Thursday afternoon

It's Thursday and we're still in the hospital and still don't really know why.

Well, we know we're there b/c Samuel was having substantial trouble breathing, but what was causing that we aren't exactly sure. We have been able to eliminate the heart from the list of possible 'unsubs' (to reference a favorite TV show). It's functioning correctly and isn't sending too much blood to lungs (which had been one of the theories). That leaves us with two real options, maybe a third. Either he's got a cold, an aspiration pneumonia, or both.

While his chest x-ray is clean and clear, he continues to require O2 and is sounding raspier and junkier in his breathing than normal. The O2 helps as do the albuterol treatments. We are hanging around in the hospital until he doesn't need O2 anymore, and to make sure that he can handle his feeds alright. We are currently at a rate of 30cc/hr for 24 hrs. That still doesn't get us the desired number of calories for his daily intake, but if he handles 30/hr well for a day or so, we will bump him up to 32 or 33. Over 24 hrs, those little bumps are helpful. An ideal would be around 35cc/hr. It's a lot of math. I'm working on a spreadsheet to keep it all straight. See, kids, stay in school and learn your math ... it really does pay off.

So ... please do pray for our endurance - for our whole family. As Sara and I are trying to rotate who's at the hospital, AC and Colin are spending lots of time with babysitters and I think it's beginning to take a toll. Little ones are resilient, but they also like 'normalcy.' Thank you for lifting up all of our little ones. Thank you.

Just got off the phone with Sara. She just spoke with Samuel's Pediatrician and she thinks that if we are able to stay off the O2, we might get to go home on Saturday or Sunday.