Wednesday, 4/16/08, 7:49 PM

Dear Ones,

Psalm 40: 16-17

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
May those who love your salvation always say, “The LORD be exalted!”
Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

A dear friend sent this portion of Psalm 40. More than apropos and certainly timely for all of us, Dan and Lauren, especially, clung to its promises. Again, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I try to bring many of the emails to Lauren and Dan when I visit daily.

Jace will be four weeks old tomorrow, quite a feat for this precious baby.

Madelyn and I waited two hours in the waiting room as today’s visit in Jace’s room was cut dramatically short. When I arrived in Jace’s room, I could tell Lauren was pretty upset. Little Jace was breathing very heavily and still had his chest tube, too, so I knew something was not right. While I was there, his oxygen levels began to plummet dramatically, and the doctor quickly made the decision to put him on a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device. Although this device is considered a type of ventilation, it does not involve intubation in which a tube would be put down into his trachea. Poor little guy. His right lung has totally collapsed, for he has an infection somewhere and is now on heavy-duty antibiotics. To make matters more complicated, the very bottom part of his left lung is folding inward slightly, his liver is not functioning properly so he has turned a dull orange color, and due to a low platelet count (the component of blood that causes clotting), he had to receive platelets this morning, too. The low platelet count caused a delay in pulling his very painful chest tube, for he could start bleeding internally if he isn’t clotting well. The really horrid result for Lauren of not pulling out his chest tube means more time will pass before she is allowed to hold Jace again; the last time he was in her arms was 4/7/08, the early morning of his surgery day. The weariness for us all is intense. Every day it is a new adventure for our little boy with us along for the ride. Yet, the ‘LORD be exalted’ in all things still rings true. For instance, the care and concern from the two doctors and the nurse working with Jace today was wonderful to behold. They were gentle, clearly expressed what they thought should be done to improve his care, quickly sought to alleviate his suffering, and listened patiently to Lauren and then to me, too, as we asked questions. I was so grateful. Shortly after the CPAP was attached to his little nose, I was asked to step out. Madelyn and I stayed for a time in the waiting room, but eventually chose to leave, thinking we would be of more use helping in some other way. Just 15 minutes after I left the hospital, Lauren called to say we could come back in! RATS! By that time, I was caught in lovely Houston rush-hour traffic and really couldn’t turn around! But, she did tell me that his oxygen levels had come up, but his breathing was still very labored. One or the other of his lungs has collapsed several times since surgery; they always manage to re-inflate, but . . . . We are praying that his blood count looked better when it came back late this afternoon, so that they pull out that chest tube tonight, and by the time we return tomorrow, Jace will be comfortably content in Lauren’s arms.

Our little one struggles to cling to this life. His parents are diligently exploring ways to make him more comfortable without resorting to extraordinary measures which may or may not help him in any way; bottom-line, his frail body’s organ systems just do not function properly. We continue to covet your prayers for his parents as they love and care for him. Lauren has not left the hospital since the 4^th day he was born. They slept in their own bed only two nights after Lauren was discharged from the hospital after Jace’s birth before moving pretty permanently to the hospital to be with Jace as much as possible. Obviously, they are stressed, who wouldn’t be, but the ONLY reading material they have up there, on purpose, is God’s word, their true source of strength. Lauren has had trouble eating and sleeping, but really, I do understand. She knows her time with Jace is short. Unlike most of the NICU babies, who have a long term prognosis of going home sometime in the future to resume relatively normal lives, Danny and Lauren know their time with their son is now, not later.

Thank you for your interest, for asking us for updates, for your love, and for your prayers.

Blessings and much love,
Kathy for the Harts and Steinhauses