Look at this sweet boys face. It sure will be nice when the background isn't always those blue and pink striped hospital blankets. His night nurse DRESSED HIM last night!!! It was so sweet to see him in clothing. I think she is just braver than most nurses, but I was still so grateful. Putting him in clothes has secretly been something I have sooo looked forward to as a milestone for him. I don't think he is technically to the wear-your-own clothes stage but I am grateful for this nurses adventurous spirit:)
Look at this sweet hospital gown that one of my friends made that is just Shepherd sized. She has her own etsy site here.
It is soooo precious. What a sweet, thoughtful gift. Gosh, I love the body of Christ, using their myriad of gifts to bless us.
The same friend also made a cuff bracelet with hebrews 10:23 on it. Let me just say, I'd wear it no matter if it matched my outfit of the day or not. Cause how great is scripture staring you in the face. People think I'm checking the time on my watch, but I'm really just gaining perspective...often.
And another great open-eye shot. You can't see his whole face but those eyes are enough to take a picture of.
*****************************
Nothing too new today, which is good news. So far, from his chest tube, he has drained over 200cc of fluid!!! woooaahh!!!! I can see how that was impeding his progress, big time. So hopefully now all of his major obstacles have been taken away (airway and lungs) as far as breathing goes. They will try to wean him off the vent in the next couple of days. Please pray for his success in this. We are a little nervous, just because we have seen him struggle so much with his breathing. He is still so small and so weak. Essentially he has not eaten in his first three weeks of life. This could still prove a big hurdle for him when it comes to the strength to breath on his own. His major goals over the next few days are to get him off the vent, feed him, and do his first trach change. If he can be successful at all those things, then we will move forward to learning how to take care of him at home. ohh, home. I hope that's coming soon.
They did confirm that some of his drainage is from the Chylo-thorax (the lymph system not functioning well). They started him on special formula today, which he'll have to be on for about 6 weeks- if it works to stop the drainage. Please pray it does and that Shep will still pick up nursing when this is all said and done. Other than that, pray that his drainage will stop, it did ease up today. And pray for his success off the ventilator. His x-ray this morning did, for the first time show a FULLY inflated left lung!! Yayyyy!!
So there is much to praise God for and much to still be accomplished. Oh, the joy of praying with you all.
And as a last little tid-bit, we(I say we loosely) are in the middle of moving houses. As we mentioned before, we will be having in-home nursing. Some of you may not know that we currently live in a 800 sq ft apartment. Well, that doesn't leave much room for another extra person- and I don't mean Shep. This timing could prove to be a major inconvenience for us had God not already thought of it and met our needs. We own a 1800 sq ft house that had been for sale but no one had bought it. Now we know why. Not only are we going to be able to move back in there, where there is plenty of room for all the new life changes, BUT we aren't even technically moving- cause that would be CRAZY right now. What do I mean? Well, my super-hero mother packed up our entire house in the past 2 days. Tomorrow she will be joined by our super-hero small group, who will move everything to the new house. And in the next couple of weeks, while we take care of our precious son, many super-hero people who love us will be unpacking and decorating our house so that when we come home- voila- moved in. That is just gorgeous, don't you think. Mmmm, God's provision is a beautiful thing. Thank you, all who love us better than we could ever dream and no doubt better than we deserve. I say thank you, but your real reward will be found in Jesus. Thank you.
3 comments:
I am amazed by the strength you are showing through this. I will continue to pray for your son.
Great pictures! I am so grateful that you're surrounded by such good people...meeting your needs. We're praying for Shepherd..praying for easy time getting off the vent...praying for easy adjustment to the trach...and praying for the nursing care at home to be a blessing. May God continue to keep you steadfast in His encouragement.
ok, steph, i am sitting here just crying like a baby, overflowing with joy at amazement at His goodness, and His Body.
1. i'm so moved to here that your mom and your small group/family are moving yall...amazing to see God's purpose in yall owning that house still! a-men, Lord!
2. while we were away at the women's retreat, not only did we pray for and mention yall as a large group, but even my immediate group of friends and i were missing the blog updates to hear of God's work with little Shep, and his progress.
3. Man, SO many, as you well know, are loving and praying for you ALL in BIG ways!
Believing God, and watching HIm use you all in VAST ways to testify of His faithfulness...your testimonies of turning to Him, in these hard hours, just speaks of Him as so worthy and true. Thank you for clinging to Him in faith, Steph.
Post a Comment