singing praises...

"I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord."  Psalm 104:33-34
 

The last couple of days have emerged in hope. That little one, who just a couple of weeks ago had only a 50% chance of surviving, it is indescribable to express this mommy emotion that joins his newborn cry. Simply precious.

 

Monday, once the doctors' rounds were completed, Jude was extubated. His ventilator was removed, skipping two additional steps, leaving him breathing on his own. He seemed to be well pleased with the new arrangement and even sported a few smiles. It is much more settling to witness his sobbing now, as it resembles any newborn. There's no more tape covering that sweet little mouth, so mama and daddy have kissed those little lips too many times to count!

Some amazing news: The surgeon explained that Jude's left lung will continue to develop until the age of nine or ten with the majority developing by the age of two. It is inconceivable to imagine a boy born so impaired is now nearly complete in his anatomy. We are so blessed.

His chest drainage tube will be removed today. This means, in just a little while, we will  be holding our baby for the very first time! This will ease all of us  in many ways because, as you could imagine, it is discouraging to see him in a continuous lying down position.

 

The next phase will consist of learning to eat. Of all the CDH blogs I've read, I haven't found one CDH baby who breastfed from mama. I pray it can be different for Jude but I'm trying to keep focused on what's most important. It's just this pump and I haven't been getting along.

Some serious side effects came along with the blood thinning injections I was prescribed, so yesterday we made the decision to discontinue them. We are praying for the Lord's protection against blood clotting in my body. I'm hoping to regain some strength in the next couple of days.

 

Now that the life threatening crisis with Jude has passed, I'm  allowing myself to think of bringing him home. These are thoughts I haven't given myself the privilege to entertain since his diagnosis. It's overwhelmingly joyous to consider having this little guy rambunctiously jumping on all of our furniture, mischievously stealing the girls' cherished baby dolls, and cuddling with mama the rest of the day (yeah, right!)!  I can hardly wait to have one more rowdy boy to fill our home! I feel like the most blessed mama in all of the world!

 

We'll post some more pictures in a bit. You'll agree that he is just so handsome without all of the tape and swelling!  ~Jen

 

...and let the God of our salvation be exalted!