Power of Prayer

For those of you who are prayer warriors, the next few days may be very crucial.
William did start out strong, but because he's so little, he's gotten pretty tired by now and needs a lot more extra support from his breathing machines and drugs. This morning, he had a pretty rough day apparently.
We've been having to keep upping his blood pressure medicine, and today we had to start him on a more powerful steroid to replace the hydrocortisone to try and reduce the inflammation in his lungs. This is to help him reach the oxygen saturation in his blood that he needs to survive. There's a host of other risks with this drug, and he's getting the minimal amount for the shortest possible period where it may be effective. So while that is scary, it's also somewhat a matter of survival or not.
So far he seems to be doing well with it. We'll probably have a better idea tomorrow, too. Since he's been on pure oxygen for over a day, it's important that we wean him off of it, because that much oxygen can be toxic, so hopefully we'll be able to start weaning him off of it slowly tonight.

Facing that William is in more of a critical condition today than he was a few days ago is really hard. I don't really know what other details to go into just yet, because we don't really know for sure how the drug may otherwise affect his body. It could slow his growth. It could cause brain damage. But this is also what he needs to survive right now. And all I can hope is that his feedings can increase and that he will get what he needs to overcome this rough patch. Pray, pray, pray. Cry out.
I was reminded today that God's power lives within each of us, so I'd like to think that harnessing that power could accomplish another miracle.

Happy 1 Week!

We have gotten to know William for a week now.
It's been a blessing to touch his head.
It's been a blessing to have him squeeze our finger in his palm.
It's been a blessing to smell him.
It's been a blessing to get to be part of his feedings.
It's been a blessing to meet and see this remarkable human being who is part Jeff and part Melissa.
William is SO CUTE.

Mommy's Recovery So Far

So surprisingly, my recovery from delivering William has progressed smoothly. I've felt better and stronger than I have during most of the pregnancy and I don't really seem to be having many labor related aches and pains. 

I do notice the effects of prolonged bed rest test, though. My lower back is killing me and super weak, I'm having to be very conscious of trying to correct my upper body posture and I can use my abs again. 

My sleep schedule is pretty crazy since I'm trying to establish a good milk supply for later on (and that's going pretty well, considering I'm a Preemie mom). 

Most days I still want to save my energy to make the walk from the parking garage to the ISCU (on opposite sides of the hospital...) and to be able to stand for longer amounts of time so I can touch William. So when I'm at home, I'm trying to make myself chill, even though I have all these projects I want to get my hands on and I really enjoy having the energy to take care of myself more. Hurray for getting my own beverages (except this morning... I was already hooked up when I realized I was thirsty and asked Jeff to supply me, lol)!!

When I go back to my next postpartum check up, I will be treated as low risk, for which I'm grateful.