The morning went along for a while with a continuation of the same air from last night. More disappointment and frustration with the folks caring for Josiah. It didn’t take long for things to take a turn for the better. Prayer in action, I am certain of it. His pediatrician even prayed with us. The first signs of answered pray was seeing Sherry sitting up in a chair eating this morning with a big smile on her face. She has since been cut loose from all medications and IV fluids. Right this very moment (5:45 PM) she is eating some BBQ chicken. It’s making me hungry. Stand by, I am going for some chow.
As the day went on it only got better. Praise God! Our little Josiah was on the central line early in the day, but the plan was to try and get a good IV running after he got hydrated and his veins filled back up. That plan worked and the central line was removed. Josiah has continued to get less IV fluids as Sherry has just completed two successful feedings with Josiah. The feedings have gone so well that the pediatrician has agreed to forgo the supplemental formula that they had been pushing for until they saw how well he did at the breast.
Josiah has gone all day without oxygen. He has just had a good glucose test two hours after completing his first feed in conjunction with a 50% decrease in IV fluids.
Riley and Caden got to meet their baby brother today after all. Riley charmed the socks off of the nurses in the nursery. Caden told his little brother that he loved him and we finally got that picture I wanted. Caden seemed to be a bit nervous just being in the hospital and in the level II nursery. He knows the beeps and the scrubs all too well. His little cheeks get red almost every time we darken the door of MUSC.
Oh, one final note. It looks like the official diagnosis for Josiah at this point is something called TTN (transient tachypnea of the newborn). Our good friend Anne Marie Ezzo put the name to what I could not remember this morning. I gave the description to Gary over the phone when he called to check on us this morning.
“Babies born by C-section sometimes have breathing problems (transient tachypnea of the newborn) after birth since labor hasn’t jump-started the clearance of fluid from their lungs. This usually gets better on its own within the first day or two of life.”
The prayers for our peace of mind have worked. Please keep them coming. Sherry just completed about ten minutes of pumping to make sure Josiah emptied the breasts. She got only a trickle out of one side. PRAISE GOD!!! Sherry is brushing up on her positioning and feeding techniques right now. The last feeding was a little more difficult, but very successful none the less. Having success in breastfeeding has been a very big hope with this pregnacy. Sherry lost her perseverance with Riley and Caden, well we all know where he has been for over 2 1/2 years with the feeding tube. The hopes that Satan tried to steel from us have come back. THANK YOU for joining us in praying for our situation here. It has been a bit surreal at times. We just witnessed a lady blessing out the entire nursing staff in a very loud tone of voice. Every single room is full and the nursery and the OB staffing seems to be stretched to the limit. Almost every nurse Sherry has had so far has been on edge the entire shift.
A few have asked about visiting. It is okay, but we may be at the nursery feeding. It is talking four hands to get positoning right with the IV and all the monitoring leads.
Please pray for:
– Continued success with breast feeding (Sherry and Josiah are doing this for the first time)
– A gentle humble spirit for Sherry and me
– A pain free night for Sherry
– Rest for all of us
– Smooth adjustment for all of us as things change over the next two days from nursery to hospital room to home
Here is one last picture of Sherry and Lil Joe. This was at the end of his first feeding. This is also the first time she got to hold our baby boy. As you can see the little half coffee cup for an IV shield taped on the side of Josiah’s head. This limits positioning for feeding as you might imagine.
Thanks again for praying for us!!!