11 weeks!

11 weeks! Can you believe he's already 11 weeks old?!? That means 11 weeks of trying to handle two kids under two with one at home and one in the hospital... 11 weeks of less time with John and Emerson... 11 weeks of Malachi being in critical condition... 11 weeks of doctors not fully understanding what's wrong with my baby... 11 weeks of the stressful NICU environment... 11 weeks of developing relationships with other hurting NICU moms... 11 weeks I've been given to spend after day with my baby... 11 weeks of seeing his heart beating outside my protective womb (though not always as consistent as we would like. 11 weeks of God displaying His greatness in a very REAL way... 11 weeks.

Overall, a good day. Malachi is still being weaned off some of his post-op meds. There are obviously still heart issues that need to be addressed. His rate has been ALL OVER the place today. He was at a rate of about 60 for two straight hours early today, and then later it was bouncing all over the place from 70 to 110, and then 120s-130s as he got really mad. Cardiology will have their work cut out for them, that's for sure.

There is talk about extubating him when we get the okay from cardiology. Now that he is receiving adequate pulmonary blood flow, that's one less thing for his body to have to fight and give us a more "real" picture of how he handles his crazy secretions. We will cross that bridge when he allows us to get that far. BUT, it's looking like it might be sooner rather than later.

So, Malachi is in BETTER shape, but he is by no means a happy camper. This was the best awake video clip I was able to capture today. Keep praying... he still has a LONG road ahead!