Hey Guys,
There have been some major developments. Mandy is doing well. She is up to 9.6 pounds now. Praise God! She is growing closer to being able to be discharged.
One very cool thing happened last night. Mandy was crying, and none of the usual things were wrong. Her diaper wasn’t wet, she did not need suctioning and it wasn’t time for her feeding. I picked her up and held her for a while. She stopped crying and calmed down. It was so cool and a bit surreal at the same time. I started to remember the first couple of months of her life. She was on a ventilator from about a week after she was born in late December until the Tracheotomy was done, which was in late February. During this time she was sedated, and we were not able to pick her up or play with her or care for her in any way. The nurses did everything, because of the mass of monitoring equipment, leads, IVs etc that were in place.
We are entering a new phase in our training. We are now staying at the hospital with Mandy, learning how to take care of her full time. Our plan is to stay for a full 3 weeks. So far I have learned how to do her feeds, prepare and administer her medication, and work to perfect my suctioning technique, along with Trach ties and trach replacement. Teresa has been learning how to dress Mandy, and change her diaper. This has been a bit of a challenge for her not being able to see.
One extremely cool thing to report is that we now have a whole new support team that is helping us with advocacy, resources, and more. This is one facet of help that we have not had up to this point. Arizona has a ton of resources that we were made aware of initially. Teresa and I are confident that we will be able to take care of Mandy.
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Prov 22:6 (NAS)
But we are not out of the woods yet. Please continue to pray for us for discernment, wisdom and the Lord’s will in our situation. I know that he will carry us through.
Love in Christ
Michael and Teresa Blaes
PS. Teresa and I would like to thank those who have contributed. We could not have gotten this far without your help. Things are a bit crazy right now, and finances are stretched thin. But we know that God always comes through for us. If you would like to donate, you can use the button on the side to do so.
PSS. Please share your thoughts and prayers by clicking the comments link below. They are very encouraging to us.
PSSS. We are working on a new video, and should have it posted shortly, and I did not use my cell phone this time. 🙂
I was listening to the daily audio bible and heard you on there. So came here to read mandys story. I don’t know what happen to Mandy. I don’t know why Theresa can’t see. But I read her Blog and she said she was watching you. With Mandy. ??? How can she watch? I am praying for the health of your child and your strength perseverance. Please help me understnd this confusion.god bless, Lara
I, too am part of the Daily Audio Bible community and heard your prayer request. I am praying for you, and like Lara, please fill us in on some of the preliminary details.
Our family has walked through some similar rough waters, so I know too much of what you are going through with ‘boot camp’…but it is worth it. Going home is the best.
I will be praying that the Lord will continue to be your strength and that He will hold you all close in His loving arms.
Bonnie