Thursday Night's Update--Today is David's Due Date!

Big Yawn
Sweet Sleeper
Oooooooh, Hydrotherapy!
******
7:40 p.m. Thursday

David's doing wonderfully well. Last night (Wednesday) he was up to 7 lbs 1.9 oz. and as of tonight (Thursday--his due date!), he weighs 7 lbs 5.3 oz. He measures over 20 inches long.

He passed his hearing screening (praise God), and he's doing beautifully on room air (double praise).

Tonight he had a carseat trial tonight for 45 minutes, which is as long as it takes to go from the hospital to home. They checked his stats continually to make sure he didn't have any problems. He did fine. He was sound asleep in his carseat during the trial. (Susan is thankful because she has been praying he will like his carseat and be a traveler!)

Susan and John have to watch a CPR video tomorrow night. They're also going to be spending tomorrow night rooming in at the hospital with David--without monitors. If everything goes as well as expected, they'll be bringing him home on Saturday afternoon, which is less than 48 hours away! WOO HOO!!!

Since David will need prayer coverage during his hernia surgery, we'll be keeping the blog up until then so you'll know when and how to pray. When he goes back in for the surgery, he'll need to be reintubated and put back on the ventilator. With preemies, they always worry about how they'll come back off of the ventilator, so we'll definitely need to cover him in prayer.

Susan said he's so amazing. Nurse after nurse and respiratory therapist after respiratory therapist has commented on how beautifully his head is shaped. They don't think David looks like a preemie. They've said that if she were out grocery shopping, they would never guess that he was born prematurely. That's because our God is amazing!

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Be sure to check out the new pictures of David on the blog. He looks so big!

Or if you're having trouble seeing them, you can go straight to the web album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/herroyalexcitedness/DavidPics6

Keep praying through the weekend, prayer warriors!

***

If you'd like to make a meal for Susan and John once they're back at home, e-mail me at loritoddis@yahoo.com, and I'll get you on the calendar.

Tuesday's Update on Thursday

"I love hydrotherapy!" David reaching for Mommy's hands

I finally sat down to check my e-mail tonight at around 11:00 p.m. As I was getting up to find my phone so I could post David's most recent update, I was thinking, Susan's probably wondering what's going on with me. She called yesterday with two updates, and I still have yet to post them. When I picked up my phone, I had a text from Susan saying she was worried about me. I love that girl. :0) We've had a lot of activity and a little drama around here recently. My kitchen is freshly painted a deep red thanks to my fabulous sister Heather and my son's mouth is sporting a deep red hue thanks to a pretty serious climbing incident. I actually had to take him on an emergency trip to the dentist this morning. Praise God, his tooth is not damaged, and his gums and bottom lip are already on the mend. I thought about little David on the way home from the dentist's office. I wonder how Susan and John will do when he starts running and jumping and climbing and falling down . . . Judah told me yesterday that he's supposed to get hurt because he's a boy. Oh, boy is he a boy.

Speaking of boys, I'm sure you weren't expecting a Judah update, so now for the latest on our little David. (Sorry this is getting out so late, Susan! This is precisely why I don't have a paid gig at the moment.)

David is getting closer and closer to coming home. They've got him down, as of this morning, to 25% and .1 liters. 21% is room air. They're working on weaning him down to room air today. Susan's big prayer is that once he gets there, his lungs won't get tired out and he can stay there.

He's doing really well on his feedings.

Last night he hit 7 lbs., .5 oz.

They talked to the urologist at Vanderbilt and decided not to do the hernia surgery before he comes home. They're planning to take him back to do that and have him circumcised at the same time. They want his lungs to get a little older before he gets intubated and put on the ventilator again for surgery.

Big prayer focus:

• pray he can stay on room air once he gets there
• pray that his lungs are strong enough
• pray he doesn't get tired out
• pray for no complications before his hernia surgery

In more recent news . . .

Susan says, "Officially, as of 3:15 this afternoon, my son is off oxygen; he's on room air. He's had two feedings (I gave him his 4:00 and Daddy gave him his 8:00) and he had massage therapy this afternoon, all of it not on oxygen." Woo Hoo!!!

Please pray that his lungs stay strong enough and don't get worn out, and pray that he's able to stay off oxygen. If he's on room air for 48 hrs, which will be Thursday afternoon, then we get to start talking about rooming in over the weekend and bringing David home on Sunday. That's the goal right now. We'll know more on Thursday.

