Precious Par!!!

Very tricky little boy!!! The past 24 hours have been a roller coaster of emotions—one minute (literally) Par is doing great and the next, he is sliding downhill (crashing) fast. Twice now Par’s numbers have fallen so low that Dr. Kays was in his car on the way to the hospital because of this, with the plan to put him on ECMO. . . and twice now the nurse has had to call back and tell him that Par recovered completely and that he could turn around. Rusty and I were by his bed during the first of these episodes and Rusty was there during the second—it really does happen so fast—and it doesn’t help that the ECMO machine has already made its way next to his bed—but we can deal with that as long as he isn’t hooked up to it.
He’s had a towel on his head most of the day (all the cool kids in the NICU are doing it). No-really, the towel is being used to muffle all the noise and keep it dark for him so he can sleep because Par is an irritable little guy and does not like any unnecessary light, noise, or other commotion around his bed.
Today I was discharged from the hospital and that was hard. Rusty and I are glad to be back in our home away from home (Rusty stayed with me every night while in the hospital), but being this far away from our little boy is hard. Thankfully the hospital is close, so it really isn’t a big deal to go by. We left around lunch time, ran some errands, and Rusty and I went and ate lunch – just the two of us (our first meal together alone since our little boy was born), so it was nice. After that, we went home and I got to see my little girl Tiffany (who I’d missed so much) and we took a little nap together. After that, Rusty and I went to see Par – I pumped while there, and then we went to church. After that we went back to see Par (and of course another pump) and then went home. It will be nice to sleep with Rusty and Tiffany in a “normal” sized bed and setting. Hopefully they will help me get up to pump at 3am.
At the time we left little Par had been doing very well for the greater part of the afternoon and almost all evening. In fact, his various “levels” (various key things that they monitor) are the best they have been since he was initially placed on Nitric Oxide (nearly 48 hours ago after the ‘honeymoon period’). Please continue to pray that they will remain stable (or go up) so that he can avoid ECMO.