. Last night I did this for the first time. For an hour I was able to sit and hold Brecken as he played with my hair and suffered a severe case of the hiccups. By the time I put him back in his isolete his heart rate had dropped from 200 to 150 and he was calmly sleeping. The only downside to the whole experience is that he is a toaster oven and we were both sweating the entire time. For the sake of sparing all of your eyes we thought we would just post pictures of when I had my shirt on (we didn't want anyone to have a heart attack).




This morning the reflexologist came in to test Brecken's reflexes. What she looks for is the ability of the child to stretch out their arms and legs and then bring them back into the fetal position. Not only was Brecken very responsive, but he would often lay their in the fetal position without being swaddled. She said that at this age because their central nervous system is so under developed they often kick around. She also looked at the alignment of his hips and then she sat him up to test his head control. He did such a great job. Even more exciting, though, he was awake and smiling through the whole exercise. She said he was the one of the happiest babies she has ever seen. Most of the time we couldn't stop laughing at him because when he would smile all you could see were his big gums!!!

Graduation Day

Today was a very good day for both Brecken and us. Brecken has been moved to what they call the "Graduate NICU". This is a place where they focus on getting the baby ready to go home. In the Graduate NICU they spend alot of time helping the baby transition from patient to baby. They encourage holding the baby more often and helping both parents and baby to build a relationship with one another. They will eventually teach the baby how to eat which prepares him to go home.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Now that is just crazy...

Brecken has remained fairly stable over the weekend. A few new developments have occured. First, the nurses were finally able to take Brecken off of the C-pap machine and put him on VaperTherm. Vapertherm is basically pressurized oxygen that helps to keep his lungs expanded. Unlike the C-pap machine he is doing most of the breathing by himself. If he can get to the point where he doesn't need the VaperTherm the next step will be just an oxygen machine to provide him extra support.

Secondly, the doctors and nurses have been a little concerned about his heart rate. Over the last couple days it has been any where between 160 and 210 heart beats per minute. At first they thought it was the caffeine shots they were giving him, but since his heart rate hasn't decreased they have decided to call in a Cardiologist to perform some EKG's to see if there is something that they are missing. We will know more about that later today.

Finally, on Saturday the nurses decided that it was time to change his IV. The plan was to insert a central line near his heart. The central line would make it so they wouldn't have to change his IV so often. However, they kept blowing through veins. So the next step was to find somewhere else to put the IV. Instead of putting it in the other hand or in his foot they decided to put the IV in his forehead. Poor little guy didn't like that very much.

Just a quick update. Brecken is kind of keeping the status quo right now. Brecken hasn't made any significant changes but also hasn't had any real problems. This was sort of expected at this point though. The next big steps will be for Brecken to gain some weight and become a little more independent. Since he has stabilized they have moved him into an isolete to make him feel a little more secure and secluded.

However as parents we have made some progress...last night we were able to hold our baby for the first time. This was a big step for us.

Me holding Brecken for the first time as his father.


This video brings both joy and sorrow to us. Brecken is crying which obviously means he is not happy but it is one of the first times that he has been able to cry.

11/11/09 The first couple days in Denver...

Brecken has done very well since we brought him here to Denver. Over the last two days They were able to take him off the ventilator and put an oxygen nose peice on him. This doesn't make him breath but it provides constant pressure to help him expand his lungs. We also found out that he had a small hole in his heart(this is normal for most baby's especially those that are premature) that has closed up over the last 2 days. He has made some great improvments and is now able to cry, suck on a pacifier, and he has been moved into an isolete(incubator).

Here are a few picture and videos from the last few days.

Brecken sporting his new shades!!

Halsey looking at the baby.

Brecken holding my finger again. This is one of the ways that we have found that we can touch him without hime getting upset.

When brecken starts to get upset it helps to make him feel more confined by putting your hand over his arms.

Brecken playing with his hands.

Brecken sucking on his first binkie. There is a video later showing this in action.


Brecken waking up from a long nap before we started his cares.


Brecken sucking on his pacifier for the first time.

11/09/2009 Day 6 "Leaving on a jet plane..."

Well that last two days have been anything but uneventful. On sunday morning one of the doctors came in and woke me up and said that we had some decisions that we would need to make. We went into the NICU and were told that Brecken was not responding well to the ventilator that they had in billings. We had two options, we could go to the other hospital in billings which has a different machine and see if it would help, or we could go to denver where they have several different machines and far superior medical support.

The decision was made that it would be in Brecken's best interest to head to denver. By around noon that day my dad (Toney) and I were on the highway and Halsey was getting ready to go with the baby on the plane. Below are some pictures of the transport team from denver getting him ready to go.

The transport team at Billings Clinic preparing Brecken for transport.

Brecken waiving good-bye to the nurses in Billings.

Halsey riding in the ambulance from Billings Clinic to the airport.

Brecken's private jet...he's already spoiled.

Inside the plane.

5 Days old and he's already living one of my dreams...I've always wanted to ride in a helicopter.

Brecken in his new "isolete" getting ready to get on the chopper.

Brecken getting unloaded from the Helicopter in Denver.

Since we've been in denver things have been great. We've seen immediate response that the doctors have been unable to attribute to any specific change. One of the nurses said that sometimes all the little guys need is a "therapeutic plane ride". However, we've learned that there will be alot of ups and downs along the road. Fortunatly, we can live a little calmer knowing we are in the best place possible for out baby. We'll update you later today or tomorrow with some more specific progress Brecken has made since we've been here.