Thursday, July 12, 2012

34 days old 7-12-12


                Jordan is 34 days old today.  I am so grateful that we have had so much time with our sweet little boy!  Last night I emailed a few of my questions to my friend Michiko who speaks Japanese.  She has been calling the NICU on the days that we don’t visit to get an update for us.  I wanted her to ask a few questions that I had in Japanese as well so that we could get better answers.  So far, the doctors and nurses have been doing very well at making sure we understand what is going on even with the language barrier.  It really is nice though to have wonderful friends that don’t mind translating for us. 
                Jordan is doing well today.  He was finishing up the last part of his transfusion.  The blood transfusion takes an entire 24 hours because little boy is so tiny.  So in the morning, we should know if his hemoglobin levels are back to the normal range or not.  The doctor had said that he doesn’t think he will need another transfusion but he can’t be certain.  Everything can change from day to day and minute to minute.  He also said that his guess is that Jordan’s hemoglobin levels became low because of the infection and the antibiotics.  The inflammation is pretty much completely gone.  He still has to finish the antibiotics just to be safe though.  That’s normal for any human though. 
                We also asked about the ventilator.  I was telling my friend that it seems as if every time I ask about when they will take him off the ventilator they tell me two to three weeks.  It seems as if that number is not getting any smaller.  I wanted to know what the specific goal was or if they even had a goal.  I didn’t know if they just based it on his condition day by day or were aiming for a time frame.  The doctor said the goal was probably the end of the month when Jordan hits 30 weeks gestation.  The doctor had said that they were hoping that Jordan would weigh around 800 grams at this time to make the process easier.  According to his weight gain for the last week though, we are not sure if he will reach that weight in time.  He needs to gain about 300 grams in two weeks.  Please be in prayer that God would influence his weight gain and growth to make it an easier transition from ventilator to CPAP.  Nothing is impossible with God.  The doctor had also said that they were going to stop the steroids.  He would be getting the last dose tonight.  We are hoping that he won’t need any more steroids but they will keep observing and give more if they are needed.  Please be in prayer about this as well.
                The doctor had mentioned to our friend that he was concerned about us because we seemed tired.  It is a long and tiresome journey but God will sustain us.  I think this was thoughtful of him to not only care for and have concern for Jordan but also to have concern for us and our well-being.  This doctor works every single day at the hospital.  He is the main person in charge at the NICU.  This is a big cultural difference.  In America, we seem to think we are entitled to a weekend, but here in Japan, they work daily without complaint and with lower pay.  I was thinking that we should do something special to let the doctors and nurses know how much we appreciate their hard work, compassion, and love for our sweet little boy.  Any ideas? 
                We had a great day at home.  This morning we were very lazy.  We pretty much did not get out of bed until 10am.  After we did finally get up, we spend some time cleaning the house.  It was much needed.  This afternoon, we made a big fort in the living room for Jason and us to play in.  Jason though it was THE Coolest thing ever!  It was pretty much the length of our living and dining rooms and was made out of the table, chairs, pillows, couch cushions, blankets, and more.  It had tunnels and then two bigger rooms.  Jason loved the tunnels.  Then we all played around in one of the rooms.  Jason wanted to be pirates so we played that we were pirates.  It was so much fun to just be little kids with big imaginations.  Jason also loved it so much that his mommy and daddy were playing along so well.  Jason has decided that he doesn’t need a nap anymore so today he crashed on his little couch at 8:45 while watching Cars.  He even let daddy carry him to bed <3 I like them!  I am looking forward to the day when Jordan can come home and we can all play and wrestle together.  Jordan’s homecoming will be so wonderful!
                Lord, today I really want to thank you for amazing friends who become like family.  The people that you have put into our lives have been such a blessing to us and we are so grateful for them.  A few ladies have become like moms and sisters to me.  They have been so incredibly loving and supporting.  It really helps to have great people like this.  Especially when our families are so far away.  I pray that you would bless the people who are still caring for us and praying for us.  I ask that you use our words to tough the hearts of many and to be a light and testimony for you.  Lord I praise you for the weight gain that Jordan has had this past week.  He has gained over one ounce.  We are so thankful for his growth and we ask that you would continue to put your hands on him and strengthen his body.  Lord we ask that you would help him to grow even more.  We pray that you would allow him to grow enough in the next two weeks to make the transition from ventilator to CPAP easier.  We know that everything is possible for you and we trust that you have perfectly planned out the transition and the timing.  Give us patience as we wait.  Place your hands on Jordan’s lungs and prepare them for the transition.  Help him to not acquire more damage from the ventilator.  We pray that he would have no lasting and damaging side effects from the ventilator.  Lord we thank you that this is the last steroid dose and we pray that you would give Jordan all he needs to continue to stabilize so that more steroids are not needed.  We thank you for the doctors and nurses that are caring for him.  Please bless Doctor Ito as he works every day in the NICU.  We ask that you give him rest and strength.  We ask that you guide his decisions and give him wisdom as he works with Jordan and the remainder of the babies.  We praise you that he is so caring and compassionate.  We ask that you would allow us to touch his heart with our presence that he may come to know and love you.  Lord we thank you for the wonderful day that we had with Jason.  We ask that you would help us to show Jason our love each day and that we would be good examples to him of godly living.  Lord give us rest and strength.  We ask all these things in your name, Amen.

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