A Great Idea

Thanks to Christie Martin for giving me the great idea of making a blog to keep everyone updated on Samuel's progress. I've not been able to update Facebook since coming to ACH - they have Facebook blocked.

Michael and I are sitting in the room with Samuel. He's had a few good hours. There is a lot to be praying about right now. This morning he had an Echo on his heart, an ultrasound on his kidneys and brain, and a chest x-ray.

Since coming to Children's, Samuel's lungs have progressively gotten worse. After doing the Echo this morning, the doctor discovered that there is a valve in Samuel's heart that has not closed yet. Apparently, it is open in almost every full term baby at birth but closes with a baby's first cry.  His has not closed and is causing a lot of problems.  They can give him some medicine to close it, but that medicine is hard on the kidneys. And since Samuel's kidneys have been showing signs of strain, the doctors are wary of giving it to him.
We have not spoken with the doctor today. After Samuel's bowel perforated, the surgeon put in an abdominal drain (a tube that literally sticks out of his stomach.)  As of yesterday, it was working well. He is still leaking a lot of yellow fluid. The surgeons say that once the fluid turns clear and stops, they will take out the drain.

The plan is to begin feeding him again after 10 days - just to be sure that his intestines have had an opportunity to heal. There is some chance of scarring at the site where his intestines perforated. This may constrict intestinal flow later on. He may need another surgery to correct this when he gets older. There is the possibility that all could be well too! :)

The ultrasound on his brain showed that there was a spot of bleeding. They think that it was there on his last ultrasound too.  They are calling it a grade II IVH....they aren't too concerned and have reassured us that a grade II isn't bad - but Michael and I are worried. They will do another head ultrasound sometime next week to make sure it hasn't spread.

Yesterday we discovered that Samuel's eyes have opened. Before now, they were fused shut. It's so amazing to see his eyes - even though he barely opens them.

We are trying to take things one moment at a time.  Your prayers are very needed and appreciated.  As mentioned above, we are praying for Samuel's lungs, the extra valve in his heart to close, his intestines to heal, and the bleeding in his brain to stop and cause no further problems.