Extubation... REALLY??

This post will probably sound more like a ramble. I am so giddy right now that I'll probably make very little sense... but I will try. :)

The boys have in the past two weeks made little to no headway on their vents. Grant has been intubated now for 3 weeks. Each week, his vent settings have either stayed the same or gone up. Though they've tried to challenge Grant to work towards getting him extubated, he's made no progress. Bryce was moved from the oscillating ventilator back to the traditional vent but even he has made no headway in his o2 or pressure requirements. Yesterday it was decided that both would start a 10 day round of steroids to help give them the push they needed to get them off those ventilators. I talked to Jenni (the NP) as to what the plan was with the steroids. Best case scenario, the boys would be able to be extubated. They were just hoping that it would at least make a little headway with lowering their vent settings. I began praying and believing that the boys would not just make a little headway but respond better than they expected with the steroids on board. Can I just say that our God is a good God?!

Last night I was so frustrated by the numbers I saw on the boys' vents. The same pressure settings that Grant has had for nearly 2 weeks. Bryce's O2 setting were so high. I left with the understanding that there was that possibility that the steroids could take several days to work and that it didn't mean that they'd be extubated any time soon - just that they'd hopefully make some progress. When I called this morning, I spoke with Bryce's nurse first. Bryce had a breakthrough seizure earlier in the morning so they gave him a bolus of phenobarbital. He had a plug in his tracheal tubing so they made the decision to pull it and put in new tubing. Since then, his O2 and pressure requirements have gone down considerably. I could have done a happy dance right there in my laundry room! Next I talked to Grant's nurse. Grant was doing beautifully. His O2 and pressure requirements have gone down so much today that they are talking about extubation in the next 24 hours to siPAP. Grant being extubated?! He has been on the ventilator now for 23 days. In the past 2 weeks, he has made no headway at all. While Bryce was extubated just 24 hours after birth, Grant has not come close to it. Yet they are talking of extubating him because he's doing so well!! I am literally on cloud 9!! God is answering our prayers and the boys are doing SO well with the steroids that not even 24 hours after the first dose, they're talking about extubating one of them!!

I cannot tell you how light my heart is right now. After a solid week of bad report after bad report, God has poured out blessing after blessing! He has been answering our prayers from the very beginning but this week he has given us a double portion!! Grant's brain bleed is blessedly stable. His PDA - gone. Bryce was removed from the oscillating ventilator and his PDA (which, just a week ago, they were talking of performing surgery on) is GONE! And now both of my boys are making huge headway on the ventilators!! What a good God we serve!! I seriously cannot express the joy that I feel right now. There are still obstacles to overcome. There will still be those days... but we've made such marvelous progress. What a wonderful Christmas present from our Father!!!!

Please continue to pray with us that our boys keep moving forwards towards extubation! That is such a huge step for us! Thank you, Father, for hearing our cries and answering us in such an incredible way!! May YOU recieve all the glory and honor for how the boys are improving!!