Running Late

Hey everyone. Sorry it has taken me so long to get this updated. I was having computer/phone issues.

Well, here we are. Another few days and another few ounces! Yes, Grady was up to 3 lbs and 14.8 ounces Wednesday. Hopefully, he has added ounces again today. He just continues to grew. He still has a little puffiness which makes his eyes look a little swollen. I can not wait until we get a picture of his little face without all the extra attachments. I just know there is a precious little face underneath all that tape. It is pretty cute with tape.

Grady had a nice little visit with Mommy and JoJo. Suzanna held him between feedings. Grady is receiving 32 ml, which is over an ounce, every 3 hours. Remember, it takes him one and a half hours to get through each feeding. That makes him eating half his day. The nurses don't like to interrupt his feedings because he still gets a little fritzed when he is moved. He did really well this time. He maintained his saturation levels while they were moving him. He dropped for just a second while they were getting him situated with Suzanna. Once the two of them were settled, his sats came right back up and stayed pretty steady the entire time she held him.

I did get to change his diaper for the first time. I must tell you. Suzanna thought it was a dirty diaper. When I got him uncovered, it was not. I changed him and let Mommy know that is was just wet. Then, he started trying to open his eyes, so Suzanna got close. As she was talking to him, hehehe................ guess what?!?!?!? hehehehehe He talked back, sort of! Mommy got to change a 'dirty' diaper. So, Grady was very nice to his JoJo and a little mischievious to his Mommy. I guess he knows his JoJo can't wait to spoil him so he knows to be nice to me. Although, just between you and me, I think Grady's parents are getting pretty ready to spoil him a little bit themselves!

As always, thank you all for your support and prayers. You make each day a little easier for all of us, just knowing that we have such great friends and family.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Counting pounds and ounces

Daddy sent me another picture last night and told me that Grady is 16 inches long and weights 3 lbs and 13 ounces. Grady has gained 2 pounds since birth. It is hard to believe the time has gone by so fast. One second we are waiting for this child to gain weight, any weight. Now, we are counting pounds. Man, it doesn't take long. Well, I really just wanted to let you all know that we have reached one more mile stone.

Suzanna sent me some additional information about preterm babies and where they should be. She found this on the internet, if you are interested. It is very good information. It looks like Grady is on schedule for most of the steps in the article. That is very good to know. It also tells us what we can expect. Very soon, he will not be quite so sensitive to touch and we can start looking for that day to come. We are still touching him lightly and then putting pressure. Pats and stroking are still out for this little fella. The article says that it 'disorganizes' him. Very good information to have.

As always, thank you for all of your support. Grady is a very blessed little man to have all of you in his corner cheering him on.

Talk soon,
JoJo

Here's my Boy!

Look at this big boy. Grady has reached his all time high of 3 lbs and 9.5 ounces! Yeah, little fella, yeah! Mommy tells me that Grady is receiving 28 ml again. The doctors had lowered his intake by 1 ml to help his with the edema. Now he is back up to the 28 again. The nurses continue to add calories to help thicken up our little man. The last time I heard his length was Wednesday and he was 15 inches long. If Grady is anything like his Daddy was when he was little, he will gain weight and then just shoot up an inch or two at a time.

Grady remains on the respirator. He did have his tubing replaced this week. He needed to be moved up a size due to his growth. The nurses told Suzanna that Grady just layed there and let them change his tube. No fuss, no muss. I was glad to hear that he didn't get upset by this. The boy tends to drop his saturation levels when he is not happy and sometimes when he is very happy. I guess we all probably do that, we just don't have a monitor attached to us to tell on us.

The sibling ban has not been lifted as of this weekend. So, unfortunately, Emma did not get to meet Grady. STILL! I do understand the reason, but it is hard on a little girl. She has been terrific about not getting to meet him. I think we are all ready to see what her response is going to be when she finally gets to see her Grady. Yes, he is her Grady. She does plan to share him with the rest of us, though. WHEW!

Well, I am glad that is all I have to report. It is a blessing to know that this little man has so many people praying for him. We can never thank you enough for all the support you give us.

Talk soon,
JoJo

Tests at 6 Weeks

Well, Grady had to have some tests done now that he is 6 weeks old. He passed the two they did Monday. He still has an eye test coming up, but has not had to undergo that just yet. We will hear back from that test, once it has been performed. And speaking of eyes, I got a pretty good picture of his little blue eyes open. He opens them and closes them so fast that I usually just get one eye open and one closed. I actually have a series of him trying to get those eyes open. It is pretty cute the way he stretches his forhead up trying to pry his eyes open.

