Callouses

Any work that takes strength, stamina, and long-suffering endurance hurts the most in the beginning before the callouses are formed. I'm starting to feel those callouses form on my fingers, knuckles, feet, and knees, which helps the marathon not hurt so much. However, I sincerely pray that my heart doesn't callous over during the process. I want it to remain soft, malleable, and open like my sweet Levi's heart is currently.

We had a couple days of respite after my last update. Saturday night and Sunday seemed to be steady and sweet as both my boys found some rest. I've learned that no news is good news.

Then yesterday another hill was digging yet another callous. Long story short, we ended up at the ER Monday night because Silas had a temperature of 103 and was very lethargic. After some Tylenol though, it came down to 99 and the wait to be admitted was ridiculous so we brought him home and just took him to his doctor today. When he has Tylenol in his system you'd think I was lying about the ER visit, but every six hours he because hot, red, lethargic, and fussy. We aren't sure what's going on, but we are just suppose to watch him for the next few days to see if he's just fighting something off right now. Hopefully he's just trying to compete with his little brother on who can stay at a hospital the longest.

Levi also tried to scare everyone Sunday night when he extubated himself, which basically means he moved in such a way as to remove his own ventilator (I don't blame him, it doesn't look enjoyable). After re-intubating him, the doctors wanted him to rest, understandably.  His heart murmur was louder on Monday because of his PDA (that hole in his heart), so they are treating him with ibuprofen (don't ask me how that works), and explained that this is probably why he's struggling to get off of the ventilator. After three days of ibuprofen, they will do another echo and look to see if the PDA has closed any, which will tell them the next steps with the ventilator.
We learned that the brain scan came back good! Praise GOD! They found no significant bleeding or hemorrhage; however, there some medical jargon about the right side of his brain looking bigger than the left (probably because he'll be like his momma- English side), and there could have been a tiny bleed or some extra brain fluid movement or something, which just means they want to triple check and do another ultrasound on his brain next week.

All is all, we feel peace for Levi's care. One doctor said it best, babies at this age can only focus on one thing at a time. Usually they are either really good at eating or really good at breathing. Apparently Levi is like his daddy because they keep telling me he's a great eater!

Praising God for
~the ability to love two children that we have been gifted
~Levi's good brain scan
~Matthew and I staying healthy and my quick healing
~the outpouring of love by so many in our lives

Praying to God for
~Levi's PDA to close so he can try to get off the vent
~Silas' illness to vanish
~Continued rest/peace for Matthew and I as we try to stay close to each other and the Lord during this marathon

Love you all!

~Calloused Buster