Pacifiers and Pee

Ha, ha. I am laughing at myself for that title. I can't help it though. Laughing is good. Those two words are a good theme for yesterday. Oh, yesterday. It was a good day. The best day so far. I needed that. I am sure you REALLY needed that. You had your nurse Diana. Diana was here on Saturday, your first full day here in the PICU and then back yesterday. She not only is the best at what she does, but she also is really good at bringing an additional calming presence to the room. She is very connected to you and watches you and knows what you need. So overall, it was a calm day.

Half way through the day we noticed with your new arousal that you were kind of chewing on the tube that goes down your throat and provides assistance in your breathing. Well, you are a pacifier man. You love your pacifiers. You call them a "pa," or sometimes a "pas." In the past few months you have started chewing on your pacifiers. You walk around the house and kind of roll it around in your mouth and chew and suck and chew and suck. I mentioned this to Diana and she immediately went and got a pacifier for you. You have had it in your mouth ever since. I took a picture (I am working on getting these onto the blog). Since you also have your breathing tube in your mouth you can't really suck, but you chew. It's cute. People walk by the room and just laugh.

You are more active. Moving around, opening your eyes, briefly. The nurses assure us that you are still heavily sedated, but the activity is good. The activity is good for your parents spirits too. That contact with you has lifted our spirits. Olivia and Lance were thrilled too. I told Grandma, over the phone, that you opened your eyes. She told Olivia and Lance and I then heard cheering in the background. When they came later yesterday to see you they were thrilled to see your movement. When you heard their voices you started stirring and lifting your hands and trying to open your eyes. It was awesome. Lance was saying goodnight to you and you opened your eyes a little. He said "William opened his eyes again!" I then said it was because of Lance. Lance then said "William opened his eyes for me!"

You had a good night too. Some blood work that came back said your cortisol levels were low, which is common in people that go into shock. Cortisol helps you to maintain your blood pressure. So, you are getting hydrocortizone and hopefully that will help you be able to slowing get off your blood pressure meds. You were suppose to go to surgery today, but the surgeons decided this morning that they would like to give you another day to rest and let you body regulate even more. So, surgery tomorrow.

Oh yeah, the "pee" part of the story. So the past 4 or 5 days you have increasingly become more and more swollen and puffy. Tuesday was probably the worst of it. All day yesterday you were like the incredible shrinking boy. You look like you today and that is because in the last 24 hours you have almost peed your body weight. . . 7 kilos. Way to go, little dude! Diana calls your pee "liquid gold."

Lots and lots of good the past few days. I am geared up for set backs in the future, but this time has given me renewed hope and strength. I am convinced that these past few "good" days are a result of all the prayers that have been offered on your behalf. I am so grateful for the outpouring of support and love. I know I have said it before, but I can literally feel it. This room is filled with the strength and love of Heavenly Father. He is aware of you and strengthening you, loving you, and allowing you to pass through this to make you stronger. You know, often times we think that when something bad happens to us that it isn't fair or we question what we did to deserve this. I don't think that, not for one minute. Life can't be wonderful unless it is also sometimes horrible. I have never felt as desperate or scared as I did last Friday night. But I don't think I have ever felt as loved and supported. I feel a closer connection to those I love, including you. And I feel closer to our Father in Heaven. I would have never chosen this experience, but I am deeply grateful for the blessings that have come because it.
I love you, my little darling. Keep up the good work :)