One Week Birthday! :)

Jack has been with us now for one week - amazing when we consider how 6 days ago we thought he was not going make it through his first weekend. But he continues to fight like a real little trooper. We had a little party with brownies and Chick-Fil-A in the hospital cafeteria tonight and celebrated Jack's first week of life.

Good news for today: George told us at dinner that Jack is on track to produce two units of urine today. Two is the optimum number. At first, he was only producing .03 and has gradually worked his way up. This is great news for his kidneys!! Unfortunately, his liver is not following suit. Shannon said the "liver people" (I'm sure that's the technical term for them) were not happy with the condition of his liver currently and that it has been severely damaged. This is what's causing all the swelling in his little body and some bruising around his midsection. It is possible for his liver to fix itself as his kidneys have and the doctors are hoping this will be the case. We are all praying extra hard to see some improvements. Pray for his bilirubin numbers to go down, his liver enzymes to stabilize, the swelling to go down, and a decreased need for blood products.

Doctors are still waiting to see if his brain is damaged and how severely. We want to see him wake up soon! Tonight when I was with him, he wiggled a bit when I tickled his side and gripped my finger when I touched his hand. These were both very faint, not full-strength normal baby movements. But I was still happy to see him moving! It was great to have him grab my finger - the first time he's ever done that with me. Be praying that he will become more alert and that there is no brain damage!!

Other prayer requests are that he would be less dependent on his ventilator and that he would be able to receive more calories, fat and fluid (the swelling has to go down before they can increase his nutrition intake).

Thanks so much for all your prayers!! I'll try to get some more recent pictures of Jack soon!!