December 25, 2014 "Day 2 of life"

Today is Christmas Day. We are so very thankful for Jesus, God's precious gift to the world, and can't help but think that Rayden is somehow a Christmas miracle as well. Today he has lost a little weight. He's down to 6 lbs. 0.5 oz. His head circumference has gone down also, 38 cm. He seems to be in pain because he cries out with the most pitiful face anyone has ever seen. The nurse said he must have a headache from the surgery and gave him some tylenol. The doctor didn't seem to like that and switched him to fentanyl for pain instead. They said they thought it was intracraneal pressure causing the pain. The nurse had to put in a gavage feeding tube. Before she could get it taped down Rayden had pulled it out!! He didn't like that thing at all! She had to do it again, so this time I held his hands until she was finished. He coughed and sneezed while she put it up his nose. The bandage on his head came off so we could see the stitches real well. He had a shaven spot over his right ear with a c shaped incision. It seemed to look great. The shunt looked like a pinky finger under his skin. I pray it works well, he is out of pain, and continues to heal nicely.

The nurse helped me get Rayden's footprint in his baby book. He had a bandage on the other one from the heal sticks for jaundice, etc. When she removed the bandage it kept bleeding and bleeding so we couldn't get the other footprint today. Besides, his little hand is still bandaged up and we couldn't get his hand prints anyway. Justin and Alex came to spend Christmas with us. Although we couldn't all be in the same room, having all my family in one place just made the day seem so special. Michael and the boys gave me the most beautiful earrings with Rayden's birthstone in them (blue topaz). I love them. I was able to hold Rayden on a pillow again today. What a great Christmas present.

Unfortunately he has started having poopy diapers. I changed three today myself! I know this is part of his Spina Bifida but I'm praying this doesn't last. At 11:00 pm the nurse did his care time again. He had lost weight again, 6 lbs. 0 oz. His head circumference had gone down another cm as well, 37cm. We are so thankful that it is going down so well. It seems like the shunt is working wonderfully. We pray that it continues to improve his head size and drain the fluid off at the correct speed. The last thing we want is for his skull plates to overlap. To end this day we had a visit from some dear friends, the Core family. It really touched our hearts that they were willing to take time out of their holiday to visit with us. Most people wouldn't dare drive 1 1/2 hours to a hospital on Christmas Day, but this family did and it meant the world to us.