Friday 2/27

Bryson is finally over the 4 pound mark!! Granted he is just barely over but it is still a milestone. He is also doing pretty good eating from a bottle. The last 2 days he has take 25 of his 33 mililiters which is wonderful. Courtney got to bottle feed him yesterday which she was so excited about. He fell asleep early on in the feeding but it was his second feeding of the day. Other than that things are pretty much the same. He has started a new ritual of pooping in the middle of his diaper changes, it took me 4 diapers to finally get him cleaned up yesteday!!! He is already a little brat, but he is our little brat and we love him!!

Wednseday 2/25

We went up to see Bryson this morning. He is doing good. He weighed in last night at 3 pounds 15.8 ounces!!! He is oh so close to that 4 pound mark, we were really hoping he would hit that but we will take whatever we can get at this time. The occupational therapist came in and worked with him on his bottle feeding. He did great, he took 25 of his 33 mililiters. That is the most he has taken yet. So all in all he has had a good day so far today. Courtney and I are in the process of cleaning out my 'office' and getting his nursery ready. It is going slow, but it should be all good. The baby shower is this Saturday. We are excited to see all the cool stuff that Bryson gets. I guess we hnow have to accept the fact that we will no longer be getting stuff, it will ALL be for him!! But that is ok, we are super excited for our house to be taken over by baby stuff.

Tuesday Morning 2/24

Sorry for the couple of days without posting, and thank you Linda for letting everyone know we didn't fall off the face of the earth. We had a great Disciple Now weekend, very busy, but I am already excited and looking forward to next years!! Bryson is doing wonderful. He is up to 3 pounds 14.5 ounces. They measured him last night and he is 16 and a half inches longs!! He grew half an inch in 2 weeks!! Other than that it is pretty much business as usual. An ocupational therapist is going to start working with him on bottle feeding. I guess since eating is his 'job' right now he needs an occupational therapist! (just kidding). So Bryson is just eating, sleeping, pooping (a whole lot!!), and growing. Hopefully it will just be a couple more weeks until we get to bring him home!!!!!!!

Sunday Update 3:30

I thought I'd do a quick update because I'm sure everyone is wondering what has happened in the past few days. Simply stated Chris and Courtney have been very busy with their Discipleship Now weekend retreat for their youth group and a couple of visiting youth groups. I did talk to Courtney yesterday and she said Bryson was doing great. Seems there was an error with the scale and Bryson does not weigh 4 lbs as we thought but closer to his birth weight of 3 lbs 13 oz. He is still being bottle fed and it is breast milk. So far so good. I think he is doing better on regulating his body temperature as well. The nurse said at the end of the week they will start putting clothes on Bryson to see if he can maintain his body temperature and if he does then they will move him into an open issolette. Thanks for checking in.

Bryson's First Bottle

Today the nurses in the NICU gave Bryson his first bottle. I'm 'not sure if it was soy formula or breast milk. He did pretty well this morning and drank quite a bit of his bottle. He seemed surprised when something came out of his "passie." Not all that came out went into his tummy but he did pretty good for his first try. Then this afternoon I got to take Courtney back to see Bryson and the nurse tried again to bottle feed him. He didn't do as well as he did in the morning, but did attempt a little. He got so sleepy she had to finish up with his feeding tube. The nurse said they would probably only try to bottle feed him once a day for now. He is gaining about an ounce a day. He now weighs 3 lbs and 11 oz and is starting to fill out a little. Here is a little video we shot from my RCA Small Wonder that I won last year at Kevin's dad's birthday party. It comes in handy. Hopefully we'll post more video as Bryson continues to grow.

2/18 - 10 Days Old!!!

Time is already flying by, I can't believe that Bryson is 10 days old! He gained another ounce yesterday and is up to 3 pounds 10 ounces. He is just growing like a weed. He is starting to get some chubby cheeks, (see picture below). They took his iv out last night so he is only hooked up to the monitors and is getting all the nutrients he needs through his feedings. He is up to 33 mL every 3 hours, which is the maximum they will give him until he reaches his birth weight again. Then they will increase how much he gets depending on his weight. When I held him last night the nurse unhooked him from his monitors. I was a little scared because if he had an apnea spell I wouldn't know, but I think he did good, I really didn't give him the chance to stop breathing because I was rubbing his back and talking to him to make sure he remembered to breathe. So he is pregressing nicely, and growing up already.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that Bryson will be starring in the new BSA NICU Brochure. They came and took his picture yesterday morning, pretty much because he is so stinkin cute. So it looks like we have a celebrity on our hands!

