More Prayer Requests

An update on Mr. Cranky Pants: Things have been going well since I last updated. Baby James is still eating through a bottle, and is still quite a bit more calm than he when we were feeding him with the g-tube. His g-tube site looks quite a bit different from when he pulled it out a week ago. This past week we sort of forced a check up with the nurse practicioner who helped put it in. She said it looked fine, but Kristal and I were still a bit uncomfortable. Yesterday we had an appointment with James' Pediatritian and asked her to take a look. Of course, Mommy knows best. The pediatritian said that there was a small infection. She hooked us up with some antibiotics. Please pray that the infection healscompletely.

Kristal and I have quite a bit to think about before our next appointment with the pediatrition who took care of him while he was in the Intensive Care Unit (which will be this coming wednesday). We are going to talk to her about taking the g-tube out. Please be praying that the Lord gives us and Dr. Rhodes the wisdom to know when it would be best to take it out. We really want it out as soon as possible. However, there is a concern. Most of the doctors we have talked to so far have suggested keeping it in for a few more weeks or months (awww). Kristal and I have noticed that he has been fighting the bottle much more than he has before. Even when Baby James is starving, he will usually take no more than 10 ml without flaking out and turning his head from the bottle. A lot of this could be his brain injury. Of course taking the g-tube out could help his fighting the bottle, but there really is no telling. The last thing we want is to take the tube out and then have to put it back in--putting it back in means another surgery. With all of this in mind, we want to take it out so that he will not be in so much discomfort. No matter what anyone tells you, g-tubes are uncomfortable.

Another thing we will have to talk to Dr. Rhodes about this wednesday is muscle relaxing medicine. Baby James is abnormally stiff. This is something the Doctors have been concerned about since day 1. During our last meeting with Dr. Rhodes, she mentioned something about giving him muscle relaxing medicine to help calm him down. We think this may improve his bottle feeding quite a lot. Much of the reason he has such a hard time with the bottle is because his body tweeks out and he cannot stop it. Also, the doctors are concerned about his muscles being so tense for so long. Try and flex your muscles for more than 30 min at time--good luck. This is what Baby James does though. There are serious long term effects concerning his motor skills if he is too tense for too long. The doctors are taking their time with the muscle relaxing medicine because they don't want push pills if he doesn't need them. Their thought is that Baby James will calm down the more he matures. So far the doctors have been right--he has calmed down quite a lot since we brought him home. However, he is still mega tense. Pray that the Doctors would medicate him correctly.

Also pray for Kristal and I. Both of us have been having stomach issues. I have not felt normal now for over two weeks. I have been abnormally tired and lethargic because of it. My stomach doesn't feel right and my bowels are flipping out. John and Kelly (my in laws) had a flu bug before we brought Baby James home a few weeks ago. I think I might have picked it up from them. Last night Kristal woke up thinking she was going to throw up. Also, pray that Kristal would continue to heal from the delivery. She is still quite sore.

Finally, pray for me that I would do well on my finals. I take them this Tuesday. I have been trying to study, but with everything going on studying has proved to be a bit difficult.

I am almost done with a post entitled "Prayer, Suffering, and the Will of God." I will hopefully post it here in the next day or so. I encourage you all to read it. It is sort of a summary of some things that Kristal and I have been mulling over since the day James was born.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. The Lord has blessed us with the most wonderful friends and family. He has given us the most studly little boy. Please continue to pray for Baby James. I feel like he is at a plateau right now, which is difficult for us. Please pray that he would not regress--this is our worst fear. The Lord has done so many wonderful things. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for Baby James. My prayer is that he would "appear as a torch bearer in the world, holding fast the word of life" (Phil 2:15-16). Oh, and I also pray that he would be a master of the Greek and Hebrew languages.