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Elijah’s nurses seem to be surprised at the progress he is making and how fast. A few of them have taken a day off and they commented he was like a different kid when they returned. I have to admit I get a little anxious at times for him to get better sooner. Obviously that’s normal, but I have to be patient. I think I forget already how far he has come. I was looking at his pictures and videos from when he was first born this morning. We had no idea if he could even breathe unassisted. Now look at him! He’s crying and being awake a lot more. Yesterday we asked the doctor if we could try to get his Phenobarbital level lower and so last night and this morning they skipped his dosage. We’re thinking that is why he has been more awake for us.
Another milestone today is that we gave Elijah his first bath. Okay, it’s actually his second bath, but it was the first one given by us so that’s all that really matters. Now he’s all clean and smells so good. After the bath, Andy did kangaroo care so that we could make sure to warm him up. We’re still kind of concerned about his temperature, but it seems that he has been keeping it up at a safe level. Kangaroo care is so good because it gets him so warm. Elijah and Andy snuggled and took a little nap while I started this journal entry. They got nice and toasty. I woke Andy up at 10:40 because it was getting really late and we needed to go home. The moment Andy took Elijah off of his chest, Elijah started to cry. It was so beautiful! I love and hate to hear him cry at the same time. We couldn’t leave of course until he stopped crying, so we left really late tonight. (I write these posts on the way home from the hospital…and I post them as the day I’m writing about, even if it’s after midnight)
I can’t wait to read these journals and guestbook entries to Elijah someday. I can’t wait to tell him what a miracle he is and how much God has healed him. This experience has been such an example of God’s love and His care for us. I have been amazed at how I write in this journal about what Elijah needs and I ask for prayers and it’s happened more than once that the issue is resolved by my next journal entry. Thank you so much for all of your kind words and your continued prayers. Please continue to pray for Elijah’s complete recovery. We know that God can indeed heal him and it is quite obvious that God is listening to the prayers that are being sent up for little Elijah. We know he’s going to be okay and that God holds Elijah for us when we can’t be there. Pray that we’ll all be home soon.
Elijah has been breathing pretty strong the last couple of days and so they turned down the respirator to prepare him to breath without it. Unfortunately, the sedatives make it nearly impossible for him to breathe on his own and the breathing tube he had was too shallow, so he stopped breathing just as they were about to begin the MRI. Luckily, they were closely monitoring him and the respiratory specialist was right with him. He did turn a little blue, but the doctor said that his oxygen levels were still at a safe level. He was immediately given a new breathing tube and was fine, but Andy and I couldn’t help but worry a bit about it this afternoon.
It was difficult for us to wait until he started to wake up, which seemed to take longer than we thought it should. He still has pretty high levels of Phenobarbital (anti-seizure med) in his system and so that is why it took longer. We’ve been so excited to watch his progress each day and it was so frustrating to just watch him lay in his bed again. The good news is that I got to hold him again this evening. We were thinking of going home, but when asked if I wanted to hold him, of course I couldn’t refuse. Before Andy and I were only allowed to hold him for 15 min. each on different days. I assumed it would be the same tonight, but I got to hold him for an hour and a half! It was so nice to hold him in my arms and wow is he heavy. Since I only thought it would be a short session, I opted to not use a pillow underneath him and my arm literally fell asleep! He is definitely a big boy.
He slept in my arms (still wasn’t responding much from the sedatives) and it was so nice to hold him, which I have obviously been aching for. I sang him songs and tried to give him some advice. I thought I would sneak it in while I have his full attention. Near the end of the time that I was holding him, he seemed to start to come out of his sedated state. He started stretching and moving around. It was like he wanted to change positions, which I couldn’t really do because of his respirator. I would’ve liked to change positions because I was starting to get uncomfortable too, so I understood how he felt. He started to lift his hand and place it on his respirator as if saying he didn’t like having it in there (don’t blame him!), touching his face a little, and moving his head to the side. I hadn’t seen him do these things the day before, so it was really encouraging. He made improvement despite all he had been through today.
I saved the best news for last: He opened his eyes! It was time for Andy and me to go and so the nurse placed him back in his bed. He opened up his eyes to see what was going on. He just blinked a bit and seemed to think the lights were too bright. Andy and I were so excited. Every day he gives us a little something and today was no exception. It was a really good note to go home on…to have been able to see those beautiful eyes. I’m so excited to see more of them tomorrow. Also in the good news department, they are going to try to wean him off of the respirator in the next couple of days. We pray he does well with it since it would be nice to get him unhooked from the machinery and doing well without it.
I suppose some of you are wondering about the MRI. Well, so are we. We’re supposed to get the results sometime tomorrow. I hope and pray that it is good news. Please continue the prayers. I know I repeat myself every day, but this site has been such a comfort to us. Keep commenting on the guest book. We read it throughout the day and it gives us such a boost to know that so many people are thinking of our little Elijah and us as well. We really appreciate all the comments and all the prayers, so keep them coming!
Tonight it was Andy's turn and he got to hold his handsome son for the first time.