Day 8 in the NICU

Noah saw his Mommy and Daddy for the first time today with his own eyes. They took him completely off his paralytic medicine, so he was able to move even more today than yesterday. We were told his eyes are blue, but now we know for sure. His little eyes are extremely swollen (as is the rest of his body) due to the treatment he is going through, so he looks a bit like he just finished up a boxing match when he opens them up.
Noah also held my finger for the first time. I never knew how incredibly grateful I could be for these things that I normally take for granted with babies.

Today was a joyous day for us. Now, please don't mistake, Noah is still considered in critical condition and probably will be for some time, but today was a big step in the right direction. His blood gas levels were good- one was at 103 (up from 86). He also maintained good stats even though they lowered his ventilator dependence from 20 to 16. They also lowered his oxygen intake from 97% to 90%. All of these deductions were slowly done throughout the day, so every time they lowered him by .5 and he tolerated it was like a little victory for our boy.

We are not out of the woods yet, not even close. The doctor today warned us that Noah could still take steps backwards. However, she was very hopeful and very pleased with his progress. She said compared to a few days ago, Noah is a completely different baby. We are grateful for her optimism and grateful that we can sleep just a bit easier tonight. Tomorrow is a new day, however, and God is constantly reminding us that we must rely on Him and Him alone during this time. All one needs to do is visit some of the other babies in the NICU and one realizes that life is truly a gift from God and no one can add a day to the life he is given. A baby passed away in the NICU yesterday. Babies die there all the time. We have always agreed with the many verses that state that children are a blessing from the Lord. We never knew how true that statement was until Noah's time in the NICU.

Our prayer requests this evening are: Pray again that Noah would only stay stable or make progress, but not regress. Pray that God would give the doctors wisdom in their decisions in Noah's treatment (we are realizing how much trial and error is involved in medicine). Pray that we would trust God's will.

We love you all for all your prayers. Please keep them coming.