He is up to 3 lbs and 7.7 oz. but they tell us he will probably loose a little of that. You can see how his little neck has some swelling in it. They are giving him some medication to pull the fluid off of him. Apparently, the oxygen can cause edema to show up. But I am telling you, he looks bigger. Suzanna and I both had this thought when we saw him today. They measure his length on Sunday evenings, but I can not get his entire little body into one picture. When he was born, I had to step closer to see him. Now, I am taking a step back to try and get all of him into view.

Grady had just had a bath when we got there, so his coloring was so pink and fresh. His hair looks so shiny and soft. Suzanna kept telling him how good he smelled, while she was holding him. They just snuggled up today and had a good visit.

Tonight, Grady is suppose to meet his Great Uncle Mike. Grady is going to be quite confused because he met his Great, great Uncle Mike last week. Two Uncle Mike's? Yup, yup, yup. Families are so much fun.

We still have not recieved permission for Emma to meet her little brother. That is going to be a day to tell about. I just hope I can get a couple of pictures with the two of them. That will be fun.

Just want to thank all of you for the wonderful support system you give us. Your prayers and love sustain us and help keep us all going. Tim and Suzanna are doing very well. It helps knowing that you are all praying for them.

Talk soon,

JoJo

6 Weeks? Really?

Can you believe that Grady Charles is already 6 weeks old? And I thought my children grew up fast. Someone should have told me that grandchildren grow up faster than your own kids did. WOW!

Grady is over 3 lbs. He weighed in at 3 lbs. and 1 oz. yesterday. He is taking 27 ml at each feeding. They are adding calories and protein to make him add muscle and length as well as weight. We want him strong and full. Grow little lungs and chest muscles, grow!

Grady had some future playmates move in this week. It is such a small world. I visited with some old friends. We talked about all the amazing things the NICU can do for our little babies. This month is March of Dimes month, so if you ever wondered what that money went to, well you now know that some of the money goes to Grady's, and his future playmates, care. They are in seperate rooms, but they would not have much to talk about anyway. So, we are looking forward to having these children meet. They already have a great start with all the love and care they are receiving.

If you look really close at the picture of Suzanna holding Grady, you can see his right hand on his cheek. I was looking through some pictures and noticed that he has had that hand up on or close to his face from day one. Daddy discovered early on, that Grady loves to lay on his tummy or side. Mommy gets great responses when she talks and sings to him. He loves to look at her when she is talking to him. He is such a relaxed, calm child. His nurses brag on him and all of them have agreed with me, that Grady is absolutely precious. Not one of them has disagreed. So, you have to know that he must be the most adorable kid up there. Right? I thought so, too.

As always, thanks for your love and prayers. If you have time, Grady has some new friends that you can add to your prayer lists.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Back to Respirator

Well, Grady was placed back on the respirator last night around midnight. That was not the goal, but he did make it half a day before he had to require help. Go Grady! So, we have progressed from under 5 hours on his own (with CPAP) to 13 hours. I believe our boy is gaining on it. Thanks for your prayers. I am sure they will try again in a week or so, to let Grady breath without the respirator. They want to give him and his airways time to recoup before they put him through another breathing lesson.

As always, thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Talk soon,

JoJo

CPAP update

Grady has been off of the respirator for 11 hours and appears to be holding his own. As you can see, he is a little puffy. The doctor told us this would happen because of the CPAP and the oxygen. He sure looks comfy, doesn't he? Grady does love to lay on his stomach. I will let you know more as I hear from Grady's Mom or Dad.

Talk soon,

JoJo

CPAP again

About 11:00 am today, they put Mr. Grady back on the CPAP. As of 5:30 pm this evening, he is doing very well. Daddy will give me another update tonight, when he goes to see him. The doctor was telling us that if Grady can breathe with the CPAP for the next 24-48 hours, he will probably be able to stay off the respirator. Of course, that is barring any unforseen issues. But, we are not having any of those, so prayer warriors pray for lung strength and Frye/Kidd determination. His new cap is designed to help him keep his mouth closed. The CPAP sends air using pressure, so Grady's mouth needs to be closed for the air to get to his lungs. It looks a little tight, but they told us this is what he needs right now. It is not so tight that he could not yawn earlier. He also just opened his mouth. Probably to show the doctor he was still in charge and would open up when he wants to. Grady is keeping his coloring up, his saturation levels are pretty steady and he has the best support system we could ask for. Thanks to all of you!

