The Big "B"

Well today Becky started her vacation early. After a morning of pictures from the MRI, Becky had her appointment with her Doctor. We discovered that her being exceptionally tired the past week and finally suffering through a tougher than normal night of sleep (the previous night) this was Becky's pregnancy moving in another direction. Dr. Lo confirmed that Becky's blood pressure was too high and she needed to reduce her activities. The exact terminology being "modified bed rest".

What does "modified" mean in this situation? Well let me tell you I envisioned Becky unable to leave her bed and needing ropes tied from the bed to the bathroom door that she would use to pull herself as she crawls on the floor. Thoughts of all of that rope I had saved up in the garage finally having a usage danced in my head. My "MacGyver" instincts soaring high at this point, the Doctor turned to me and said "she will just need to stay in bed, limit her activity to within the house, and to lite duty". What? No rope? No training Haven our dog to bring her nourishment. Well I guess that fine for now, but I will keep that rope handy and Haven is learning how to use her dew claws as opposable thumbs.

The MRI pictures were not too clear, as JJ let us know that he did not agree with the loud banging noise from the MRI and thus was unwilling to remain still for the pictures. The Radiologist was able to get enough resolution on the pictures to get the measurements needed. The lung growth on the right hand side has continued but the left hand side is still not showing to be present. Our only hope is that at birth some form of lung will inflate from an extreme flattened state allowing him to have 2 functioning lungs. All in all the news was the same, no real change. However we did have a plus as no new complications are forming and no signs of stress on him was present. So I guess you could say we are still in the same boat with the same hole, just now we have a dixie cup to start bailing with.

Ok here is the big announcement . . . We have talked to the Children's Medical Center and to Carter Blood Center. Because of the amount of blood JJ will need on ECMO we are making arrangements that you can donate at your local blood bank and they will credit this to JJ's account. Whether JJ survives or not we know that blood provides the basis for so many people in the hospital. It really is an easy thing to give and only costs you a few minutes of your time. I have contacted some of my co-workers at work and have asked if they could help us in arranging this effort and getting the message out. According to our arrangement with Carter Blood Center, once JJ is admitted into Children's the donations can begin. I hope to have flyer's posted and a notice on this blog when this will begin. Please check back for finalized details on this.

Since Children's is providing us internet access, while we are waiting for the stabilization of JJ in the ICU I will be making posts to the blog during this time period. I will update you on how Becky is doing, how everything is proceeding with JJ, and how the rest of the family is doing. This will give me something to do while I am anxiously waiting in the waiting room. I will post something next week as Becky has a follow up with Dr. Lo and the score of my hockey games.