And . . . because it's so late at night and it's taken me so long to get this posted, you're probably reading this on Thursday. Hopefully, we'll have another update today.

Sweet Baby David

David's doing really well. He keeps gaining weight, which is great. He weighed 6 lbs. 10.9 oz. as of Wednesday night. Please keep praying for him.

Susan and John were almost going to bring him home this weekend, but he still would have been on oxygen. The doctor came in on Wednesday and met with Susan, and he told her that he thinks they can slowly wean him off oxygen at the hospital in approximately two weeks (maybe as early as 7-10 days). He's now at 60% oxygen and 1 liter and doing really well.

Susan is thrilled at the prospect of David getting off oxygen at the hospital because they would have had to wean him off the oxygen so slowly at home. He could have been on it for as long as three months. That means three months of having tanks of oxygen and backup tanks of oxygen and portable tanks of oxygen and monitors and . . . a lot of unnecessary headache and stress. Please pray that David will be able to come off the oxygen over the next week and that he will be tube-free and home soon!

His bottles have been changed now to every four hours, and he's taking them six times a day. He's allowed to have as much as he wants. He's been taking anywhere from 60-85 ml at each feeding. At one feeding on Wednesday night, he took 110 ml. Susan says, "No wonder he's gaining weight!"

She asked us to pray that he would "come home strong and healthy and not on oxygen." She also wants us to "keep praying for his lungs."

Prayer Warriors, keep praying!

David's first bottle

Time to Pray!

David's oxygen had to be turned up again last night. He had a couple spells, and they say that if he has a spell where his stats all drop so that they have to touch him to get them to come back up (touch his cheek or something), then that's an automatic five more days in the NICU. Since his stats dropped last night, he will be there at least five more days.

The nurse last night kept turning up his oxygen and turned up his liters as well, so that he was eventually at 80% and .3 liters. The doctor (neo-natologist) said she didn't think he needed his liters turned up, so she turned them back down to .1, but his oxygen is all the way back up to 100%. He's doing great on that; however, if they really want him to come home in five days, he'll probably still be on oxygen. Susan still really wants him to be off the oxygen before he comes home. At the same time, she doesn't want to tax David's lungs, so we need to be in prayer that God will heal his lungs.

If David has any more spells between now and the end of the current five days, then another five days gets tacked on, which means the five days isn't a guarantee, but it's definitely something we can pray toward!

Also, please pray that Susan won't get the cold John is fighting. He's feeling better today, but he's still feeling congested in his chest and sinuses. Susan's throat is a little scratchy, but overall, she feels healthy.

We had the long-awaited baby shower last night, and as Susan said, "Last night was so wonderful and so overwhelmingly good." She was shocked and overwhelmed by the extravagant love that was poured out. David now has some wonderfully cozy clothes and blankets to be snuggled in, a place to sleep when he arrives, a fancy bathtub for his favorite activity, and a host of other baby-related items. When David comes home, Susan will have a comfortable rocker/glider and ottoman for plenty of cuddling and reading and maybe even a little snoozing. Many prayers were prayed, prophetic words were spoken, much food was consumed, and the entire evening was captured in writing and photos. Thank you to everyone who participated, making it such a rich experience.

And now for a picture of "Mommy's Twins":

The Release Approaches . . .

David now weighs 6 lbs 2.7 oz, which is only 3/10 of an ounce lighter than Susan was when she was born!

He moved to all bottle feedings as of yesterday. (GREAT news since he needs to be on all bottle feedings before he can come home.)

As far as his oxygen goes, they had him as low as 25% and .1 liters, but now he's back up to 40%. Susan is not really concerned because she doesn't want to push too fast. She said he could go home on the oxygen where it is now, but she would really prefer to bring him home not on oxygen at all.

Please pray that David will be completely weaned off the oxygen before he comes home--and that he comes home SOON!

Another prayer request:

John has a horrible cold. He went to the doctor today, and the doctor said it is just a cold, but Susan doesn't want it to turn into something else. They're praying Susan and little David don't get it, so please join them in praying protection for Susan and David and healing for John.

