Friday Evening

Hello,
Braden is resting comfortably before his 7:00 feeding. He took a little over an ounce at his 4:00 feeding. The plan for us is this: if Braden continues to progress with his eating, they're looking at pulling his ng tube as early as the beginning of next week. He needs to eat at least 1/2 of his daily intake orally before they will take out the feeding tube. He's been eating half at times, but not consistantly. Once they take out the feeding tube, he needs to eat on his own for 2-3 days before they discuss letting us take him home. They monitor this entire weening process pretty closely, measuring and documenting everything he eats and weighing him everyday to make sure he's gaining weight. We could look at going home in a week or maybe longer....it all depends on Braden :-) With the whole extubation process, we've definitely learned the value of patience. We are pleased at how well he's doing so far with his feedings, and so are his caretakers. We know he will continue to amaze us with his progress.

He's only on a titch of oxygen through his little nose canula. They did try him on just room air, but he's not quite ready for that yet. They will continue to try each day. They will pull the heart lines that are attached to his heart (these were placed in after surgery just in case they needed to "jump" start his heart) tonight or tomorrow. They will also look at pulling out his PICC (sp?) line on Monday. Little by little we see less and less wires.....this makes us VERY happy!!!!!!

Thank you for continuing to pray for us and Braden's progress. We will continue to keep you posted over the weekend.

Love,
Steph