Big Day!! Please Pray!!

When we arrived to the NICU this morning, Ned was a little out of sorts. They weren't exactly sure what had caused him to de-stat, but his favorite nurse, Amy, worked diligently to get him back on track. It really hurt my heart to see him so flustered and agitated, but it was quickly resolved.

Shortly thereafter, the NICU took a power hit and all the respirators went dead. The nurse had to run in and swap over to a hand vent for probably a minute and a half. I was completely dumb founded. All I could think was....this shouldn't happen, what is wrong with the backup power systems here and how can I fix it? (For anyone who doesn't know....I sell back-up critical power supplies)!? My mind was completely reeling! Shortly thereafter, during rounds, one of the doctors accidently turned off the overhead light. Needless to say everyone jumped up in a panic.....so it was a little tense to say the least. Very eventful morning.

The doctor's discussion during his morning rounds was pretty much the same as yesterday...which was good. They had basically decided to leave his settings alone. They made very few changes because they were happy with his critical stats. There was an intern who had to give Ned's report this morning in front of all the medical staff and us. I felt terrible for him! I guess that's just how it goes in a teaching hospital, but I can't imagine being called out for diagnosis and treatment procedures in front of such a large group and the baby's parents! He was kinda pitiful, but very kind.

The big shocker came today when we went back down to visit Ned prior to my discharge. We spoke with Dr. Adamson, one of the pediactric surgeons and he said that if Ned remained stable through the night and there weren't any scheduling conflicts, they planned to perform his surgery TOMORROW afternoon with a backup plan for Friday. I felt like I might seriously be sick. I knew surgery was definitely coming and I do want to get past it, but I just had next week in my head and "tomorrow" came very quickly. I'm honestly not prepared for it, but I'm working on it. I just thought I would have more time to get comfortable with the whole situation and to spend more time in God's word studying prior to this move. I feel somewhat disconnected from being in the hospital and going back-and-forth to the NICU. I was really anticipating some downtime where I could get back to a place where I felt like God was guiding me. But, that just may not be the case so I'm planning on overloading on some Bible in-take tonight in hopes that God will show me His direction and give me peace for tomorrow.

We also had some stress when we visited the NICU tonight. They are still planning for surgery tomorrow, but he had some destat issues tonight as well....still the doctors didn't seem concerned. Ned is highly sensitive to noise and too much touching. His night nurse is a little OCD about the tubes. She doesn't want any to be crossed, so when she gets there, she goes through about a 45 minute routine of uncrossing all the wires. There was also another babe who was really unhappy and letting everyone know about it. Between her touching and his crying, Ned let everyone know he had experienced all he could take. Luckily, one of the neonatologist was standing close by and got him right back on track. We got him in some little ear muffs to drown out the noise and he was able to keep his stats up. THEN, you wouldn't believe, but he woke up. I mean, completely awake and responsive. I was so thankful to see his little eyes, but he was clearly not sedated enough considering he had just had the melt-down and was now wiggling around and staring at me. His nurse acted like she wanted to see how he did, but he didn't seem all that excited about having that vent tube down his throat so we of course asked her to quickly sedate him again! It was wonderful to see the life in him and feel the strength in his arms. The doctor on duty tonight said that on a scale for 1-10 (10 being the best), Ned was an 8 considering his condition.....everyone is so shocked by how God has delivered him!

So....tomorrow morning, we'll find out a definite on the surgery. Please be praying for Ned and for Travis and me. I am praying that if tomorrow is not the day God has determined for his surgery, that I won't be disappointed by any setbacks tonight. We just have to keeping trusting the Lord and knowing that His love for us, and Ned, is far greater than our love for Ned......that helps me keep in perspective how precious we are to Him. I am just praying for the surgical team, that their hands will be lead by the great physician and that God will grant them wisdom and discernment concerning my son. I am also continuing to pray that God will make himself known to people through this situation and that Travis and I will continue to make ourselves available to his calling....that we won't get too caught up in the medical aspect of this to a point where we can't hear His still small voice.

Love to you all.....please lift up prayers of miraculous healing!
Betsy, Travis, Jack & Ned