Day 4 in the NICU

All,

Today has been a rollercoaster. When we left last night, Noah's condition, while still very serious, seemed to be improving slowly. His blood gas levels were okay, and they had been able to wean him off a little bit of oxygen. However, early this morning his condition deteriorated a bit: he wasn't oxygenating blood very well and his blood gas levels weren't so good. The doctor said that Noah might need to go onto ECMO, the heart and lung machine. So, this morning was very rough for us. All the progress from yesterday was gone. He was back up on full oxygen and ventilator support. Throughout the day, however, Noah has slowly crept back to the condition he was in on Saturday. This afternoon they were concerned about his blood pressure (it was low) and his urine (he wasn't peeing very much). Right before I left for dinner, the nurse gave him a transfusion of red blood cells. This seems to have helped. His blood pressure is back to a normal level and he peed quite a bit. (He's kind of like me in this way.) So, we are thankful that Noah's improved a bit, but he still has a very long way to go. Please pray that Noah will be able to respond well to the treatment and not regress anymore. Most particularly he needs to be able to be weaned off the high level of oxygen he's getting and (later) the ventilator. We love our little boy so much. He's such a trooper, and we're proud of him. Please also pray for Lauren and me. I can say that without question that this is the most difficult time of both of our lives. Yet, as our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father Which Art in Heaven...Thy will be done, on earth as it is on heaven." Soli Deo gloria.

Brandon for Lauren and Noah