Monday, June 22, 2009

Good Day

It seems that our boy might be starting to cooperate with us again. Not long after I posted yesterday's blog I checked in on him and his oxygen was down to 31%. I thought at first I was reading the thing wrong...I thought it said 37%...Nope. So then I thought they must have just given him extra lasix...Nope. He was doing it on his own. He's been between 32-29% since yesterday afternoon. He was at 29% when I left this morning. Beau is visiting now and I'm just holding my breath to find out if he's still in that range. Honestly I keep waiting for this bubble to burst and him to go back up. I'm praying that he'll hold onto this. I'm just excited that he's done this without the extra diuretics. It's been a good day.

This morning I found out that Gaines has been getting breathing treatments since Friday...not sure how I missed that. He's on Pulmicort which is what Reed gets twice a day (except in the summer) to control his asthma (Yes, on top of Gaines' current bad lungs, he'll probably have asthma too. Beau and Reed both had/have it). I don't know that the medicine is the cause for the better oxygen levels since he's been on it since Friday and he only started improving yesterday. However, I guess it could just take that long to work. Either way, he could go home on Pulmicort so I'm not that worried about it. I'm just so thankful for this progress!

The only thing about the progress is that it makes us hesitant to hold him...we don't want to jinx whatever it is that's got him doing well. Obviously we know better than that but you can't help but think it.

Gaines' heart echo is still scheduled for today. Please pray that it goes well and that we see signs of the VSDs closing. His neighbor in the NICU is getting one today too. She's only been in there for a little over a week now and I hear the nurses talking to her about so many things that we had to learn about. It's amazing to think back and realize that there are so many things that we were SO worried about that aren't concerns for us anymore.

We've got a couple pictures to post. We took some of Gaines yesterday with his eyes open and we wanted to show you our view last night as we walked home from church. Things are still going well with everything else as well. Reed is still doing great and our new living situation is going well. The couple we are staying with have a super-cute 2 year old so I'm excited for Reed to have a built in playmate (and to give this brother thing a practice run).

I think that's about it for now. I've got some emails I need to return.

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep it up!

Brittany
This was the view we had last night as we walked home from Church.

9 comments:

Lori said...

Hello It's been a while since I commented but I want you to know I am keeping you three in my prayers and thoughts. So wonderful to see Gaines eyes open. I hope the big brother role goes well with Reed and his new playmate too.

Heather Alison said...

Happy to hear the good report. Love the new pictures of Gaines--you can really see just how cute he is. I scrolled through to your earliest posts and the first pictures of Gaines and was able to appreciate how much he's grown and how much stronger he looks. I hope looking back and reading your earlier blogs really encourages your hearts. He's come a long way and I know that the Lord has done tremendous things in and through all of you on the journey.
Blessings, Heather (from GW :)

Diana said...

Yay! Glad to hear that Gaines is doing so well on his oxygen levels! Yes, the Pulmicort could be the cause of this decrease. Pulmicort actually takes a few days to kick in and start working, so that really could be the reason he is doing better. Anyway, such an answer to prayers. We will keep praying that he his oxygen needs continue to decrease and that he will be on the road to going home soon!

Giggles said...

So glad to hear that Gaines is continuing to improve. The pictures of him are precious. The view you have last night was incredible. Praying for more great things to happen.

Melody said...

Oh he is just so darn cute!! I'm so glad he's doing well!

Thomas and Jamie said...

Oh how I love looking into those sweet, sweet eyes, and yet, how it breaks my heart to know you can't hold him...praying for you so hard for strength!!

BUT - congratulations on the great O2 news!! Slow and steady wins the race!!!

Lots of love and prayers!

Unknown said...

What a cutie! He is getting so big now!

Unknown said...

Beau and Brittany,

Parke told me about your blog over 2 months ago or so (Greg Wood told him)...and I just want to let you know that you are always in our thoughts. I update Parke almost daily with your blogs. In the pictures you posted it looks like Gaines is doing much better and GROWING!!! It is nice to see him with his open eyes! They are beautiful.

I don't know if you know this but Parke and I had our first baby about 4 months ago (February 27th). And it really hit home, with just having a newborn, while you were going through all of this. You are two great people and I wish you the best of luck.

Maybe we will all see each other again some day!

Best regards,
Kathryn Miller

Unknown said...

What a beautiful boy and a beautiful view. Thanks for sharing. Always in my thoughts and prayers.

Brandi