"Day"

So you're probably thinking what kind of title is "day?"  Good Day?  Bad Day? It's daytime now? Actually its none of those.  Yesterday was the roughest day that we have had.  Patrick was tired from being off of the ventilator so there wasn't much interest in eating, walking, or coughing.  He was wheezing a good bit and requiring nebulizer treatments.  He did want to drink, which would have been a good thing, except he was overloaded with fluid and they were limiting the amount he could drink.  Top that off with a full-on Defcon 5 tantrum brought on by one of his medications.  Needless to say Lauren and I were whipped.   Fortunately he wore himself out with the tantrum and rested well for a while.  Also God made diuretics so the fluid overload could be handled.  We spoke with our surgeon and cardiologist, and neither were concerned that any of this was a huge setback.  After all is was only post op day3, and he had progressed very rapidly to this point.  As it wore on to night, things were finally looking better.  Patrick woke up more peaceful, and his respiratory status seemed to be improving.  We moved to a different location in the ICU that was a little quieter than our previous room, and Patrick has slept well overnight.  I feel certain that today we will be moved to a regular room and hopefully have a few more tubes and lines removed.

So that still doesn't explain the title yet.  Well since we have been in Boston Patrick has shortened my name from Daddy to "Day."  Over the weekend as we explored the city a little, I bet we heard "Mommy and Day" a thousand times. We laughed because if he didn't have something new to say he would just say the same thing over and over and over, always prefaced by "Mommy and Day."  After 1 whole day in surgery and another day on the ventilator, Patrick's voice has been scratchy and very hoarse, so we haven't yet heard his sweet voice.  But last night, or better yet very early this morning, I heard from his bed, "Day."  When I checked on him I saw that his face was not swollen at all and he looked like our little boy again.  It was definitely a gift from God and a great thing after yesterday.  I know there are families who have waited months to hear the voice of their babies, and some who never get to hear it again, which honestly just makes me more thankful to have heard that little "Day."  It's just more proof that God is with us through the easy times and even more so in the difficult ones.

 As God promised Israel through Isaiah:

"fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
                                        Isaiah 41:10