Saturday, July 19, 2008 before Bed

Before saying goodnight, I wanted to post a note to keep everyone updated. Christie and I have spent about the last hour with Zander. He is a miracle to be here and we thank God for the time that we have spent with him over the past few days. We both are going to have a hard time leaving him tomorrow. He is resting comfortably this evening. The Adavan and Fentinol are keeping him heavily sedated but at the end of his cycle of meds he does wake up and look around. We long for these brief glimpses of his beautiful eyes. Melting at the sight of him looking at us (especially me) is an understatement. Friends have been around and the comments and prayers can never be re-paid. Thank you to all. Sweet dreams and God Bless....He is still in the business of miracles and He has given us one. Talk with you tomorrow. Clancy

Saturday, July 19, 2008 in the Evening

It is about 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night. I am sure the women of the SETNTD weekend are getting a surprise about right now. I wish I could be there, but I know there will be many blessings in store for them this evening.

It was a rough afternoon for Zander. He is doing fine now. They tried to remove the ventilator, but it did not take. Zander can breathe on his own, but because of his 1st surgery he really uses more energy than he should. He really gets his entire body into breathing and the Nurse Practitioner said that the way he was breathing without the tube was indicative that he was still in pain. As a result, Zander was put back on the ventilator. I was able to watch them try to remove the ventilator and it was not an easy thing for me to watch. The little guy tried hard to do it on his own, but as noted above, he was working his little body to hard. They anticipate that the ventilator will be able to be removed in a few days once his body and insides have healed a bit more.

At present, he is sleeping soundly. The pictures above were taken after the ventilator was re-inserted. It is hard not being able to hold him and Christie and I were hopeful that we would be able to hold him before we left the hospital. We have not given up hope as we will not check out until some point tomorrow.

We are in the room (5078) just taking it easy. The NICU is closed for visitors between 6 and 8 in the morning and 6 and 8 in the evening due to shift change and testing.

We are anxiously awaiting 8:00 to arrive so we can get back in to see him. We only have about 45 minutes left.

Love to all...I will write soon.

Clancy

Saturday, July 19, 2008 in the Morning

Good morning everyone. We are still at Erlanger in in Room 5078. We will be here until Sunday (tomorrow midday). Houston stayed with us here at the hospital last night. We all rested well.

We have seen Zander already this morning. He looks like a new man. He has been given a bath and he has long brownish-blond hair. More tension has been added to his traction sutures which continue to pull his esophagus towards his stomach. He is still a little jaundiced at this point and they may put him under the light today for awhile. He is slowly but surely waking up as they have not given him any Adavan since about 1:00 a.m. this morning. Hopefully we will see his big beautiful eyes later this morning. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Mom is doing well. She is moving around much better. She is still taking pain meds every 6 or 8 hours for pain, but she is in good spirits.

Please know that we cannot express our gratitude for the uplifting comments, prayers and outpouring of support. I will write again later today but enjoy the pics from this morning. I especially enjoy the one of Zander holding Mommie's finger.

Peace and Grace to all!

Clancy

Friday, July 18, 2008 in the Evening

Hello all. I am sure everyone is out for the evening after a hard week at work. Zander is doing well. He is heavily sedated at this point but he is resting comfortably. They think he will be on the ventilator for a few days, but there is a chance it will be removed over the weekend.

Houston and Jackson arrived from Florida. They were anxious to see their little brother. It looks like we will be here until Sunday, but we will definitely be here through late Saturday.

We are glad that all the boys are together. Zander is looking a little jaundiced at this point, but the ICU says he does not need treatment for that at this point.

We will update you on Saturday morning. Thank you for all the comments, support and prayer. God Bless you all!

Clancy

Friday, July 18, 2008 in the afternoon

Hey guys. I just got back from spending some time with Zander alone. He is doing well. They are going to repeat a few x-rays and blood tests. He laid there and stared at me for about 15 seconds about three times and it made me melt. He is still on the ventilator and will likely be on it for a few more days since they are seeing moisture in the lungs. His swelling is going down and that is a good sign. The neonatologist will be giving him a good examination later today so I will be able to give you more information in a little while.

God Bless...Clancy

Friday, July 18, 2008 in the morning

Good morning everyone. Mom and I got our first real sleep last night. During the night, they removed the ventilator for about 30 minutes; however Zander did not like it. In any event they put him back on the ventilator to keep his airway open but he is breathing room air and the ventilator is just being used to keep his airway open.

Christie showered for the first time this morning and she is walking (gingerly). We are going to be here through Saturday for sure...maybe longer.

We saw Zander earlier this morning. He is still doing great! He is still beautiful and fighting hard. Enjoy the pics and thank you for the comments.

I will write soon.....

Time for Sleep

It is about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday the 17th. Zander is doing well. They are still running tests on him to figure out the bugs. He is doing well and they anticipate taking him off the ventilator at some point before morning. Christie and I remain prayerful at this point for everything, but especially the removal of the ventilator so we can hold him. It has been difficult for us since we can't hold him, but we are thankful for him. By the way, we have been moved into a new (and larger) room. We are now in room 5078. Still looking at Saturday to be discharged. Christie is up walking around (gingerly) but she is doing quite well. The boys will be coming back from Florida with their Dad tomorrow so we pray that they have a safe trip. We write more soon....It is time for sleep. Sweet dreams. Clancy