Truckin' along

Happy Tuesday!

The last few days for Jude have been mostly uneventful from a medical perspective:

• Jude's blood gases have remained pretty steady of the last few days...not great, but not awful. 
• Mostly, Jude's settings on the ventilator have stayed the same as well. 
• His cold is mostly gone, but he still remains a little "junky" in his chest and continues to receive respiratory treatments to help with this issue.
• He is handling his breast milk TP feeds well thus far! He is about halfway to full feeds now. We are hopeful that he can tolerate full feeds well because these will help him grow bigger and stronger (and therefore in a better spot for his 2nd repair surgery)!
• Jude is pretty sedated now (because he is super strong and capable of extubating himself again) and therefore he is sleeping quite a bit. It is so sweet to snuggle him while sleeping but it is also wonderful to spend some time with him when he is awake. This morning I held him while he slept and this afternoon I gave him a washcloth bath and read books to him. It is such a joy to spend time with Jude.

What you can pray for:

• Please continue praying for Jude's adhesions to miraculously heal before surgery. Pray that the surgeon and doctors will be amazed by the amount of healing that has taken place. 
• Please pray that Jude's cold and "junky" chest problems will resolve and allow for him to feel better. Pray that he will breathe easier this week!
• Please pray for better blood gases!
• Please pray that Jude's TP feeds will continue to go well and that his little body will grow strong!!
• Please pray for Jude developmentally. Before he was intubated again Jude was close to being on track developmentally for his age but we worry that he will struggle more now that he has experienced such a big setback. He is not able to enjoy PT or OT much right now. It breaks my heart that he can't get out of the bed and enjoy time "exercising" right now. He was once such an active little guy. Please pray that he will feel stimulated and interested in the world around him. 
• Please pray for plenty of bonding time for Jude and us. I really feel like time spent snuggling and talking with Jude is very important right now.

We are still hanging in there waiting for surgery at some point down the road. It is hard to wait...but we are certain that the Lord will provide a way at the perfect time.

Thank you for all of the texts, emails, facebook messages, emails and comments on the blog to let us know how you are praying for Jude. It was SUCH an encouragement to hear of the many ways that you are feeling called to pray for Jude. He is COVERED in prayer!

Much love to all of you!

Are you on facebook? You can follow Jude's progress by joining this facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/219285074818496/