The baby I asked you to pray for yesterday, was taken to Lubbock so they could do a heart surgery on her. Continue to pray for her and Bryson. Thanks for all of your love and support.

2/17 Gaining Weight

We went up to the hospital last night and Bryosn has been hving trouble maintaining his temperature. So we didn't get to hold him last night. When we went up this morning it was the same thing. The nurses and Courtney and I think it may be his isolette. So the nurse is going to change it out and see if that helps. Now for the good news. Bryson gained 1.3 ounces yesterday!!! Which is wonderful to hear. He is tolerating his feedings very well, and they are steadily increasing the amount he gets. Hopefully we will be getting to hold him on our next visit.

One more thing. There is a little baby in the NICU with Bryson and she is not doing good. I don't know all the details, just that she is going to be flown to either Lubbock or Dallas for some type of surgery. So if you could pray for her, I am sure her family would appreciate it very much. Thanks!!

Moday 2/16

Wow, we had a very busy weekend. Sorry that I haven't been able to update much. So here goes. Yesterday Bryson was 1 week old!!!! He is doing so much better. It is amazing as we look back on pictures from his first day here with us until now, how much older he really looks. He has been eating again, they did start him on some soy formula which seems to be working. They still don't know the specific reason as to why he was not tolerating his feedings before, but what they are doing now seems to be working so they are going to stick with that. He as started to gain back some weight!!! He lost about 7 ounces from the time he was born but has already put back on more than 1 ounce. His weight sits at 3 pounds 7.7 ounces. He is still having some apnea problems. It usually happens right after he eats. His little tummy gets full, and he gets comfortable and he forgets that he has to breathe. But hopefully as he grows he will stop the apnea because we don't want to have to bring him home on the monitor. Courtney is dong good. She is feeling better, and not so sore anymore. I think that is about it. Hopefully this week I will be able to keep up a little better. Thanks for checking in!

Saturday Update 2/14

I haven't been back to the hospital to see Bryson for a couple of days. It's hard to take turns, but with both families being large and only limited visitation it takes a while for it to rotate back to my turn. I do know they have taken Bryson out from under the lights. They did try to feed him again, but he again did not tolerate the milk so they were going to try him on some soy formula to see if that was better. Courtney borrowed my camera to take some pictures and I thought in honor of Valentine's Day I would post this photo of true love. Please keep Courtney, Chris and Bryson in your prayers. He's making progress but still has some ground to cover before he can go home.

Day 5 - a good day!!

When we went up to see Bryson this morning we got some great news. He is doing much, much better today. They have started his feedings again. They are starting him off slow and will work it up just like they were doing before, increase the amount of milk he gets every other feeding as long as he tolerates it. They are also taking him off of the billie light. They will test his levels in the morning and if it all checks out they will keep him off. So our fiesty little man is doing good. Thanks for the prayers, I know that our Father in heaven hears them and honors each one. So now we need him to start gaining weight so he can come home with us.

4 day old update

We went to see Bryson this morning, I wasn't feeling good so I didn't go in to see him so Courtney went in by herself this morning. He only lost less than half an ounce yesterday and weighs 9 lbs 6.9 ozs. So that is good news. Now for the not so good news. Courtney said that they have stopped feeding him because he may be sick. Last night when we were there at 9:00 pm he spit up while he was eating twice, the nurses didn't seem to concerned so we didn't either. They said at some point last night he spit up something green. So they have stopped feeding him for now. The nurse said he may be off of his feedings for up to two days. Hopefully this will only be a bump in the road and he will bounce back and start eating again soon. But I ask again like I have so many times that you will start praying for God to heal Bryson and help him be able to eat again soon. Thank you for your love for my son and my family, it means so much.

