Take me out to the Ball game

**I wrote this last night and posted it this morning

A picture of Shepherd with a lot of his tubes off his face, and a new addition to his face (his paci). The big tube is just a humidifier for his trach. 

Our day at the game!

            
Two very handsome boys taking baseball very seriously
             
Some guys near us caught balls and gave them to the boys. We even got one for Shepherd!

Alright. Medical facts first.

I forgot to mention that Shep was officially weighed without all his goods, for the first time since arriving a month ago. Anyone wanna guess?

My boy, at a month old, is a WHOPPING 5lb 4oz!!!  I may remind you that his birthweight was 5lb 5oz. So the good news is he hasn't lost much weight. The bad news is he hasn't gained much weight. He's just an adorable little peanut that all the nurses fight over. I'd fight over him, too.

The only difficulty for Shep today (besides not getting to go to the Durham Bulls game and get front row seats with his family) was that his major line for giving his meds stopped working. There are only a handful of places he can have one and this one was just done 2 days ago, so that was a bummer. This is his fifth line like this since he's been here. He really has no where else to hold a line. His last 2 caused a blood clot in his legs so he can't have them there. He also can't really have them anywhere else for various reasons. But because he is more awake and alert, he is moving around more which makes the line more vulnerable. So please pray that this line holds up for the duration of his stay as needed. I don't know what they'll do if this one goes. His little vessels are so small and weak, please pray that God will sustain it. 

Other than that, all good news. He is still on no feeds, which has it's negativities but seems to be helping the chest tube output decline. Continue to pray that will go down so he doesn't have to go to the OR.

His yeast culture from a couple of days ago is still negative. 3 more days to go!!!

He is getting vicious with his pacifier... makes a momma proud. 

He continues to wear his own attire. 

He continues to be adorable and have the ability to melt my heart.

Oh, and he has officially kicked his nasty drug habit. He'll only get a little morphine if he's having a really hard time. But other than that, he seems to be learning how to deal with life's difficulties without narcotics. 

They will begin to teach Noah and I how to take care of his trach in the next few days. Good times.

Tomorrow, I begin interviewing home health companies for in home nursing. Anyone with nursing experience want to work for us? Let me know.

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I thought I'd take a chance to reflect on the beauty of my sons middle name. I am so grateful God led us to name him Jeremiah. We did so because of some passages in Jeremiah 17. When we first found out he had a two vessel cord and was small, the Lord led me to this passage to pray for that season of our life. I also wrote about it at the time here.

"⁵Thus says the LORD:

"Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

   whose heart turns away from the LORD.
⁶ He is like a shrub in the desert,
    and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
   in an uninhabited salt land.

 ⁷"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
   whose trust is the LORD.
⁸ He is like a tree planted by water,
   that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
   for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
   for it does not cease to bear fruit."

This continues to be my prayer for my sons life and for those who come into contact him, especially me. His name stands as a reminder to hold fast to my Savior and place my trust in God- to be one whose trust IS God. His name reminds me that no matter what heat or drought life may hold, presently or in the many years to come, I don't have to fear. That when I fear that suffering will cause me to shrivel up and die, I can remember that I am like this tree, with a secret source, hidden to the casual eye. As a Christian, I have "roots" that run below the ground to a source of refreshment that will never run dry. His name brings me great hope and helps me pray.

But that's not the only reason we named him Jeremiah. In this chapter, Jeremiah continues to pray

"Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

save me, and I shall be saved,

for you are my praise."

Jeremiah clearly acknowledges that God alone holds the power to save him. It seems clear to Jeremiah that God alone is in control of his life. This, too has proven to be great fuel for prayer for our Shepherd.

There are other scriptures in that chapter that we hold dear to us as prayers for our boy. And there are other reasons we chose the name Jeremiah, all of which inspire me to see my sons life in light of God's truth. And of course his first name does a tone of that, too. I just love that each time we speak any of our boys' names, I think of what hopes and prayers we have for their lives, but also the things I hope to experience of God, and the things I hope they experience of God. I know thus far we have definentley seen that we have a Good Shepherd who loves us and our boy very much.

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