Sunday 1/28

Just a quick update tonight…

Praise Reports:
– His Echo this morning came back good! This is a HUGE relief. The surgery has still been deemed a successful surgery with no complications, it just proves that Gideon needs more time to heal and grow strong but nothing has gone wrong from a surgical standpoint. He’s just very small, fragile & weak and needs more time, prayers & strength.
– His labs are still improving. They need to get better still but we’re headed in the right direction.
– I got a shower and a nap this afternoon! We had another sleepless night last night which made for a rough day today. He has been uncharacteristically cranky today, so much so he earned himself some rectal tylenol and a bolus of Morphine.  He doesn’t appear to be in pain, he is just cranky and wants someone to talk to. He does pretty good if I’m sitting at his bedside talking to him holding his binkie in for him (I’ve had to get up to soothe him 3x already in the 2 minutes I’ve taken to write this blog).

Prayer Requests:
– Strength & stability for Gideon
– Improved cardiac output for Gideon & successful step 1 of weaning off the cardiac drug tonight. We are stuck in the ICU until he is off this cardiac drug which we have attempted to wean off of at least 4-5 times already and he has not tolerated. We need to get him off this drug and STRONG and stable on his own before we can take any next steps.
– Comfort for Gideon
– Peace of mind & heart for mama. Also continued improved health.
– Rest for Gideon and mama tonight. We NEED to sleep tonight. Mama is on the brink again after a few sleepless nights and that’s not a good place for me to be.

People still ask how they can help. There are a few ways:

1. Pray! We need so many prayers, I try to update very specific prayer requests often, sometimes (like today) the day just gets away from me though and I don’t have a chance to update.

2. Donate blood. Strangers saved Gideons life with all the blood he used during and after surgery. I’m so thankful for the blood bank and all the people who donate to it to save kids lives like his.

3. Meal train – many people have asked about this. It’s in the works! We will have one set up in the very near future for whomever is at home with the kiddos to help ease the load of single parenting 3 small kiddos. We just aren’t quite ready to get that started yet so be on the lookout if you’ve been chomping at the bit to bring us a meal, THANK YOU! You will have an opportunity to do that in the near future, we just aren’t quite ready for that

3. Paypal:

As many of you know, Kari and Bo Bradshaw welcomed a darling baby boy, Gideon Robert on Sunday 1/14. Although a known cardiac anomaly was diagnosed prior to birth, an additional one presented itself hours after his birth. Baby Gideon was transferred to Seattle Children’s Hospital where had  heart surgery on Friday 1/19. Several people have asked how they can help? Kari and Bo are the first to recognize the miracle of life and to give their gratitude to God for this blessing. We can ease the financial burden while we await additional ways to serve this incredible family. They are most in need of funds to supplement the cost of food from the hospital cafeteria as well as the cost of gas as they travel to and from the hospital each day. Of course, medical bills also start to accumulate and one has enough to worry about in caring for the needs of a medically fragile newborn without worrying about bills. They are not ones to ask for help, but sincerely would appreciate a small donation at this challenging time. (Thank you for your generosity!!).