If you look at his hands, you can see that this little man is beginning to plump up some. He is 4 ounces shy of being 3 pounds! His doctor explained how they are monitoring his caloric intake because he is requiring and burning more calories than he would if he had stayed where he belonged for a little longer. So, this will help him to thicken up some. It will also assist him with muscle growth and not just adding weight.

After talking with Emma, Suzanna and I thought that just maybe all of you might like to know a little more about where Grady is. Suzanna is sitting next to Grady's incubator. You can see his gauges in the back ground. Those are his 'bells and whistles'. His feeding devise is on the shelf over Suzanna's left shoulder. He has 5 roommates in his room. At Suzanna's right shoulder, there are doors that open so that Grady can be touched or moved. During most visits, the top of his incubator will lift up and we get to see him without the plexiglass reflections. This is one of the bonuses of him getting moved to this room. Today, because he was working hard breathing, the top was put back down and covered so he had darkness for resting. This also reduces the noise and helps keep him warm. As they keep telling us, Grady is the boss and whatever is best for him is the rule for the day.

I will update the blog this evening if I hear more about our little man. Thanks for all your prayers and love.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Hello Son

I just got an update on our boy. Grady is 15 inches long and has gained a little more weight. He is now 2 lbs and 12.9 ounces. This is the first picture I have gotten of Grady and Daddy. I just had to share it with all of you. This is a sight for all of us to see. So, I hope you enjoy the picture of Tim and his son as much as I am enjoying it. I will make this a short one tonight. God is good. Aren't they just a handsome looking pair? The next best thing will be to have all 4 of them in a family picture. As soon as I get one of those, you will be the first ones I share with.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Growing, Growing, Growing

Guess what? Grady Charles is growing. He was 2 lbs 9.3 oz this weekend.

Today's picture is a little dark. When the babies needs to calm down, the nurses start turning the lights out. Don't worry, they have accent lighting so they can see the babies. Grady seems to like it when it is dark. He will calm down and relax when the lighting is low. If you look at the picture closely, you can see that he has his hand on his knee and his knee is bent. The glow on his arm is his blood pressure cuff. It was on his foot, in the beginning. But they have drawn blood from both feet and wrapped them up. So, the cuff was moved to his arm. In the dark, you can see how the light glows through his thin skin. Even though his face is scwunched up (yes that IS a word), he is truly relaxed. He loves to get his foot out of the binding the nurses use to swaddle him. They will wrap his lamb skin around both feet, clip it closed to keep him warm and within a few seconds Grady has one foot back out.

The doctor has increased Grady's feedings. He is now taking 21 mililiters. I don't know if some of you are aware of this, but Grady's stomach is the size of his fist. His fist is the size of a marble, maybe. So, they have to increase his feedings very slowly. They are going to increase his calories this time so that he will continue to gain weight. As you know, he will gain and loose, quickly.

Suzanna held him this weekend. Some of you already know, if Grady does not want to be held, he is not going to be held. His sats will drop, he will scare his Mommy and he will be put back in his incubator. So, when she gets to hold him, I like to let everyone know. As time goes on and Grady gets more used to being touched and held, this will get better. When he is off the respirator and breathing completely on his own, I think he will do better during holdings. The nurse tells us that his respirator is positional. This means that it takes two people to move him so that his tubing is not moved out of place.

So far, he seems to enjoy Mommy holding him. There have only been a few times that he did not cooperate when she was holding him. Anything can cause this. He may have a bad day, it could be too noisey for him, too many tests. He could just be cranky, who knows. He is a Kidd, you know.

We are still waiting for the siblings to get to go into the NICU. I hope we have a picture of my two grandchildren, soon. I would love to share that with all of you.

Thank you for all your prayers. We are truly blessed to have all of you as friends and family.

Talk soon,

JoJo

One Month Old

Can you believe we have had Grady with us for a full month? It is so hard to believe that time is going by that fast.

Today, Grady weighs in at 2 lbs 6.5 oz. They did increase his feedings to 21 mililiters. The boy is growing. They are feeding him slowly so that he will obsorb the food. That has him eating about half of his day. He is still on the respirator, but his nurse told us they would probably try to let him breath on his own again this coming Saturday. I think they are hoping this will allow him to develop his chest muscles so that he does not tire so easily. The doctors ard nurses are always telling us that Grady is in charge and that they are just there to assist him with new things when he is ready. It is very reassuring to know that they allow each baby to set the pace and that Grady will not be rushed into something that his body is not ready for. I am as anxious as I am eager for him to breath on his own. When they take away the respirator and make him work to breath, I want them to hurry up and give it back so that he will not get too tired. Think that might be why they never ask me what should be done next?????

