Day of Life #14

Day 14, 2 weeks old, another Monday that doesn't go our way. Nephrologist today has seen enough, he wants to start dialysis today. Not the thing we wanted to hear today. They have taken an x-ray to see if the drain that was installed last Monday will be suitable as the catheter for dialysis, otherwise they will have to install another one, which means another surgery. Its kind of numbing to hear that your fourteen day old infant is going to be on dialysis. Where do we go from here? It's not like it helps heal the kidney, it just performs the function of it to give it more time to heal. Maddie's blood pressure is still high, they've cut back on the steroid they are giving her, they will cut it back again tomorrow. The doctor said they are going to monitor her BP closely and at some point they will give her medication for it if it doesn't start to decline soon. Doctor also said if dialysis starts off okay, they may start 'priming her stomach' with very tiny amounts of mother's milk.

Rachael and I are doing our best to think positively, continue prayers, and remember to be thankful for all the help that people have given us. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their prayers, we'd like to thank those who've helped us care for our dog and house, we'd like to thank all of those who've brought us food, and given us comfort. We'd like to thank those who've sent us flowers and those who've donated funds to cover parts of our stay at the Ronald McDonald House and also those who donated to us through link that our friend Nikki set up for us, thank you for all the stories of hope and encouragement that many of you shared with us from your own lives, thanks to those of you who have helped take care of our house, our lawn, our garden, picked up mail for us, cleaned out our refrigerator, brought us clothes/items/mail from home, thanks for all the gifts for Maddie, for all the churches with prayer chains for us, for the prayers from those of you we don't know/have not met. Thank you for everything-

Most importantly thank God for his hand in all this. We can't help but think that in some way this experience may be serving a bigger purpose in being able to share God's love with everyone. No matter how bad things get, we have faith that God has a purpose and plan for us and that He would never leave or forsake us. Even if He took her away from us, which we hope and pray is not the case, we would find a way to pull through knowing He is in control and is taking care of us. His love for us all is so great and we hope that everyone reading the blog would see that too. Thank you God for each day you give us with our darling Maddie.

Please keep up the prayers for Maddie and us- and also for all the families here, there are many who are suffering and have been going through this longer than us even. We would like to see healing for all of those families. They are all in our hearts .