Rockstar Par!!!

Today started out great with a call from his nurse at 6am reporting his numbers were strong throughout the night and his most recent blood gas was an all time record for him. Praise God for our Rockstar Par!



We moved a little slower this morning—I’ve been having a bit of trouble with pumping—the trouble is my milk has come in and it apparently has a never ending supply—so my 30 min pumping has turned into an hour long ordeal—which I am happily doing—such a catch 22—I’m pumping for Par but it keeps me from seeing him too. And because I can’t drive, everyone has to wait on me in the morning. It will be better when I can pump at his bedside and when I can drive myself back and forth—but for now it is a little frustrating.

My dad took some beautiful pictures of Par before he left today—you may have noticed that Rusty’s pictures are a little dark—that is because it is actually dark in the room and you can’t have a flash right now—dad’s camera is a little more sophisticated so his pics turn out a little better. If you’ll notice the picture of Rusty and Me—you can’t even tell I just had a baby, can you?



They rolled the big bad ECMO machine out of his room as we arrived to visit him—I could tell he was happy about it. We didn’t see Dr. Kays today (which at this point is a good thing) but we are anxious to talk to him and find out if there is any tentative plan for his hernia repair surgery—remember, everything we have just gone through is to get Par stable enough to have the repair surgery—and then we potentially go through everything again to get him stable and then his recovery can begin. Unfortunately, ECMO is still a possibility after the repair—so keep the “NO ECMO” prayers coming.

He was more awake today—he attempted to open his eyes for us but couldn’t quite get them open—he is still sedated some—but after his repair they will wean it quite a bit. He shook his precious little fist at us and we could see his little bottom lip moving—we just can’t get over that we are this precious baby’s parents—GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!



We took the afternoon to rest—Rusty and I both are feeling a tad “rundown” and while he is doing well we thought we would take advantage of the afternoon to rest to be prepared for any roller coasters later this week. We went to visit him after the shift change and got to see his fanny again—no poop—just precious clean bum! We found out from his night nurse that since he is doing so well, they are slowly turning down the nitric oxide from 20 to hopefully 10 by morning (not sure exactly what these numbers mean, but it’s good). During the day today they gradually weaned his oxygen saturations down from 100% to 80% (room air that we breathe is 20%) without any “downturns” for Par, so he has had great progress today. Also, just so you know, that thing on his forehead is an oxygen sensor that they use to continuously monitor the oxygen levels getting to his brain, which is always first and foremost on Dr. Kays’ mind. As you would expect, all the other kids in the NICU are asking if they can get one too since Par has one (he’s the cool kid). Anyway, to sum up today, it’s like we said in the title “Rockstar Par”!!!

Please continue to pray for Par’s roommate Baby Ella as she recovers. We thank God for the example her parents have set for us and we trust in His plan to heal our children. We praise God for the outpouring of prayers we have received—we are overwhelmed and amazed by the love we have received. We continue to give glory to God for the journey we are on and pray that our trust will be kept in Him.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as always.
Liz, Rusty & The Most Beautiful Baby Boy in the WORLD.