Friday, November 2, 2007

Our first family picture!


We know everyone wants an update on our baby boy…so after some rest I will attempt to bring everyone up to speed.
First, as everyone knows, we have named him Philip Andrew—we wanted to wait until he was here so we could see what he looks like before we decided what to call him. After gazing at our precious angel, there is no doubt that he looks like a Par—Par comes from his initials “PAR”—we can’t wait to show you a “tube free” face—but that will probably be a while.
Little Par has been “okay” today—but he still isn’t considered stable until after the “honeymoon” phase (the first 24-48 hours). Dr. Kays told us this morning that he is thinking that Par will have to go on ECMO—but he is still waiting to make this decision—the wait and see aspect of Dr. Kays is why we are here and we trust him completely. They put a central line in Par to prepare for the chance of going on ECMO. The central line is also used to administer medication—so it has dual purposes. Please pray that Par will fight through the next 24 hours and keep from going on ECMO (there a many risks associated with it and it is a really scary thing to think about). If we do go on ECMO we will provide plenty of information on it—but for now I’m going to be optimistic and not waste time explaining it.


He looks so beautiful today. When I was down there this morning and was talking to him he started getting a little anxious (he recognized his mama’s voice) and so I had to stop talking because he needs to stay as calm as possible. He has the longest toes—like a little monkey! And his fingers are just so precious! I haven’t seen him with his eyes open yet—but Dr. Kays has (I’m so jealous!) Because he had the central line put in (a procedure where he has to be super still because it goes straight to the heart) they had to sedate him pretty heavily—so he has been out of it all day.

I can’t believe this beautiful baby is ours—he has already changed our lives completely in the 24 hours he has been with us so far. It is difficult going to see him and not being able to touch him or hold him—I just want to scoop him up and run out the door! But I know that God’s timing is so important—His timing for the birth of our son was perfect and I know the timing for us being able to hold him will be perfect too—please pray for patience in waiting. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to pump-- which feels nice that I have that “mom” job that only I can do. Hopefully my milk will come in the next few days—I think it will make pumping and remembering to pump easier.
We will continue to update the blog as we get information on Par—so there may be “UPDATES” added to posts within the same day—so please check back. Thank you for all the prayers!
Love,
Liz, Rusty & Par

13 comments:

Tricia said...

Congratulations. He's gorgeous! Many prayers for little Philip. Stay strong, little man!

~Tricia w/Cadenne (LCDH arriving 11/19/07)

Anonymous said...

Liz, He is so beautiful! You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Jane Major

Anonymous said...

Love the family picture. How is the new Grandfather Rich doing? Keep him under control. Keep us up to date as often as possible. Mom comes by to see the updates. Love and Prayers, Jim and Sheila

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful family!!! Par is so precious!!! Stay strong and patient! You will be able to "scoop him up" soon!!!

Zandra

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful baby! Liz, you and Rusty are already fabulous parents, lttle Par is a very blessed little boy. love you, erin

Anonymous said...

Liz and Rusty, He is beautiful and very blessed to have such awesome parents. I guess his parents are awfully blessed to have such an amazing miracle. Praying for his continued strength. God bless you tonight.
With prayers and much love,
Allison

Anonymous said...

What a precious blessing. We can relate to the NICU experience and know its hard not being able to hold your baby but what a joy you have to look forward to. We will continue to pray that Phillip will have as short of a stay as possible and that you will soon be able to cuddle and kiss him. We can't wait to meet your new addition.

Mark and Crystal

Vicki Jensen said...

I love the pics. Philip is gorgeous! I will pray that he doesn't need ECMO but just remember that even if he goes on ECMO it's just another machine to help him along the road to recovery. I will pray for patience for you guys. We know all too well how hard that can be sometimes. I will keep checking on your man so keep the posts coming. Oh- with pumping...did they tell you to bring a blanket Philip was laying on that has his smell and a photo? That helps the milk production. Also make sure you drink LOTS of water and eat. That was the hardest thing for me because you always want to be in the NICU.
~Vicki

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! What a precious boy. Prayers are coming to ya'll from my family and friends all over the East Coast. God bless! Kathy

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! What a beautiful little boy you have. He will be in our prayers and if there is anything we can do for you please let us know. We are a CDH family too!

Love-
The Singletary's
www.parkersingletary.com

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful little guy you have! Congratulations and we will be sending positive, healing thoughts Par's way.
As far as "remembering" to pump...belive me girl...you will get to a point where your body won't LET you forget!
Thank you for the updates-looking forward to following Par's progress!

Best,
Libby Cohen
Mama to Makena LCDH 9/30/06

Anonymous said...

LOTS of Furman students are thinking and praying for adorable, little Par and family. Stay strong and keep fighting the good fight! Thanks for all the updates

Anonymous said...

Hello Rusty and Liz,
We are over at Tanya and Penns and saw the blog on of your beautiful baby boy...he is gorgeous! We're sorry to hear that he has medical problems but it sounds like he is in good hands. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. Please say hello to your mother and Mana for us.

Love,
Dianne & Ed Yount