A lot of prayers and a little change

Well this weekend has been a little more quiet.
Ethan is doing a little better on the breathing machine since Friday night. The oxygen level and settings have gone down a little bit(which is good), But we still have a long way to go. When I went to visit a couple times yesterday, Ethan was extremely touchy. The minute I put my hand on him to let him know that we were there, he started to DSAT. So he really wasn't feeling up to being touched right now. It's like when you are feeling really sick and sore, then someone comes to touch you and it hurts. That's kind of how it feels for him. It makes it hard as a mom because you want to touch him to let him know that you're there supporting him, but he just can't handle that right now. Hopefully it will continue to improve. We have to make up for a lot of steps backward, so this is going to take a while. He is going to continue to get the antibiotics for a least 14 days, so he won't be able to have milk the entire time. They also had done a stomach ultrasound and chest x-ray to make sure the infection that he hasn't started to attack his major organs. So far so good. His lungs are very wet though (which means a lot of fluid), which would make me think he has pneumonia, but I'm not a doctor. Hopefully we will get results from the other tests that were done to help us find out what type of infection he has.

Madaline is doing pretty good. Last night we did another session of non-nutritive feeding and she did very well. I can't wait to report to the developmental staff (Karin) about her progress. Her heart rate has been a little high the last few days. They have been keeping an eye on it to make sure nothing else would indicate a problem. But the nurse today decided to put her back on the nasal cannula to give her a little more oxygen. Her heart went back to normal rate, so they are considering keeping it on for a few days so that she doesn't waste extra calories working so hard to breathe. It isn't a major concern at this point. We will just keep an eye on it.

We have been getting a lot of love and support in the last few days from all of you and it has been helping us get through things right now. It's so hard to find the right words to say or show how much it all means to us. All I can think of is THANK YOU. Thank you for the emails, the calls, the hugs, the shared tears, and coffee cake (Thanks Jenny). We have had the support of Brady's and my family coming down to the hospital to just sit in the lobby, and it means a lot. Your prayer has been very powerful this weekend and I can only say thank you and please keep it up folks. God started his miracle with giving us these beautiful babies, and we are just waiting for him to finish it by making them healthy so they can come home to us soon.

Update for CHOC walk:
The 20th annual CHOC walk is next Sunday. So far we have 16 walkers signed up. We haven't quite reached our goal of walkers, so please go to www.CHOCwalk.net/therichards. Select "My Team Page" at the top center and then "Join The Team" at the top. We want to try to pick up the teams wrist bands and t-shirts before the day of the walk, so please register today. Please remember that you must pay or get sponsored at least $50 before you can walk. We can't pick up your wristband or t-shirt if you haven't paid or got sponsored.
Also, thank you to everyone who has made a donation as well. Your support makes our walk that much more motivating and exciting.
The day of the walk, I was going to try to have special t-shirts made for the team, but time has not permitted it, so I don't think it's going to happen. As an alternate, we can all wear white shirts, or if someone else has any suggestions, please email me. remember, we will be taking lots of pictures the day of the event, so slap on your rouge and slick back your hair.
I can't wait to share this with Madaline and Ethan when they get older. Who knows. If we keep this going, they might be walking with us in a couple years.

Pictures:
I know I haven't posted any pics lately. I have been trying to get some of Ethan, but he just too sick right now. I will see if Madaline is up for any within the next day or so as well. She has been showing us her Model Lips lately and its really cute.