Eat, Eat, Eat- Week 13

I really never thought that we would still be here after 13 weeks, but here we are. The only thing we are working on is eating and Brody has made some decent progress. At Brody's midnight feed on Wednesday, for the very first time, Brody finished his entire bottle. I was super excited and couldn't wait to share the news with the doctors. The doctors were excited with the progress and wanted to see how he did the rest of the week to still try and determine what type of feeding tube he would go home with. After that he sort of stalled out the rest of the week taking less than half from the bottle. The doctor was going to give it through the weekend and then we were going to buckle down and really make some decisions on Monday. I have to admit, I spent this entire week pretty frustrated. I'm exausted and I just want us to go home so we can start our normal life together. Living in a hospital is really getting old. I miss being at home. Well in true Brody fashion, he decieded to wait until the very end of the week to show any sign of progress towards his bottle feeds. On Sunday, he finished 3 bottles during consecutive feedings. I was so excited and could barely sleep the rest of the night. This also made us a little nervous that they are going to come back and say "Oh since Brody is doing better, let's give him a little more time" though we all know it will still be a while before he is on full feeds from the bottle. Since Brody is showing good progress towards his bottle feeds we are hoping they agree to send us home with an NG feeding tube which is what he has now. There are some risks with this type of feeding tube, but I am confident we will be able to manage those. Since we all are getting the feeling like that will happen, I spent the last weekend going through nursing school. They are teaching me about pushing meds through the tube (though Brody takes most by mouth), flushing the line, working the pump, checking to make sure the tube is still in the right place etc. I feel a lot more empowered since I am able to do more for him. The only thing I have yet to do is actually put the tube in and that's kinda important. Once we get the green light that we will get to go home with the NG tube, that will be my next lesson. We are starting to take care of the essential things needed before going home. I attended a class on giving him his shots for his blood clot. Tomorrow we have our car seat check. After that, we just need a decision to be made. I'm very anxious and ready to go. Hopefully I will get to give my next Brody update from home!