Peaceful Par

Thank you God for giving Par a peaceful day. We praise You for Your perfect plan for our son and we thank you for giving us patience as Par is weaned.

Par continues to wean well on the conventional ventilator. He is now on 40% oxygen (they won't wean anymore on that) and 24 breath/minute (they wean down to anywhere from 15 to 5 before they extubate). He has continually had good blood gases that has allowed his progress and his pre/post saturations have remained at 100/100.



We spoke to Dr. Kays today and he said he is going to wait until Par is extubated before they try feeding him. This is a little different than Dr. Kays' original plan to remove the replogle today and feed him later this week (they like to take the replogle out and see what happens for a few days before they feed him--the replogle is a tube that goes down to his stomach and drains out extra "stuff")--but Dr. Kays once to extubate first and then work on feeding next--which is sort of the order of things anyway--feeding is the next big hurdle after extubation--we are praying that Par will not have any reflux issues--and of course that he'll take to oral feedings and then naturally to breast feeding.

Par was asleep when we arrived today but then woke up and was fussy (he was on his tummy). We gave him his pacifier and he sucked on it for an hour and a half--this wouldn't be such a big deal, but we had to hold the pacifier for him to suck on it--which was fun until we needed to eat lunch--which didn't happen until 3--Par might be a good sucker when it comes to his pacy--but obviously Rusty and I are the bigger suckers since we stood there holding it in his mouth for so long--he is going to be so spoiled. It was precious--he would just gaze back at us--he seemed so content, so peaceful--not at all like a sick baby with tubes going in and out of him. I think in a way it was our first glimpse of "regular" parenthood--we look forward to that time.



After lunch, I sat with Par for the rest of the afternoon while he slept. I have started knitting my stocking now--I've just about finished Rusty's! I did get to change Par's diaper several times today which was great. As a reminder, I still have never held Par, so changing his diaper is a pretty big deal to me--plus, it doesn't hurt that he never cries when I change is diaper and he always cries when a nurse changes him--I love being his mama!



Right before shift change mom & Sal stopped by to say hello to Par and then Rusty showed up with his dad, Mary and Memaw (his grandmother from Asheboro). They had just come into town and will be spending Thanksgiving with us. Although Par was sleeping, I'm glad everyone got to see him before shift change! While leaving we saw Fr. Gillespie entering the hospital--he had stopped by to say a prayer and bless Par the night before while we were gone, so we were glad we got to meet him and thank him in person.



We came home and ate dinner and then of course, I pumped. I took an hour nap (which was SOOOOO nice) and then watched some tv--and then pumped again. We headed to see Par around 10pm--thankfully he was asleep (remember, I can't stand leaving him while awake)--so Rusty and I just looked at him for a few minutes and then said our bedtime prayer and left. As I said before, Par's day was peaceful.

We continue to pray for Jonathan and his mom as they continue to take baby steps. We ask for miraculous healing on baby Jonathan's liver and kidneys so he may have his repair surgery. We also continue to pray for baby Ella who had her feeding tube/nissen surgery today (typical Dr. Kays surprise for her parents)as well as a central line put back in and her abdominal wall gortex patch removed. We ask that the Lord will help her to heal and for her to only move forward from this point on. We also pray for Tina and Josh as they continue to hang on to the Lord's promises for their life--we ask that He will renew their faith and trust each day--and that tomorrow they will feel 100%.

Thank you for your prayers.
Love, Liz, Rusty & Peaceful Par