Suzanna held Grady for awhile, today. She rocked him a little and sang to him. I hope you don't get tired of me saying the same things over and over. When he hears her, he stretches his little forhead up, trying to pull his eyes open. He peeks out of his right eye. When he has control of that eye, he will try the other one. Today, I got a pretty good picture of both eyes open while Momma hummed to him. Suzanna said that she was 'in love' on one of her updates. I think that Grady may just be 'in love' himself.

We still have not heard that the ban has been lifted that will allow Emma to meet Grady (and vise versa). It would be great if the two could meet this weekend. I think she is getting a little anxious, herself.

You need to know how much of a blessing you all are to us. To have this kind of support system is the greatest. Thank you for your prayers and love.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Birthday Boy

Today, Grady is 4 weeks old. Happy one month Birthday, Grady Charles.

When we got to Grady's room, yesterday, he was sleeping. Most days Grady will peak out at Mommy when he hears her voice. Yesterday, the boy did not even flinch. He was exausted. The nurse told us they had taken him off the respirator from about 10 am to 2:45 pm. They put him back on because he was forgetting to breath. When it became too hard for him, they decided that today was not the day he was coming off that machine. As we are all learning, Grady must keep his saturation levels up and remember to breathe. He really is not suppose to be breathing air right now, so this is another lesson for him.

Grady has maintained his weight. He is still 2 lbs and 3.9 oz. Daddy tells me he is 14 inches long now. If he adds an inch for every pound he gains, he will be quite tall. Thank goodness it doesn't work that way! Remember, he has to be a minimum of 4 pounds before he can go home....AND breathing on his own.

Mommy tells me, Grady has the same swirl of hair in the crown of his head, that his big sister had. Emma was excited to hear that. Suzanna checked on the restrictions and Emma still can not go see baby brother just yet. We are all wanting her to go see him. Emma has been so patient about not getting to see Grady.

I love to stand and look at him. I have many pictures, so when you see me just ask. I will be proud to show them off. You might see a few of Emma, too.

Just a bit of information about Grady's temporary home. There are quilted blankets on all incubators and cribs. Some of the ladies from several churches make these small quilts for all the babies. Yesterday, one of the NICU graduates had left embroidered pillow ornaments for each of the babies. The caps that you see on Grady are hand made and donated, as well. It is not home, but these babies are loved and well taken care of while Mommies and Daddys are waiting to take their precious children home.

Thank you for all your prayers. Keep them coming, prayer works! Happy Easter and God bless each of you and your families.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Lessons for Grady

Grady is continuing to progress. He has gained more weight. His nurse tells us that he is not quite a kilo (kilogram). He is just under that at 980 miligrams. I still like pounds and ounces, but the grams measure better for this tiny little boy. Daddy tells me that Grady gains, then looses a little. The nurse has kept him at 20 mililiters at his feedings, for now. Suzanna talks with the doctor about once a day. He keeps her updated on what has changed or what is going to be changed for Grady's day to day care.

While we were there, the nurse opened his incubator and we were blessed to spend time with him without plastic between us. It seems like such a small thing, but to get to see how much Grady's color has improved and all of his little features without a shield between us, was a huge blessing. His hair is a shiny golden blonde color. Go figure! I could see the tiny hairs on his back, again blonde, well white really. Grady has the longest fingers! When he stretches, he likes to spread his toes out. When Momma talks, Grady peaks out through one eye to try and find her. It just warms my heart to know that he is looking for Momma when he hears her.

While we were visiting, Grady's Occupational Therapist (OT) came by. She explained to Suzanna and I that her job is to teach Grady that touch is a positive thing. Right now, when he is touched, he is getting his temp taken or blood drawn. The nurses get a bad rap, because they have to move him, feed him, change him, etc. All of this disturbs him. So, the OT comes in a couple of times a week to touch and hold him, to teach him that touch is good. Grady is still on the respirator. His nurses will start weening him off this week. He needs to breath without the machine. Once he is off the respirator, he will have the assistance of the CPAP again. Looks like he has a few lessons to learn this week.

Thank you all for your prayers. It means so much to all of us, to know what a great extended family we have. Tim and Suzanna are doing fine. Both are holding in there. They seem to have a routine started and that helps. Please keep them in your prayers as well.

Talk soon,

JoJo