Wednesday, June 27, 2012

19 days old 6-27-12




Today has been a very long but very rewarding day.  We had to get up early today because I had an appointment with the circulation doctor for a follow up with my blood pressure.  My blood pressure is now consistently around 110/80.  Because of this, I am able to stop taking blood pressure medication and I am medically cleared (with my blood pressure at least).  I am glad that God was also holding me in His arms during this time.  The HELLP condition is very serious and can cause lasting damage and death.  At the time, I was not really thinking about how seriously ill I was.  Thank goodness that God has everything under control. 
Jordan is such a cutie pie!  We are so thankful that he is gaining weight and getting some fat on his body.  It is nice to see a little pink boy with some chunk!  The doctor explained that they will now be giving him a new type of medicine.  It is an asthma treatment that is supposed to stimulate his lungs to breathe on their own instead of relying on the ventilator to do all the work.  We are praying that he does well with this medication because we really want him to be able to come off of the ventilator as scheduled.  The doctors were joking around that they constantly whisper Japanese into his ears so that he will grow up to be part Japanese! J The quality of care that he is receiving at the NICU here is amazing to me.  I am so grateful that God placed us in this location so that Jordan could receive this care.  I am so thankful for his doctors and nurses.  They really do care about Jordan and want him to succeed. 
We were playing around with him today and we started tickling his little feet.  He wiggled them away really quickly.  Looks like his feet are ticklish like his mommy’s.  The doctor was explaining to us about stimulation.  When you touch a premature baby that is so young really quickly and do it often, then it can cause a lot of stimulation that is not good for the baby.  In the womb, the baby is not touched and all sounds and lights are muffled.  In the NICU, the baby is in the incubator for warmth but also to protect the baby from stimulation.  The doctor was also explaining though that premature babies also need the emotional connections for good development.  The emotional connection is a soft holding touch for a longer period of time.  This skin to skin contact calms the baby and provides and emotional connection.  I guess we should refrain from too much tickling.  He is just so cute and cuddly looking.  I cannot wait until we can hold him.  I just want to crawl into his incubator and cuddle up with him for a while.  Does anyone have a shrinking machine that I could borrow?!
After we got home we had to run some errands and do some more paperwork.  We are so thankful that the military insurance is able to cover all of our medical bills.  They are also able to cover our driving costs.  God is so good to provide this financial support for us.  Without this, our bills would be too high to imagine.  It costs 1660 yen round trip in tolls per day.  This is about $20 depending on the yen rate.  That plus gas could get overwhelming quickly. 
I have exactly two more weeks before I start my college classes again.  I am taking online classes through University of Phoenix for my degree in elementary education.  When I was admitted to the hospital, I had to drop the classes I was taking and then put my schedule on hold.  I decided to take a month of leave and see how things were going.  I was taking a double full time schedule but now I will just be taking one class at a time for a while.  Pray for me as I prepare to have homework in addition to everything else.  Also pray for my family as they deal with me while I am adjusting back to having homework lol. 
Lord, we are so thankful for your awesome power.  Jordan is truly a miracle and we are so blessed by his life.  I pray that you would help us to focus on you lord and trust in your plans.  Even during the happy times we should be praising and glorifying your name.  We are so underserving of your love but you give it anyway.  As part of human nature, we come crying when we are in trouble but often forget during times of happiness.  Instead, we should be giving you praise and thanking you for the blessings that you have provided.  Lord we are very thankful for our church family.  They have been taking care of us so well.  Your people have been surrounding us as if we are family.  They have been a blessing to us during this time.  Lord we ask that you would continue to hold Jordan in your hands.  Give him strength to continue to overcome all medical challenges.  We pray that the asthma medication would do well for his body and we pray that his lungs would have no lasting damage from any of the treatment.  We are so thankful that he is continuing to gain weight and grow.  It is nice to be able to see the differences in his skin and see the fat accumulating on his body.  We ask that you would be with Jason and continue to bless him.  He brings much laughter to our lives and we pray that we can be great examples for both Jason and Jordan.  We lift them up to you and commit to raising them up in the church and sharing your word and love with them.  We are confident that they will also come to know you personally.  For now, we ask that you would just hold them both in your arms. We pray for strength and energy.  Allow us to have good rests at night so that we have the strength to make it through the day.  Lord help us to lean on you if we find that strength waning.  We pray that you would use us as testimonies for your purpose.  Guide us along these paths and help us to give you all the glory.  We ask all of these things in your name, Amen.

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