latest on the baby
i couldn't wait to post this. in my goddaughter's own words - it brought tears to my eyes. this baby is truly a miracle.. thank you all.
Today is a good day. Aidan was extibated last night at 6:00pm and he is breathing!!!!! As soon as Pete got home, I ran up there again to see him. I had been there earlier that day and when I left they had decided to wait until the following day to see how he was doing. The first step was a series of cpap trials with the ventilator tube still in followed by a series of chest x-rays. Then he went through a few more chest therapy sessions and was extibated!!! I am so excited.
When I got there, I could not run fast enough to his room. He was crying. Most would say it was inaudible but I could hear him. I have never heard him cry. I have only seen him cry while no noise came out. But last night I heard him cry!! It was hoarse and quiet but it was his cry. He coughed and sneezed and I heard that too! I just wanted to lift him out of that bed but I need to wait just a little longer to hold him. It has been over three weeks since I last held him in my arms. I cannot tell you how precious so many things in our lives are that we take for granted. I did not realize how much it meant to hear him cry and I cried with him.
Later I went to let his "NICU mommies" know that he was breathing with only a nasal cpap and had been extibated. They were just as excited as I was. A passerby may have thought we had just won the lottery the way we were jumping up and down together - they did not know it was better than that!
As the nurses walked back in, one of Aidan's favorite nurses stopped to talk to me a bit longer. She told me again that Aidan was really a miracle. To that I replied, "every baby is a miracle."
"No," she said, "In 30 years we have never seen a baby his size go in to the OR for heart surgery and come out of the OR alive. When you held him that night I kept looking at the clock praying this would not be his last night of life but knowing that it probably was."
I had known that Aidan probably should have died during his transport to Yale from Bridgeport or some time withing that first week. I was scared the night before his surgery because, I too, thought that I was spending my last moments with Aidan, praying that it would not be. When the nurses pulled his isolette into the OR I prayed it would not be the last time I saw him alive. I did not know that Aidan would be one of very few babies to come out alive. And today he is breathing.
Everyday for the past few months when I prayed my prayer was simply, "Thank you God for today and for everything I have."
I have said all long that the prayers from all of you have kept Aidan alive. The scientists, the medical staff, they believe this too because there is no true explanation to explain how Aidan had lived, survived, and thus far thrived with all he has faced.
I will never be able to thank every person whom prayed for Aidan enough. I will never have the words to truly express my gratitude to all of you whom have kept him alive with your prayers. Thank You! Soon Aidan will be home and this Thanksgiving, thankfulness will be plentiful at our table.
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