OK, let's see.

Greydon is still on the respirator (tubed) and probably will be for a little while. They've been having to keep upping his pressure even on the respirator, and there are a couple of possibilities for that, one is that he was just so tired when the respirator started doing it's job he just decided to let it do everything because he was pooped. They gave him morphine in case he was in pain, and verset to sedate him.

The other possibility goes along with some other stuff that is happening. He started getting a lot of goo in his nose (4ccs), eyes and mouth, he has started sending out all of his immature white blood cells instead of waiting for them to mature first, he has started getting an upset and distended tummy again, and his chest x-ray his still hazy, but now with some new concentrated patches of crud on his lungs... which means he has an infection, likely pneumonia.

They started him on 3 kinds of antibiotics right away, but they wont know until the 24hr cultures come back if it is bacterial or viral. If it is bacterial, there is no reason to wait, if it is viral they can only just let it take it's course.

His worsening breathing and increasing tiredness would go along with a growing infection.

They also started him on blood transfusions today. Too much CO2 in your blood messes with the ph level. The human body tries to balance that out and holds onto other stuff to equal out the ph,, but that stuff the body holds onto isn't really good for you either. Greydon has been balancing out his ph level, even though his breathing wasn't working... but to help get rid of that extra stuff, hemoglobin needs to carry the oxygen he is getting to everywhere it is supposed to go.. his hemoglobin numbers are low so they have him on a slow blood transfusion to help out with that.

Going on the respirator will give him a break, so that is good. The word pneumonia is a little scary and blood transfusion kind of blind sided me, and morphine sounds like 1927.

They aren't panicked, but they are concerned. They don't like question marks. They showed me his x-rays... it was a little too scientific at first seeing the entire insides of the little guy....

Uncle Mark and Aunt Lynn came down to see us today, which was great. Maxine dropped by the hospital to check on everybody which is very appreciated, even though it wasn't a time we could go up to see him, it was very kind.

the elder's quorum came and moved a couple things around that I couldn't lift by myself, which was very thoughtful.

There are just so many things to be thankful for. We have been blessed in so many ways, through family, friends and neighbors drawing closer to us, which I hope never changes, through talented and trained medical staff and the miracles of modern medicine, and most of all the tender hand of a loving father that has been hovering over us.

I have never better understood the phrase one day at a time. It is like each day is a little year all on it's own. We make new day resolutions in the morning, by noon we have reevaluated and by the time the December of the evening falls we can't believe the day is already over and how much happened in it, barely ready to face the January of the morning.

Back on the ventilator



We haven't seen the top half of his head for a while now...the cap that holds the c-pap on rubbed some of his hair off. Someday we'll get to see his whole face without masks, or hoods, or tape or tubes... and THEN we'll better be able to play the "he looks like" game.


He grew 3/4 inch taller than birth length today. He has also packed on 11 ounces and hit the 3 lb mark.. He might have to go back off feedings again, so his weight could drop a little.