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!
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