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that this is one of the last updates I'll be posting. David will get to go home soon and he will grow and change so fast. I'm sure Susan will still take a million pictures and document his growth and development, but the purpose of this blog is too quickly drawing to a close. I'm getting a little teary just thinking about it. It's been an honor and a privilege to have walked so closely with the precious Langagers. I have thoroughly enjoyed being the reporter and the sounder of the shofar*. Blessings to all of you prayer warriors. Thank you for responding to the call and praying for David and his mommy and daddy. What a beautiful testimony of God's love, provision, power, mercy, and grace.

*A shofar is "a ram's horn blown as a wind instrument, sounded in Biblical times chiefly to communicate signals in battle and announce certain religious occasions and in modern times chiefly at synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur."

Getting Closer . . .

They're actually talking about David's release from the hospital! As of Sunday, no one at the hospital was talking about it. Today is Wednesday, and the discussion has begun!

Susan says, "We're getting closer to bringing David home."

He's taking a bottle now for every other feeding, so four times a day he takes a bottle, and four times a day he's fed through his feeding tube (which is now going through his nose).

His oxygen on the canula has been changed. They turned it down starting today from 1 liter to .5 liter and they turned it up to 100%. When she left tonight at 6:00, he was already down to .1 liters at 100%. Throughout the night, they will be slowly weaning him down, but he could go home on oxygen at .1 liter, anywhere from 20% to 100%. That's HUGE.

They need to get him on all bottle feedings, but as Susan says, "We're getting closer!"

You'll want to check out all the new pictures, too. He has changed so much!

Grow, Baby, Grow!

"Hey, it's Susan calling with a small update. My son's doing great! He had his last eye exam today, and the doctor said he doesn't see any problems and doesn't think he needs to see him again. Praise God on that."

He did so well at his 5 pm feeding--he drank his bottle in 11 minutes--that today they increased his feeds from 40 ml to 45 ml every 3 hrs.

(His first few bottles were taken in 25-30 minutes, so this is a huge improvement!)

At 5 pm today he drank 45 ml in 13 min! He's doing great on his bottles.

David grew another quarter of an inch. He now measures 18.5 in. long and weighs 5 lbs. 10 oz. He's been a little constipated and had lasics today, so Susan's kind of expecting that number to go down a bit. His head had normal growth for the week, so he's growing, taking his feeds well, and completely free of infection. He just needs his lungs to develop, and he could be home free!

"Thanks for the prayers!"

The Invitation

He's getting bigger every day!

David is doing great. He's up to 5 lbs 7.2 oz as of Friday night.

Susan gave him his first bottle Friday night. As of Friday, his orders were to get one bottle a day and see how he would do on that since it expends a lot of calories to drink a bottle. David did so well that they changed the orders to twice a day on Saturday. She gave him one Saturday afternoon and they gave him another that evening.

Today (Sunday) she was able to give him another bottle at 5 p.m.

The doctor increased his calories up to 26 to help compensate for the extra calories burned by sucking on the bottle.

I got to see him today, and he looks completely different. Except for the tiny tubes going into his nose and mouth that are taped on his face, he looks completely normal. He was wearing the cutest striped, hooded outfit (with pockets--of course, every baby needs pockets!) from The Gap. And he had a million facial expressions that kept me laughing and ooooh-ing and aaaaah-ing the whole time I was there. He looks like he's ready to go home. He is such a sweet baby. All the nurses know and adore him, and they all say that his temperament is peaceful and mild. Thank you, Jesus!

Susan's right knee is 85-90% back to normal. Praise God! Her left knee is still very sore and swollen, but her right knee had been worse before, so she's praying and walking it out, working through it, and continuing to ask for prayer. John is completely free of pain. Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord!

Susan says, "Thank you so much for your prayers. We definitely wouldn't be where we are without everybody's prayers."

Positive Updates--Woo Hoo!

Yay! We have some good updates for you!

NOTE: This update came last night (Wednesday), but I'm just now getting to post it.

John is up and about. He was moving around Tuesday with a cane and his pain meds. By Wednesday he wasn't taking the pain meds, nor was he using the cane. Praise God!

David is doing great as well. He weighs 5 lbs. 2.7 oz. He is up to 40 ml every 3 hrs. His oxygen on the canula is down to 30%. And . . . he was moved to a pediatric crib Wednesday afternoon!

