September 11th

I know today is the 12th, but I never gave an update yesterday so I am just writing it a little bit late. That way if anything changes today I will update tonight as well.

So yesterday there weren't too many changes, his oxygen levels are remaining great. His CO2 output was a little high but they got that down and that has been totally fine since. His left leg was pretty swollen and they did an ultrasound to see if there were any clots, but they didn't find any in his leg except for a little one around the entry site for his arterial line, which is common. So they elevated his leg a little and that seemed to help. They also, later in the evening, put in a PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter)to replace the arterial line in his left leg. Basically it's a catheter they put in his thigh and threaded it up to his heart, so it's a more central placement. This kind of a line can be left in for up to a month and there is a decreased chance of clots.

They also mentioned once that his liver was enlarged and they were watching that. They said that can happen often due to the pressure of the ECMO and other things they have been doing. So they don't seem too concerned about that. I asked this morning and they didn't have any new information for me.

We still haven't heard the results of the viral tests, but we did miss the rounds this morning, so we are hoping they have the results and we will find out this afternoon. (Just asked and they don't have any results yet today.)

Last night I was in the room with Elijah while they were placing the PICC line. They had a hard time getting it to work and had to poke him many times. They were concerned that I wouldn't be able to handle it and I was just thinking that it was nothing compared to watching the doctors desperately trying to get air in his lungs...

Also he was twitching quite a bit last night as his paralytics were wearing down a little bit. It was so precious to see his little toes wiggling. And then while I was holding his hand he would wiggle it every now and then. It was just great to be able to feel him move and know that he's doing ok in there. I am so excited for him to be awake again! They said that as he progresses they may be able to let him wake up a little, which means he will be able to open his eyes and look at us. That is fantastic! It's possible he won't be able to handle that and may resist the breathing tube, so they will have to see how it goes.

I think that's about all that's new for now. If anything happens today I will update later. But as I've said before, we are in a waiting period right now so we don't expect a lot of changes for a while now. But please, please, please keep Elijah in your prayers. We've been seeing miracles and we are still hoping for more. Your prayers have made all the difference, keep them coming!