What a week!

(Excuse the dummy, but it has been a much needed comfort as he has been struggling to feed!)

Joel and I have just come home from 4 night stay in hospital. Joel's tummy button was oozing and sticky so we went to the dr's. The GP listened to Joel and diagnosed a heart murmur or hole in the heart. She sent us to the hospital straight away where Joel had to undergo a lot of tests. So this is it in a nutshell.

• He has had an echo, an ecg, antibiotics to treat the infection, diaretics to reduce fluid in his lungs.


• He had a nasty septsus? infection.


• He is struggling to feed and not gaining weight.


• He has a hole in his heart half a cm long (a moderate size) inbetween the two lower chambers of his heart.


• The hole is allowing liquid to flow back and forth and flood the lungs.


• The hole may close over time or require surgery once he gets to 6 kilos.


• Joel is using too much energy and calories to feed as his heart is not working well and he is struggling to feed, so he is not gaining weight. If Joel does not feed well and get bigger he will need a nasal feeding tube in order to prevent the expending of energy on breast feeding. For now he is have a high calorie bottle as well as breast milk to see if that will increase his weight quickly. We will find out on Wed if he is gaining weight.

We are worried and anxious but we know that this will be resolved and that Joel can and will be well, it just might take a little while to get there. We have been aware of lots of well wishing and prayers and we want you to know that we have sensed God with us.

Little miracles this past week...

1. My parents were here to look after Emily and help her stay in her routine and free Jamie up to be at the hospital.

2. The paediatric cardiologist who does a clinic once a month at our hospital had an appointment available on the Thursday and gave Joel his echo without having to transfer him to a hospital much further away.

3. The dietician is a Christian and really uplifted our spirits when we felt low.

4. Joel and I had our own room and we were treated really well. (One of our nurses was the mother of one of his students!)

5. The GP finding the heart murmur that we were not aware of.

6. Emily has coped well and has been very patient with us as tired parents as well as sympathetic and loving towards Joel. (As much as a 2 year old can be)
Well that has been our week. Joel is a little frail and has low immunity but when awake he has big bright eyes and great little facial expressions. He is a great kid. We are waiting for Wednesday to arrive and hoefully he will be getting bigger and making progress to get better.
It is Jamie's birthday today and we managed a cake but no gifts, he tells me he would like to celebrate his birthday on Saturday with a Manchester United win!