Prayers for Timothy

Merry Christmas to all! I wish I could give that greeting with a happy heart but we are in the midst of another set back with Timothy today. He is back in Children's Hospital with a very severe virus (cold/flu like symptoms) and is having apnea (where he stops breathing temporarily) and "brady" symptoms (where his heart rate drops when he's not breathing). So far, he's actually stable even though he's a little worse today than he was yesterday and will probably get a little worse as these viruses usually "peak" around day 5 and we're on day 3. He's also on oxygen but is on the smallest amount they can give him which is good news. It is also good news that this is not RSV, a particularly dangerous virus that is very serious in newborns, especially one born early. We can't bring him home until he's off oxygen for an overnight period or about 8-10 hours. They've tried weaning him off the oxygen several times but it just isn't working yet. We're probably in for a 3-4 day stay, possibly more depending on his oxygen demands. We're praying that he doesn't get worse and that he continues to eat well which is keeping him away from an IV thus far. They also checked his bilirubin/jaundice level and we're very happy to report that his level is completely normal now.

Please be in prayer for my parents who will be traveling from South Carolina tomorrow to help us take care of everything. My Mom was planning on flying in on Saturday for a visit but that's all changed since we need her here now. Also, pray for our other kids as Nathan has already made comments about wanting life to go back to normal (although Christmas presents helped ease that!) and all 4 of them are fighting cold symptoms of some degree. With the exception of John who was actually at the doctor's office with Timothy and has an ear infection, everyone else really seems to be handling the virus pretty well.

Have a Jesus filled Christmas and thanks for praying!