3 days old 11:00 am

Well I am going back to work today, this is not going to be easy at all. I will miss a few of his assesment times and I don't like that, but I will have to learn to live with it, someone has to pay for the little guy!! I went to see him at 9:00 and got to feed him. He is taking 15 ml now, which is great. He weighs 3 lbs. 7.4 ozs. which means he lost another 2 ounces between today and yesterday. But that is ok, the nurse said he will probably lose weight for 2 or 3 more days before he starts to gain it again. They put him under a billie light, which is used to help breakdown the red blood cells in his body. If you notice in the pictures he is a little orange-ish red. That is because his liver cannot process everything like ours does, so the billie light helps to fix that. It is normal for preemies and not uncommon in full term babies either. So things are good, keep up the praying!!

He Smiled

We went to see Bryson tonight at 9:00. He had a new nurse tonight, she is pretty nice too. She let us hold him for 30 minutes or so which was really great. While Courtney was holding him and talking to him he smiled at her!!! It was clear as day, and extremely cute. Then I got to hold him for a while. He ate a full serving of momma's milk which was good. He stayed awake and looked at us for a long time, he loves the sound of his mom's and my voice. I will update in the morning.

3:45 pm Day 2

Bryson is continuing to do well. He is still off of the oxygen, and off of his antibiotics. They are still giving him caffeine and it is helping with his heart rate dropping occasionaIly. Momma is doing good. She finally got some milk for him, almost enough for him to have only momma's milk next time we feed him so that is good. I thought I would put a few pictures up so everyone can see how he is looking.

9:30 Update...Day 2

We have some great news today. They are taking Bryson off of his antibiotics completely, which is great. They are also increasing his feeding at about double what they normally do. They normally increase 2 times a day. Now they are increasing it 2 ml every other feeding. The only thing that isn't so good is that they are putting him on caffeine. They do that because every now and then his heart rate will drop. The nurse said that is normal it is just because he is premature. So they are putting him on it just to help keep it up more regularly. It was kinda scary because the last few times we have been in there his heart rate has dropped, but the nurses just wait until he self-recovers. So the caffeine will help with that. On the home front, our two dogs, Dawson and Lily, made a bit of a mess in the house, I won't go into details, but I need to go clean it up. so wish me luck with that!! Until next time...

Late night update

We had a great night with Bryson tonight. Both Courtney and I got to hold him for a very long time. Courtney changed his diaper for the first time tonight as well. At his 6:00 feeding they took Bryson off of oxygen completely and he has stayed off of it ever since. The nurse said that we shouldn't worry if he goes back on because that is common for them to go off and on oxygen sometimes. There hasn't been much else, they will up his feeding by 2 milliliters every time the clock strikes 12:00 as long as he is tolerating the food. Good night and hope you come back to see more updates tomorrow, thanks and God Bless!!

3:30 Update

Well Bryson is doing wonderful. They are continuing to ween him off the oxygen. They have also started to feed him which is great. They feed him every 3 hrs, at 3, 6, 9, and 12 around the clock. Those are the best times for us to go see him because we can change his diaper, take his temperature and all that fun stuff. Courtney is now completely cord free so she can roam around all she wants to, she is getting better pretty quickly too. My mom and step-dad got to see him earlier and Courtney's mom got to see him just a little while ago. That is about it for now, but the nurse said he is doing so good he may not have to stay all the way until his due date, but that may just be me being optimistic so don't quote me on that. His other set of grandparents, my dad and step-mom, should get to see him later today, Courtney said it is neat to have other people be able to see him and I would have to agree. So to wrap it up, Bryson is doing great and God is amazing. Till the next time...

1 Day Old!!!

Bryson is 1 day old!! That is awesome! I went to see him this morning, around 8:00, kinda early but I guess I have to get used to that! Courtney couldn't come this morning, but she got to take a shower and is slowly being unhooked from all of her medical equipment. Bryson has lost a few ounces, which is normal, and good because he was swollen from his traumatic entrance yesterday. That seems like so long ago but it was only one day. He was 3 lbs. 9.9 ozs. when they weighed him this morning. I wasn't sure if the nurses had changed him and took his temperature yet so I missed out on that this morning, but that is ok. His temperature was a little low, so they had to turn the heat up. But they said he did great last night. I think some of his Grandparents are gonna try and come see him today so this is going to be another big day for Bryson and our family.

