9/23/14

We received news that the follow-up MRI may be this Friday or early next week. This was a real relief because at one point the NICU doctors predicted this would be two or three weeks away. This will provide the necessary baseline for the surgery.

His weight gain and food tolerance continues to trend in a good direction. However, his oxygen saturation is periodically dipping a little lower than what we want to see. Open heart surgery is the only option to address this issue. However, the surgery carries a signicant risk of additional brain injury to a little fellow who has already suffered much. In working through this complicated situation we were greatly helped by Psalm 131:

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

On the aesthetic front they were able to take the IV off his head! Below are the results. Contrary to popular expression not all babies are cute in their early days. For instance, my early pictures never exposed me to the danger of making the front page of Parenting magazine :-) But with him a conservative estimate would be top 5 of all time. He just looks so precious.