Ooops! Just Kidding!

We've had some major setbacks this week. Turns out that Bryant does have MRSA, the dreaded antibiotic-resistant staph infection. (Praise God, he still seems to be healing with his current cocktail of medications). We thought this would prevent us from bringing Ben home, but Ben's doc consulted with an epidemiologist and decided that Ben might just as likely catch an infection in the hospital and might as well come home.

So we were told that we would bring him home yesterday or today. We spent the past few days rushing about getting everything ready and disinfecting the entire house. On Monday, Ben's doc ran a few more tests just to make sure that everything was OK before sending him home. The results of one test were a little suspect--he had 65 episodes of low blood oxygen levels within an eight-hour period--so a pulmonologist was brought in for a consult. In the meantime, Ben's doc happened to be standing right next to him when he had a bradycardia episode (his heart rate dropped by half). I've seen this happen several times a day in recent weeks, but Ben's nurses never charted the episodes, saying that they weren't severe enough to be significant. Anyway, Ben's doc decided that, cosidering all of this, she was not comfortable sending him home.

The pulmonologist visited Ben again today, and she has recommended one of two options:
1. Ben can come home soon on supplementary oxygen and monitors that record his breathing and heart rate, or
2. Ben can stay in the hospital until he outgrows all of this.

Please pray that we'll make the best decision for Ben's health and safety! We want him to be safe, of course, but we're concerned that lying in a crib all day with so little personal interaction can't be good for his mental stimulation and development.

As you can imagine, we were heartbroken that we couldn't bring Ben home today. This was the first day that both of us felt downtrodden in all of this. Please pray for our continued stamina, peace, and wisdom.

The good news is that Ben is growing like a weed! He gained two ounces yesterday and now weighs 5 lbs. 8 oz.!

Thanks for your prayers!