March 17, 2009

Wow, the last few days have been a wild ride. I never knew I could go from being hopeless to walking on the clouds back and forth so many times. The good news is Benjamin is currently doing good, but in case word didn't make it to you, here is what happened the past couple days. On Saturday afternoon he was moved back to the ventilator and later they found that there was air in his tummy and that there was likely a hole in his intestines. Emergency surgery was performed late that evening. As we waited during the surgery, the most amazing thing happened. People just started showing up, totally unsolicited, just to be with us and pray with us. With each person that entered the waiting room, I cried a fresh batch of tears and soon we had a whole roomful. We have never felt so loved. The surgery went pretty good, but had some complications and Benjamin ended up getting pretty sick. Sunday was filled with lots of scares and some pretty difficult discussions with doctors. We also found that his PDA (vessel near his heart) was not closed as it should be and therefore he would likely need another surgery. They let him rest Monday, and he had a pretty good day, and today he had his PDA operation. Praise God, he came through the surgery with no complications, and is currently doing well. They expect him to get sick later tonight and tomorrow, but we are praying that he stands strong. We are also praying that he has no more complications, as his little body can't take much more. He has more tubes coming out of him than you can imagine. But he is a fighter...and is battling a tough battle. We have been blessed with the peace that has passed all understanding and surrounded by so many amazing people who have poured out love, generosity, prayers, and kindness. This is by far the most difficult thing that we have ever gone through, but we are seeing some amazing things come out of it.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers. They mean more to us than you will ever know. We will continue to send updates as we can. If you have called/emailed, we thank you for reaching out to us. We're not ignoring you...I just haven't gotten to your messages yet, but will soon!

Jamie