Time to get on my knees...

I blogged about our collegiate friends who welcomed a newborn THREE months exactly a week ago. I just received an update from them and felt their story needs to be heard so that more people can pray for Esther..since i couldn't recap it any better than how Rachael wrote it herself, I'm taking the liberty of sharing her latest journal entry below:

The day I was discharged from the hospital, I met with one of the neonatologists to discuss Esther’s care. He explained that all NICU babies go through a honeymoon period right after birth and then something goes wrong and things always get worse before they get better. He said there is no way to predict what will go wrong or when it will happen, but it always does and we should begin preparing ourselves for that day.

Today is that day. Esther’s honeymoon phase is over. The last couple days she has had more difficulty breathing and keeping her heart rate up. Today between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. I watched her go between being pale white to purple and back twice. Both times she could barely breathe and her heart rate dropped rapidly. Her vitals have been a rollercoaster all day.

Esther’s red blood cell count was low this morning and her attending physician ordered a blood transfusion, but the blood did not arrive until 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. They began the transfusion just before I left to try to get some sleep and the nurses said it should help stabilize her for a few more days.

All this is being caused by the PDA valve. As long as it remains open, Esther will continue to struggle, and her heart and lung condition will only get worse. I am meeting with another doctor later this evening to see if there is anything we can do to get the surgery done sooner than Monday.

Please pray for Esther and me, that we both have the strength to get through the next few days – her physical strength, my emotional strength. Aaron will be back tomorrow afternoon as soon as he can get away from work and our friend Kristie is coming to spend the evening with me for emotional and moral support.

It is time for me to get some supper and head back over to the hospital, but I will leave you with the good news that Esther’s doctor increased her feedings to 1.5 ml every three hours (which she is tolerating very well) and she is up to 1 lb 9.75 oz. At least her digestive system is working properly!