Rattle time...

Today, Bryant played on his activity mat for a while. I was playing with his phone rattle, so while he was jamming out to his music I strategically placed the rattle where he could reach out and grab it, and he did (with some help).

Here is our big boy playing with (holding on tight) his rattle.

Blows me away!!! Check out this video.



I was amazed at how long he held on to the rattle. I was able to take some good pictures of him with it. Enjoy!

Bryant pictures

Here are a few new pictures of Bryant.
Adrienne was in town for the football game. We all watched BAMA beat those Gators....ROLL TIDE!!!

Bryant - Week 5

Some people say...well, I just can't believe it!
Well, I CAN believe Bryant is a month old. He will be 5 weeks old on Saturday.

Today, we went to the Dr. for his 1 month well baby check up. He is doing very well. He is 21 inches (25%) and 7 lbs. 15 oz. (15%). At birth: 20 inches and 6 lbs. 10 oz.

The Dr. said he certainly didn't inherit my body features. He has long arms like his daddy, a long torso like his daddy and long legs like his daddy. I am starting to see that he has his mommy's eyes and chubby cheeks. He is so big and strong. He is starting to hold his head up more and more, his thumb found its way into his mouth for the first time, he reach out to grab a toy rattle Nick was shaking in his face, he hates to be swaddled so he works and works until all the covers are off. He smiles when he eats and sleeps (so sweet), but screams like a girl (his daddy's temper) when he doesn't like something...like, his bath time.

I haven't taken many pictures because I am too busy staring at and kissing his sweet face. I will get better.

We also enrolled Bryant in daycare this morning. His first day is 1/25/2010 the day I go back to work. Sad day.

Bryant - Week 4

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving as a family. We enjoyed our turkey, dressing, gravy and green beans (THANK YOU MEMA).

Also, Nick's dad came to visit thanksgiving weekend. Bryant enjoyed spending time with his Awgie.



His visit allowed us time to decorate for Christmas. We went and bought our tree on Friday (11/27) and had it decorated and all of our other decor out by Sunday afternoon. We didn't put lights outside, but maybe next year.

Check out our 8 footer!

I have an eye for over-sized ornaments if you cannot tell.

Bryant - Week 3

Kacky came to visit:

Here are a few pictures from last week, 11/15 to 11/21. Click on view all images.


Stay tuned for info about the week...

Bryant's First Week Home

Here is a picture of us the day we brought Bryant home from NICU.




We were in the middle of burping him after his last bottle in the NICU. The nurse offered to take the photo on my blackberry, hence the fuzziness. What a day we will always remember.

A side note...my mom and I were in Bryant's room the night before (11/7) and I noticed a bug on the wall. I told my mom to stand up and see what kind it was and she said it was a ladybug and for us not to kill it because they bring good luck. So, we left it alone. Well, that was a good thing, because maybe that was our good luck charm or sign from God that Bryant would be home soon....and we brought him home the next day.

Would you know that the ladybug is still hanging out in his room...THANK YOU to all who prayed for him (and us)! God is so GOOD!




We have experienced so may WONDERFUL things...plenty of diaper changes (diaper genie has been emptied twice), cooos, laughs, smiles, frowns, dreams, spit ups, pees on himself and whoever is changing him, dirtied all over the changing table, sponge baths, sound a sleep days and sleepless nights. AND IT IS ALL SOOO WORTH IT!!!

Here are pictures from Bryant's first week at home:

Most of you know the story of Bryant's entrance into this world. But it is just so unbelievable I must capture it on the blog.

Nick was in California for work. He left Sunday afternoon, 10/25, and was to return Saturday morning, early, 10/31. I had been telling Bryant the week before that daddy was going out of town and he needed to wait until he returned home before he decided to come. So, I thought how great it would be if Michelle could come stay with me all week. It would be fun! The funny thing is...I didn't even formally ask her. I just said Nick was going to be out of town and she just offered to stay with me and I accepted, of course.

We made it all week and were convinced we had it made...that Bryant was not going to come early.

I took Michelle out for dinner Friday night (Outback, yummy! --- Michelle loves it!) as a thank you for keeping me company all week, but most of all for giving me and Nick peace of mind.

