Day 52

We've had a pretty good day today, which I think Holden deserved after the first part of his week. He was in a great mood and pretty much pain free for most of the night last night and this morning. My brother flew in from Virginia, and he and my mom stopped by here on the way home from the airport. Holden was in a great mood, smiling and being his cute charming self. He did well until lunchtime, when he suddenly started acting like he was in pain again. He's been sleeping off and on since then, so I hope he feels better! I was so happy to see him pain-free this morning, and I was glad that my family got to see him when he was in one of his better moods too.

He's weaning down on the pressures with his oxygen, and still doing really well. We're also going to try weaning some of the sedation, slooowly. He's on a lot of medication, and we'd like to trim the list if we can. His lipase count was up in the 800's this morning, not down like we wanted to see. But, that could be a delayed reaction from the past few days too... Let's just hope and pray that his pancreas starts healing soon so we can move on!

Even under the circumstances, I'm really excited about Christmas. Christmas has always been about my kids and family, and it still can be. That doesn't have to change just because we're having Christmas in a hospital, and it won't. I'll pick the girls up on Sunday, and they'll spend a week up here with us. It may not be the most fun they've ever had, but we'll all be together, and that's what matters. I'll have all three of my beautiful babies together, and I am more than grateful for that. I am thankful that the girls can be here with us, and I am thankful that Holden is still here to celebrate his first Christmas with us. We'll still celebrate this year, even here. :)

A few pictures...Bright eyes, reaching for the camera.

I can't dress him up in any Christmas outfits, and I couldn't find any baby Santa hats, so he got Christmas socks. Very exciting...

Sleeping with his teddy bear.

We call this his "bull face"... He scrunches up his nose and smiles. I love it. :)

Expecting something funny from Daddy.