Need to breathe..

Well, after staying out of the hospital for the whole month of January, we are back.

Monday night Nathan threw up several times and throughout that night and Tuesday his breathing became more and more labored and the intensity of his pain kept increasing.  Last night (Tuesday) we brought him down to Children's and it's a good thing we did.  He was admitted to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit).  It has been a very rough last 18 hours for our little man.  It took 11 attempts to get an IV in.  He is now on a ventilator and is at 60% oxygen.  His pain was really high all night and he (we) only slept for about 30 minutes.  They have put a PICC line in, which is a more permanent IV, since they are anticipating his being here for a while.

As of right now the leading theory is that he has a viral respiratory infection, probably bronchiolitis and maybe some other things as well.  They are still playing with a lot of things, gathering data etc. trying to make sure that we are getting all of the pieces of the puzzle.  If it is just the viral infection, they expect we will be in here for another 4-6 days.  Obviously, he needs to eventually be in less pain, start breathing on his own, etc. and that might not be possible until the virus peaks and we get on the other side of it.  Like I said earlier, they are still monitoring for additional digestive complications, developing pneumonia, etc.  

Some great friends have been and are helping us take care of Maddie.  It's hard to not be with her but the hospital is the place we need to be right now - especially until the Dr.'s feel like they have honed in on a diagnosis.  Jonny's mom is planning to fly in tomorrow to be here for a week, which will be super helpful.

Please pray for Nathan's pain, ability to breathe and for whatever infection he has to begin to clear.  Pray also for the doctors to continue to think clearly and holistically so that we don't miss anything.  Pray also for sweet Maddie and those who are helping care for her.  Please pray that Jonny and I can continue to trust The Lord with patience while being gracious with each other as the days get long and the stress level goes up.  

Please also join us in actually thanking The Lord for the truly incredible team of doctors around Nathan and the nurses who have also been so attentive to his care.  

We are so thankful for all of your prayers and the ridiculous ways we are being cared for.

Here a few pictures of the last day.  Our little man is a fighter!

and here is what we can't wait to see again soon...