Today they started hydrotherapy: a physical therapist comes while Susan gives David a bath and he gets to do some exercises in the water, which she says, "Is perfect for my son. Of course, he's going to love it. He loves his bath. I'm excited about that."

All in all, every one is doing great!

Prayer points: Susan's knees need complete healing and David's lungs need to grow grow grow.

Beautiful Baby Shower Invitations

We had some beautiful baby shower invitations designed by Lillian Boeskool, and we want to be sure that everyone who wants one gets one--especially family members who might live far away but who enjoy scrapbooking.

If you'd like to receive an invitation, please e-mail Lori Todd at loritoddis@yahoo.com. If you're already on the Evite, then you'll be receiving an invitation in the mail.

Thank you and God bless you!

Monday Night at 8:00

David's doing great on the canula. The oxygen setting is down at 35% which is awesome. His weight last night was 5 lbs 3 oz. He's grown 1/2 inch, so he now measures 18.25 in. long. His head circumference is great, and he's doing really well. Susan was with him last night.

She went to see him this afternoon and held him for an hour, and he's doing great today, too.

She took John to the doctor today and his back pain doesn't appear to be disc-related. The doc thinks it's just muscular. John was on his back in bed today with a heating pad. The doctor prescribed three different meds and a cane. He's moving around a bit, but he's still hurting a lot.

Susan's knees are still hurting.

Please continue to pray for all three of them.

Prayer Request and Update

As of 8:00 p.m. on Sunday . . .

Big Prayer Request:

John and Susan were getting ready for church this morning, and when John bent down to put on his sneaker, he twisted and wrenched his back. Now he's flat on his back. He can't move. He can't sit up. He's been bed-ridden all day, and Susan has been taking care of him. He had already planned to take off work tomorrow to help Susan check out of the RM House, so he has a day to recover, but if he's not any better in the morning, Susan's going to take him to the doctor. He needs big-time prayer.

Susan's knees are still paining her. The right one, which was the worse one, is much better, but now the left one has gotten worse.

They need some serious prayer.

Update on David:

David is doing REALLY well. As of noon, he's on just a heated canula, which is just oxygen. You see them in medical shows and Susan had one for surgery. It's a tube that goes behind your ear and across your face and has two little straws that go up your nose. That's HUGE.

He'd be in a big boy crib if they had one available, but there's not one available yet.

They're mixing her breastmilk with formula, and it's going right through him. Hopefully his tummy will get used to the formula soon since her body has stopped producing breastmilk.

That's all for tonight. Please be in prayer for John and Susan--let's pray them PAIN-FREE!

A Quick Update

Pictures of Mommy dressing David for the first time.

I got a short update from Susan tonight, but I lost it! I'll try to remember as much as I can . . .

David is back on the C-PAP as of Thursday morning.
His feedings are up to 37 ml every 3 hours.
His body temperature (and something else) has been going up and down, so he hasn't been able to be moved to a crib yet.

Our main prayer concern is lung development. His lungs need to GROW.

Susan is back home now. She has checked out of the Ronald McDonald house and will be traveling more but getting more rest at night with her dear husband.

If you live in Nashville and want to bless her, consider taking her out to dinner in the Hillsboro Village, West End, or Green Hills areas--especially when John isn't able to be there--or visiting with her and praying for David at the hospital between 6 & 8 p.m. during the shift change at the hospital when she can't be in the room with David.

Don't forget to pray for those lungs!

Pictures (from David)

Mommy talking to me after my bath
My little hand
My little foot
Dinnertime with Daddy

In two weeks . . .

You are invited to:

A Baby Shower Celebration
in honor of
David Holcroft Langager

February 16, 2008
6:30 p.m.

Presented by:
Erin O'Barr, Rachel Hall, Lori Todd, Rachel Norris, and Eileen Zegel

At the home of:
Eileen Zegel
452 Pearre Springs Way
Franklin, TN 37069
(615) 790-3522

Directions:
Travel Hillsboro Rd. South, turn right on Hwy 96 W. At the main entrance for West Haven, turn left. Turn right onto State Blvd., left onto Pearl St. (follow to the end), left onto Townsend, and right onto Pearre Springs Way (last house on the left before the curve).

If you'd like to be added to the Evite (which sends out a reminder e-mail) or if you're interested in contributing toward a group gift, please e-mail loritoddis@yahoo.com.