That night I didn't really feel anything out of ordinary, just what I thought were gas pains, along with some lower back pain and cramping here and there. It would just go away...plus I had these same feelings other days and I wasn't in pain so I didn't think anything of it.

2:00 a.m. on Saturday...I can feel myself coming out of sleep and was saying to myself that I needed to get up and go to the bathroom. So, I did and when I stood up.....Well, you know...my "water" broke (I'm going to call it water). I quickly changed and went down the hall to wake Michelle up. I opened the door and said, "Michelle." She said, "huuu." I said, "my water broke". She popped up out of bed....we both stood in the doorway in shock...can't remember very much detail from there, but we made it to the hospital. Michelle was by my side. I called Nick (once I knew he had landed --- he sent me his usual bb message, "just landed"). I called him and calmly told him that I was in labor and at Northside, not to speed, that I was ok and he had time. Nick arrived to the hospital (in an hour -- pretty sure he speed) and then my parents arrived and Michelle stayed.

Michelle came over Thursday night, 11/12, and brought over goodies my Spanx friends had prepared. I was very excited about the food, but mostly excited because she would get to hold Bryant for the first time. No one but me and Nick were able to hold him at the hospital.

Here is proud Aunt Pea with Bryant. She held him all night. LOVE, LOVE!

Home Sweet Home

We were able to bring Bryant home yesterday afternoon.

We went to the hospital for his 9:00 a.m. bottle feeding (which he ate 60 mL in 17 min.). So they asked us to complete the carseat test.

Bryant had to sit in his carseat for an hour. They checked is breathing and response to it and also if we positioned him properly. We passed with flying colors.

We stuck around for his 12:00 feeding and then headed home for lunch.

We were sitting at home having lunch waiting to go back to the hospital for his 3:00 feeding when the Dr. called and said we should come prepared to take him home.

WE WERE SHOCKED!!!!!!!!! But of course, so incredibly happy and excited.

Here are a few pics from this joyous day:

NICU visit 11.5.09

As we all know, Nick can be the life of the party. Here he is making the best of a not so good situation. It made us laugh...which Nick has always been able to do.

To this point no one other than Nick and I have been able to hold Bryant, so this was a big moment when they said it was ok for my mom, JoAnn (aka Grannie), to hold Bryant.

This is the first grandchild for my family. You can image this was a very special moment for her. Bryant really responded to her voice.

Bryant Update - NICU visit 11.6.09

We left the NICU after Bryant's 6:00 p.m. feeding last night (11.5.09) and headed home.

Today, when we arrived Bryant's new nurse, Suzanne, said he did very well with his feedings. She said that Bryant had sucked down his 8:30 p.m. bottle in 23 mins. and his 2:30 a.m. bottle in 30 mins.

Bryant must consume 43 cc's (mL) per feeding. He is on an alternating schedule with tube feedings and bottle feedings to conserve his energy so he is able to finish his bottles.

Today, I had a 9:00 a.m. appt with a lactation nurse. I was able to breastfeed him and he ate 32 cc's (mL) in 10 minutes from one side. I was soooo proud of him. He was sleepy, but we were able to keep him alert enough to eat. The rest of the feeding was done through his feeding tube.

We saw another Dr. today that assessed Bryant's progress (his attending Dr. is Dr. Nichols) and because Bryant gained some weight (YEAH!!!) he now has to eat 50mL per feeding. So, to go home he must do that for two days

So...I wonder what happens if he gains more weight (a good thing) ??? Pretty sure those mLs will increase. Please pray that Bryant continues to make progress.

Here are a few pics from today. We were able to see his precious face without his feeding tube as they were going to put in a new one. The cool thing is that if he eats well on his own then they will leave it out.

Bryant pics

Here are some pictures of Bryant taken with the camera on my cell phone. I will add more from our actual camera if we can ever find the usb cord.

Please continue to pray for Bryant while in NICU.

Happy Halloween ...

We got a special treat for Halloween. Our sweet baby boy, Nicholas "Bryant" Gardner, was born at 4:05 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and is 20 inches long. Here are a few pictures from the past few days: