The Story of Isaac, part 3

Thursday May 27^th, 2004 continued...

Several cell phones are calling different churches, Prayer chains explode.

I am sent back to our delivery room. Only thing delivered there were ice chips and later on some bad jello. Friends had decorated the room with pineapples, dvds to watch on a computer, and about 25 handmade get-well cards from an elementary school class our friend teaches, innocent care is sweet. Half-hour later Chris is rolled into the room with a drain in her side, nurses in tow Shes asleep.

Grace.

Chris needs quiet. A doc pops in to invite me to come down and visit Isaac for the first time. He made it out of the O.R. They were able to stabilize him, making him one of the three-fourths who so pass the first test. Walk up to yet another door which Ive yet to pass through, Isaac is on the other side. Hit the bell, the door clicks and I'm allowed into a small white lobby with a windowed desk. More security than any bank Ive been in. Sign here, name, date, relationship to patient. Parent sticker, scrubdown, walk through the next door backwards so as to touch nothing... I know nothing of what I'm about to see. A nursery, full of horrifically sick babies, some only two or three pounds, monitor bells and wires and nurses everywhere. Isaac is stable, and weighs in at 675 grams... 1.5 lbs, hes one of the smallest there.

Emotions dont even register. Grace. Shock? Not yet. Just peace and grace. Tears? Not yet. Just awe. Our great physician is taking care of more than I realize. In the middle of this storm, I cannot see reality as it is, I later learn, I don't need to, but God's fingerprints are everywhere.

Surfactant. Its the stuff in soap that makes it slippery. Turns out its the stuff that keeps our lungs from drying out, sticking, and collapsing. Isaacs little frame wont make any for a while, so the docs give him some artificially while the nurses hold their breath.

Im told, You cannot touch him. His skin is too immature. Hes so small, I didn't even think to. A nurse explains, Hes too small Pressure gives rise to a thousand questions, more stats give little comfort... One doc sets the tone for me, If he makes it through the summer, hell likely have no less than 3 infections during his stay here, so its something to get used to now. At least he isnt screwing with my head, giving me hope and all. for an incubator, it would only get in the way... if something happens at this stage, they need to get to him quickly.

He wont be out of the woods until September. If were lucky, he might come home sometime in October. Next week he was supposed to begin the third trimester in the womb. Bones and skin, arms smaller than my fingers, hands smaller than my thumb

They say, The first 24 hours will be telling.