For Ayden's Army- Surgery & Updates

I’ll start with the information that you all probably most want to know about: surgery. Ayden has been bumped from today’s surgery schedule. He has been placed second for Thursday’s schedule. I have mixed emotions about this for a variety of reasons.

I will first tell you that Ayden may have had an infection earlier in the week. They took a culture that showed some growth. However, he has been on antibiotics for days now, so they seemed not too terribly concerned about it. Of course, one does not want a major surgery to occur if the baby already has an infection, so we were a little edgy about that. Bryan and I assisted the nurse in a catheterization yesterday to get a urine sample for another culture. That was quite the experience for Bryan and me. Bryan might have turned a few shades of purple, and in the end, we all got peed on. Who could blame Ayden?!?! Those results for the culture will probably not come back until tomorrow, but, like I said, the doctors do not seem at all worried about the infection continuing to be an issue.

One of the things that has been bothering me has been the timing of the surgery. For months we were told that the first surgery needed to occur within 2-5 days of birth. Here we are at day 7, and Ayden still has not had surgery. I told the doctor and nurse that, while I trusted their expertise, I was curious as to why the discrepancy existed. While I still haven’t gotten an answer to my question (they said that they would get one for me), I know that they would take him into surgery if the situation warranted. The bonus to his waiting is that they must feel he is stable enough for the wait. And wait we will. God is teaching me a lot about patience and trust.

In preparation for the possible surgery, Kandy, Ayden’s day nurse for two days now, asked me if she and I could pray. Kandy placed my hand on Ayden’s chest, and then she placed her hand on mine. She prayed over the baby, and in this really sweet moment, I felt so much joy in hearing her lift her voice for our son. I was reminded of God’s providence in providing all of the right people in our son’s life, and she is certainly among them.

Shortly following Kandy’s prayer, Ayden was prayed over yet again by Jim and Jonathan from our church, Grace Chapel. Bryan, Jim, Jonathan, Kandy, and I joined hands around Ayden, and heaven’s doors were knocked on once more for our sweet baby. I know that Ayden has an army (“Ayden’s Army,” as my daddy calls them) of prayer soldiers crying out to our Mighty God, and I want you to know that your prayers provide so much assurance and peace for our family.

Some quick updates on Ayden: His IV lines in his arms were leaking, so they put one in his head. I am actually glad for this because it means that his arms are a bit more free to move. Plus, those bruises can heal. This morning Ayden’s lungs sounded better. His skin coloring is also better. He was looking a little yellow, but his peachy color is returning. The nurses have Ayden sedated, but he can hear our voices and feel our touch; he responds to both, just as he did in the womb. He especially responds to his daddy. They used to have to give him an additional sedation to do his care, but he no longer requires that. He has been a lot more cooperative, and the nurses and I can do things like change his diaper without him getting all agitated. We are happy about all of this progress. Something that you can pray for is that Ayden’s oxygen levels to his head have been a bit low, so we would like to see those climb a bit. Of course, please continue to pray about surgery.

As with most babies, there is much speculation over who Ayden “looks like.” The consensus seems to be that Ayden looks like his daddy, which is fine with me since I think Bryan is quite handsome. I’ll admit that I don’t see the resemblance, not to Bryan or to me. I WILL say that I have totally fallen in love with his little nose. He’s too cute.

I have been reading to Ayden at night, and yesterday my mama read to Ayden. She totally made me laugh during the entire process, as she adds commentary along the way. Bryan took video of her reading (Shh! Don’t tell her!), but I won’t embarrass her by posting the video. Here are pictures instead.