September 12th

Nothing but good news today! Everything is looking good, and he is improving quickly. God is so good and the power of prayer is truly awesome!

We walked into his room this morning to discover they had removed some mattresses to lower his bed a little (he had been raised rather high because it helps with the blood flow through the ECMO, but that wasn't necessary anymore). They had also changed his sheets and blankets which are now covered in Hawkeye logos. For those of you who don't know, the Hawkeye's are the U of I football team and being a fan of them is practically a religion for this side of the state of Iowa. And considering we are in the U of I hospital and can see the stadium from Elijah's hospital room, it is a big deal...

So we spent our day wandering back and forth between Elijah's room and the waiting room. We've been spending most of our time on the couches there, using the computer, reading, doing crossword puzzles, etc... Today however we had a little excitement with the Hawkeye game on in the morning. It was funny how when the game came on all the families gathered together in the lounge to watch it and everything seemed to be normal for a little while...

The days are seeming to go by a lot slower lately. The first few days we were in the hospital were so hectic we had a hard time keeping our heads on. But now that we are in the waiting period we have been getting a little restless. We are just so anxious for Elijah to be able to wake up and respond to us. We miss him so badly, there aren't even words.

Like I said, things are continuing to improve. They lowered his ventilator today and he did great with that. They will probably lower it a little more tomorrow and see how he does. He's real close to being at the point where they can switch to the smaller ventilator. It sounds like that may be possible tomorrow or the next day, but we will see. Then I'm not sure how long he will be on that ventilator. Once he's off them altogether he will need to be in the PICU for 24 hours after that, and then he will be moved down to the regular pediatric unit.

Your prayers are making all the difference. His improvement is phenomenal. No one who saw him 5 days ago would have guessed that he would be where he is today. God is healing him miraculously fast and we are so thrilled and so grateful. Please keep praying!