Home 4 Christmas?

"Will Noah be home for Christmas?" is a common question around our house right now. "We don't know," is the familiar, and frustrating answer. Our sweet baby is still in the hospital, and we really don't have the answers yet to explain why we are here. It started as dehydration from vomiting, which came on suddenly on Friday night. Now we are trying to figure out why his bowels aren't moving gas or any of the other things they should be moving (OK, I guess there is just ONE other thing).

What we are learning about him is that his extreme prematurity, and subsequent long hospitalization, make everything more complicated. His tiny veins have been used so many times for IVs, etc, that they just don't work that well for access anymore. It is extremely difficult to get an IV in him, and once he was dehydrated it became impossible. They had to go right in the bone on his leg.....we hadn't ever heard of that before (and weren't real thrilled to hear about it at all). It saved his life because he was really starting to take a turn for the worst quickly. The ER doc said he wasn't worried when we came in, but two hours later they were all very worried. Poor guy was so lethargic that he didn't even cry through all of it, but his heartrate told the tale when it was beating at over 200 times per minute. It HURT!!

By God's wisdom and grace we are at one of the top 3 children's hospitals in the country, and they are actually ranked #1 for gastric issues, so we are hopeful that the real cause will be found soon. He is no longer in pain, but he is unable to eat until we figure out why things aren't moving through his system. Everything he is getting now is through the special line that they put into his inner arm.

They ruled out an obstruction in his colon and now we wait for the barium to all be gone from that study and move on to an upper GI to make sure there isn't a blockage in the small intestine. This could be tomorrow, or the next day. An x-ray in the morning will tell us if the barium is all gone. His medical records from Florida paint a very incomplete picture of his first 8 months of life, so it is like starting from scratch in many regards.

So, it is highly unlikely that he will spend his first Christmas as a Williams at home. We are sad, but hopeful that this will be good in the long run and give us some answers about what is going on in that belly of his.

We appreciate your prayers -- they encourage and strengthen us to keep advocating for our boy -- anyone who has had a child in the hospital knows that this can be a very draining experience. Our love for him only grows deeper, and we are so grateful that God has allowed us on this journey with Noah.

Blessings to you all this Christmas!!