The BIG day....

Good morning,
As I write, they should be extubating Braden. We called this morning and he passed his extubation readiness test. The told us that they would be extra cautious this time, making sure that Braden is READY for the breathing tube to be pulled. The morning nurse told us that the lil' stinker got ahold of his feeding tube and pulled it out of his nose....milk went all over Braden and his bed. The feeding tube was pretty well taped up and secured....I think we've got a pretty strong lil' guy on our hands.

Last night we got some nice family time with the 3 of us. The last few nights it seems once 8:00 hits, he's wide awake and very alert. It's amazing that he can just lay there and look around without a fuss while both of his nostrils hold tubes (one for breathing, one for eating). It was so sweet to see Rich play the daddy role as he talked and "played" with Braden during his awake time. We can't wait to share so many more of these sweet, precious moments :-)

Today we pray for Braden's strength and endurance as he tries again to breathe on his own. We pray that his extubation will be a complete success, so he can move on to the next part of his recovery. We continue to thank God for His blessings and for all of the wonderful moments we've been able to share with Braden. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during today's big event.

All our love,
Steph, Rich, and Braden