Brontë's Little Steps are Adding Up!

Thank you all for the continued prayers... We got to practice "dry" breast feeding tonight (the first step toward breast feeding), and she weighed in at 3 lbs 7 oz! woot woot! So proud of our little sweetie, and so thankful for all of those who have been faithful to keep her in your prayers... I tell her about you all everyday!


Brontë's big update for tonight is that she is having a "room air trial" they took her off her nasal cannula, and they're testing her out to see if she can handle breathing like a big girl... they tried this last week, and she made it for 5 hours, but then had a rapid decline which took her days to recover from...as for today, she's been on room air and no cannula for about 9 hours now and doing well... please pray she continues to do well through the night... THANK YOU :)

Ups and Downs, but all-in-all heading in the right direction.

Another scan was done on Brontë's head on Tuesday which revealed the brain bleed is still occurring.  It hasn't gotten worse, but it is still present.  Her oxygen has been weaned down and her food intake has increased to 9mls (.3oz).  She has also put on some weight.  Her lowest weight was 2lbs 6oz and is now up to 2lbs 14oz.  They will try bottle feeding in approximately 2 weeks.

Today Brontë was completely off of her nasal canulla for 5 hours.  Tuckered the poor little thing out, so they put her back on it.  Today she also started physical therapy.  She was put on a stretch and exercise program to help with tightness in her joints caused by being in Emily so long after her water broke.

Daddy's Girl

Today Nick was able to hold Brontë for the first time.  He longs for the day when he can spend hours holding her.

Brontë is now off of CPAP and on a canula breathing apparatus.  She seems much more comfortable now and was upgraded to 2 ml feedings.  Her bilirubin is still not where they want them to be, so Brontë spends the most of her day under the blue lights.

Emily and Nick would like send a HUGE thank you out to though who have donated money to help with medical expenses.  It is such a blessing to them.  Thank you for continually keeping this family in your prayers.  For where two or more are gathered in His name, there He is in the midst of them. - Matthew 18:20

A Day of BLESSINGS!

It was a big day for the Graebner family.  Emily was able to hold her child for the first time today!  What a joyous moment this was!  Emily was able to hold her for 2 hours inside her shirt to do skin-to-skin time.  Brontë also had her first meal today and tolerated it well (a whole 1ml!).

Emily was also discharged from the hospital today.  The Graebners received more joyous news today when they learned they had been accepted into the Ronald McDonald house in order to stay close to baby Brontë.

Even though this family was able to celebrate many encouraging milestones, please keep them in your prayers.  The bleeding in Brontë's brain is still a concern as well as the infection in her lungs.  It's because of all your prayers that this family was able to physically reunite and the Graebners thank you all from the bottom of their hearts!

One Step Forward, One Step Back

From Emily: "It's been a big day for her... lots of improvements but also some set backs.  They did another head ultrasound and found a brain bleed.  It's not a big bleed and the doctors are optimistic that it will resolve itself, but pray it doesn't get worse.  If it does it's likely to do some brain damage.  Her hematocrit levels were a lot lower too so they had to give her a blood transfusion.  She seems to be tolerating it well, but it's a bit scary.  She was very responsive today and feisty.  I got to hear her cry and everyone was saying she's got a great cry for being so young and tiny.  Normally they're so weak you can't hear them.  The doctors said she was tough, feisty, and quite the fighter."

Little Blessings are adding up!

Emily and Nick would like to thank everyone for their continued support and prayers.  Little by little Brontë is making improvements which are very encouraging to this new little family.  Initially, this little girl was put on an aggressive ventilator which required paralytics to keep the breathing tube in her little body.  Last night Brontë received a new, less invasive ventilator and was being weened off of the paralytics (Thank You Lord!).  Before leaving for work this morning, Nick checked on Brontë and found that she no longer even required the ventilator tube.  Brontë now has a CPAP mask, which supports keeping her airways open, but she is completely breathing on her own.  Currently, tests are being run on the infection in her lungs.  This is due to different bacterias that have grown due to Emily bleeding before delivering (Brontë had been breathing in the blood prior to her birth).  Daily x-rays are being taken to keep an eye on the air pockets around her lungs and chest.  The pockets are still present, but are lessening.  Bronté hasn't eaten yet and it will be a few more days before she does so.  Doctors are wanting to tackle her respiratory system before tackling her digestive system.  Your prayers are moving mountains, so please keep them coming.

Emily and Nick were able to visit Brontë and drip milk onto her lips.  Since she isn't as heavily medicated she is more responsive and will grasp Emily's finger.  When Emily removes her finger to reposition Brontë, Brontë will then wave around her hand as if to find her mommy's finger.  At one point she was even able to open her eyes as mommy and daddy talked and read stories to her.  There are still several hurdles to cross before Emily and Nick can hold her and these two eagerly await that day.

Emily is doing well, but did have an emergency C section and is in pain from that.  She currently relies on being wheeled down to NICU to see her baby.

FOR ALL YOU RUNNERS/WALKERS: There is an organization called Miracle Babies that are sponsoring a 5k walk/run on November 13th.  Nick will be running along with some family members and friends.  Kyle and Kim Cole are in the process of organizing a team to run specifically for Brontë.  If you are interested in doing this please let us know and we will put you in contact with the right people.