Snowy Saturday

Today was Par's first snow...although he wasn't able to make any snow angels outside, he was still my little snow angel! We had a great view of the snow from my hospital room window. Thankfully, Rusty took some pictures at our hour for us to see...and Tiffany told her dad she wanted to wait for Par and me to come home before she played in the snow for the first time--how sweet! So--although we'll be the only people in Birmingham, our family will be praying for a snow later in the week when I finally get home.



We slept okay by ourselved last night--though we really missed Boo. Par slept through the night--I woke up around 5:00 AM in some pain and with a fever. I went ahead and woke Par to change and feed him and then we slept until around 8am when the doctors made their rounds. The doctor on call said that there was good news and bad news.

The bad news is that the doctor feels I'll probably be here through Tuesday. My heart sank--I am going crazy in here!!!! She said that they (the collective pronoun is meant to indicate she and the other doctors consulted) feel that we are SO close to getting this infection beat--my fevers are much lower and with more time between the pain episodes--but the fevers and pain still indicate a problem. Hopefully the tweaking of one of my antibiotics will be the trick.
Please pray that I will be fever free and pain free through tomorrow morning--technically, by 5am I will have gone 24hours without fever and could possibly be discharged. But--Above all, I want God's timing--my vocation is motherhood and being a wife to Rusty--unless I get well, I can't continue with these gifts from God.
The good news is that no matter what the decision is on discharging me tomorrow, I will get a "pass" to go to Par's baptism at 11am. It happens to fall between my schedule of antibiotics and so they will just unhook me from the IV (leave the IV in though) and let me out for mass and the luncheon. Praise God for this gift. I plan on starting a trend of hospital tape and IV's with needle marks and bruises--so tomorrow will be a great day to debut it!



Par is still the favorite baby in the unit. All the other babies are newborns and not much fun--so nurses are so surprised when they come in and see an alert baby with lots of smiles! Plus, this has been a great way to spread the word about Dr. Kays and Shands--everyone is so interested in his journey and this boy is not afraid to show his tummy scar--not to mention his tummy trick. One thing we've discussed with Ella's parents is the need to educate the medical communtity on the capabilities in medicine with saving CDH babies--hopefully, Dr. Kays will be able to point us in the right direction. But it was definitely reassuring to hear just how interested and "hungry" the nurses hear are to learn about Par's amazing journey and this famous "Dr. Kays"! Par is still eating well and still trying to nurse on everyone which is reassuring to me.
Now for the even better news--Sal is coming to spend the night with us tonight! Yep, Par's aunt/godmother is driving in from Furman as I write this for a slumber party and the baptism. I was worried Sally might not make it for the snow and ice--but as Sal texted, "neither snow, nor rain, nor sleet can keep me from getting to you" Welcome Home Sal!!!!!

I thank you for all the thoughtful phone calls, emails, notes--your prayers and support mean so much to me. I ask that you will continue to pray for Par as he is still "enjoying" his nasal canullas for his oxygen and for Par's friend Ella who is making HUGE progress. May God bless you.

Love,
Liz, Rusty & Par