Such a great day!

Today was full of highlights for Mr. Holden. Amy Engram picked me up this morning and drove me to the hospital. As soon as we walked in we saw Holden's warming unit surrounded by nurses and the neonatologist. A sweet nurse saw my big eyes and quickly assured me that Holden was fine. They were removing his central line and everyone just wanted to watch. She said, "We don't see that type of catheter very often so we all wanted to see it come out!" Holden was crying, but it was sweet to my ears. Once they had applied pressure and made sure that the bleeding stopped, they asked if I wanted to hold him. DO I WANT TO HOLD HIM? OF COURSE I DO! So for the first time I got to hold my little boy and I gave him his bottle. It was awesome. Amy held him too!


We left to go get lunch and then Amy dropped me back off at Cox South. At 1:15 Holden had his first bath. The nurse did it, but I was there to watch. It must have felt so good to have his head scrubbed and his body washed. Then they put him in clothes - another first!


Shortly after lunch I had a visit from a wonderful friend Chrissy Martin and her little girl Kaylee. It was so good for my heart to talk to her and to get to share more of the amazing details of Holden's journey. We both acknowledged how good God has been. I told her that I feel so undeserving of all the goodness that God has lavished on our family lately. From Holden's progress in the NICU to the love and prayers of so many friends, we feel richly blessed.

Todd joined me at the hospital about 3:30. We visited Holden for just a few minutes and then checked in at the Ronald McDonald House. I was exhausted. I needed to sleep so Todd went back to the hospital to be with Holden for his 4:30 feeding.

After dinner we returned to the NICU about 7:15. This was a major milestone...the nurses let me nurse Holden for the first time! He did a pretty good job. He would suck for a bit and then have to pause to breathe. He will surely need more practice, but for his first time he was a champ. I was thankful! I can't believe how many great things took place today and that I was there for all of them.

A couple of things to be praying for include: Holden's oxygen saturation - it was low so they had an oxygen tube in his nose all day. Also, he is having trouble maintaining his body temperature at the level that they want it. It needs to be about 97.8 for them to move him into a crib.

One more interesting fact. Holden's nurse tonight was a sweet lady named Cheryl. I hadn't met her before but she was at Holden's birth. She told us many more details of the night that Holden was born and to be honest, it freaked me out. I am positive that God saved Holden's life and mine too. We are so thankful for God's mercy and for the talented doctors and nurses who were there that night. I'll share just a couple of things that she said. One thing that she remembers is the doctor repeating, "I can't find the baby, I can't find the baby!" She told us that she was on the NRRT team that resuscitated Holden. Once he came out; baby, umbilical cord and placenta all still connected, they immediately started chest compressions with mouth to mouth. It didn't work so they intubated him, gave him epinephrine and resumed chest compressions and then he responded.

Thank you for reading these posts! Thank you for staying connected to us through texts, phone calls, facebook messages, cards, etc! Thank you for providing meals! Thank you for helping with our kids! Thank you for your continuous prayers! Thank you for supporting us during this time! We are so appreciative. We are hopeful that Holden will get to come home soon, but will wait patiently for him to meet all the requirements he needs to in order to leave the NICU. We love you all!