Operation Noah Recovery: Day 2

wow. Simon and I are speechless at the amount of encouraging words, support and delicious food that has come our way. It is so encouraging to be lifted up by everyone. Did you know that so far 296 have read the blog post about Noah? Even if only half of everyone who read it prayed for him, that's a lot of people lifting Noah up to God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are blessed you are in our lives.

So how was my night??? I was anxious about having Simon go home for the night and unsure how long I could hold sway my crying sack of potatoes but God answers prayer and he settled down in the hospital crib at 10:30pm last night and was up twice. The first time I got him settled in half an hour and the second time he was up from 4:00-5:30am but after another dose of Tylonel, he was able to go back to sleep in the hospital crib. Praise God!

The lab tech came by at 7:15am and said she wanted to do blood work. Noah was still asleep and I remembered what the nurse told me and I asked her to come back later. She said she would have to check with my nurse if that was OK and of course my awesome nurse backed me up so Noah had a great long sleep until 8:30am.


screaming during his blood work this morning

The nurses came by and listened to his lungs and said they still aren't normal sounding but they aren't as terrible as yesterday. Alright, I'll take 'not terrible', and he's not coughing quite as much.

And drum roll.....the bacteria culture came back negative! This is such an answered prayer so he does not have a blood infection.

When he woke up this morning his face and his eyes were a bit puffy. The nurse explained it might be because of all the fluid he is getting in his IV. He was so dehydrated that they had to pump lots into him and it might be going to his face. The were able to turn down his IV this morning from 30 to 15 mL/h so that means his hydration levels have improved. By turning down the IV means he will also need to start nursing since the IV isn't providing all the fluids and nutrients he needs.

puffy face and eyes this morning

The nurse also noticed he has a diaper rash which is probably a side effect of the antibiotics. Apparently pure oxygen heals red baboon bums quickly so for awhile today he had the oxygen mask on his little baby bum. There's a first!

"oxygen bum" therapy

The nurses also noticed white patches inside his mouth today when he was screaming and crying. They had 3 different people come in and I had to hold him down while they put a flashlight in his mouth and examined it. It's inconclusive right now but the doctor is guessing its probably oral thrush which is an overgrowth of yeast. Oral thrush can also lead to diaper rash (which the nurse noticed today). He will probably need some sort of antifungal treatment to treat the thrush. The oral thrush could be causing pain in his mouth which could lead to the reason why he is not wanting to nurse and if we want to ever go home, he needs to start nursing so go away thrush, go away!

napped and woke up happy!

It looks like right now Noah is just battling bacterial pneumonia and RSV and oral thrush. The course of treatment is still antibiotics through the IV along with the saline solution. The antibiotic treatment will last for 10-12 days but not the whole antibiotic treatment needs to be at the hospital. Right now all his antibiotics are through the IV but if he shows that he can keep medicine down orally, we will get to go home and continue treatment at home. Really want to go home. I have not left Noah's room since we checked in. I haven't looked out a window since Tuesday. Is it still snowing? I don't even know.

So for prayer items, it comes down to this:

• praise that Noah had a relatively good night last night
• praise that he does not have Scepsis (blood infection)
• praise that Natallie is doing really well with my mom and enjoying play dates with friends
• praise that Noah had 2 naps today without being held and even woke up with a smile!
• praise he was more settled today and had some 'normal' moments where he had tummy time and was grabbing for his toys and trying to put all the hospital wires in his mouth
• continue to have no fever (he has been given lots of Tylonel for pain so they want to see if he can keep a normal temperatue without Tylonel)
• diaper rash and oral thrush to get treated quickly
• need this boy to start nursing again!!!!
• still arches his back in pain and for the doctors/nurses to figure out what is causing it

Also, my mom told me today that my grandma just got admitted to emergency last night and ironically enough, she has been diagnosed with pneumonia as well. It's not good to be little like Noah and get it but it's also not good to be 92 like my grandma and have it either. So please, when you're lifting up Noah in prayer, could you pray for my grandma as well? The nurses say with all the factors she is at risk for heart failure. Our family is just dealing with a lot right now but God is good and we put our trust in Him.