10:30 pm Update

Well we just had a very eventful trip to the NICU. We got there a little after 8:00 pm and had to wait a little while for the nurse to finish up with another baby. But this was nice because we got to spend some good time with Bryson. Courtney went again and she really enjoyed it. When the nurse got there I got to change his diaper, then we got to give him a bath. We used wet wipes in some bath water. He seemed to enjoy the bath, but not the diaper change so much. Then we got to hold him. I got some good pictures of Courtney holding Bryson I will put those up. Now for the more good news. When we got to the NICU they had a isolette in his room. The nurse that was there when he was born was taking care of him tonight which was neat, her name is Wendy and she is a very nice lady. She said she was amazed at how well he was doing and they before we left we got to put him in the isolette, which she said never happens on a baby's first day in the NICU. Bryson is doing great. They expect him to lose some weight which is normal for any newborn. But we should get to do some more with him in the coming days. I will update you tomorrow when I have some more to write about. Until then, good night!!

5:15 Update

Well WE went to see Bryson at 4 this afternoon. It was quite an event, it was Courtney's first time out of bed and her first time to see her son!!!! We had to push her in a wheel chair to get her to the NICU. Courtney is doing good, she is getting to feel better and did well walking a little ways back to the room. She was very excited to get to see him but we didn't get to touch him because we want to let him rest as much as possible. The great news is that the nurse in the NICU said that they have started weening Bryson off of the oxygen and when we go back at 8:00 we may get to hold him for the first time. So things are going well right now. More updates to come,

12:25 Update

I just went and saw Bryson again. He is doing about the same, which is great. He is still breathing well, and is still not on the ventilator so praise God for that. While I was in there he yawned twice and he kept pulling his nasal cannula out and I got to put it back in!! That was neat. He also squeezed my hand a little bit. His momma is doing good, she really wants to see him and hopefully will get the chance to later today. I hope you don't get sick of these updates because you will get them every time I go in to see him. Until then!!

Bryson is here!!!!

That is right, at 6:07 this morning Bryson Andrew Quinto was brought into this world. Around 4:00 am Courney woke me up complaining of some pain. we waitied for another 15 minuets and then decided to call the doctor and head to the hospital. We got to the hospital a little before 5:00 and they immediately admitted Courtney. The doctor decided that we would go ahead and do the c-section because Courtney was in labor. When Bryson was born his head was stuck for a few moments and then at first he did not want to breathe. After a few minutes of working on him they got him breathing and took him to the NICU. Courtney is doing fine, very tired and sore but of course she just had a baby!! Bryson is doing well. He weighed 3 pounds and 13 ounces and is breathing pretty much on his own. He is not hooked up to a ventilator so that is a good thing. I got to go in and see him and will get to do so 2 more times today. Pray for momma and baby that they recover quickly and can both go home as soon as possible. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes so far. They really mean a lot. I will post pictures of him so you can see. Updates will follow when I have more info. (sorry if the typing is a little off, i am a little tired too.)

Monday 9:40 update

Courtney had an appointment for a check up this morning. I (Chris) had to go get our tire fixed on my car so Lavonna, Courtney's mom took her to the doctor. She just called me and the doctor said her cerclage is stretching, and she is dialated to a 2. However the doctor is not changing anything or admitting Courtney to the hospital. Courtney can still take one shower a day and get up to use the restroom, but is still on bed rest. She said the way the doctor was talking he thought she could have Bryson at anytime. Courtney also had blood work done today and her glucose levels were 143, which they are supposed to be 140 or less and she is barely anemic. They put her on iron supplements. The doctor told her to limit her sweets for now. So, we need everyone to keep praying for Courtney's health and that Bryson can stay in utero for as long as possible. She is at 30 weeks now which is an accomplishent and we are thankful for that, but the longer Bryson stay's in the better. So thanks for checking in, and keep praying!!