I wanted to ask for prayers for my NICU friend and her baby G ( I will not use names, as I have not asked her permission to write about them yet). 

The past couple of days he has taken a turn for the worst. They do not expect him to make it. I think after tomorrow, after some labs come back,  they will maybe make the decision to take him off support and just be with him until the end. Baby G. was born 10 days before Clara, full term. They have been in the same POD since then. His mommy and myself have become close, spend time talking, grabbing lunch together, and just supporting one another. She has been probably the most profound person in my life the past few weeks, months. As a mommy in the NICU, with a baby as critical as Clara, she has been so comforting. 

I have never met anyone as strong, smart, and dedicated as she is. Her and her husband have been living in the Ronald McDonald house since September, and have rarely missed a day beside their baby boy. She like myself never knew thought how difficult this would become three months later. We talk about this often.  In both of our cases we have been through some ups and a lot of downs. The good news and the bad. I have never respected any one more than I do her. I have told her this many times. She has been so positive about her baby and Clara. She has encouraged me almost everyday, worrying about me to much (more than herself) and just loving Clara like she was family. 

I think she is so brave and has handled this with more Grace than I think I ever could. My heart and every nurse's heart in that POD just breaks for her. Yesterday I told her that I wanted to just sit with her, not talk and just listen because I didn't want to say anything stupid. I did say that I cared for her, that I would help anyway she needed me to, and that we would always be friends. That is what I would want someone to tell me. 

Clara is doing fine. They have been weening her morphine to start waking her up from her week long sedation. She is starting to go down on her vent settings now that she is participating in her breathing. They continue to go up on her feeds, tolerating the volume like a big girl. She is now 5 lbs. Her first trach change went well Friday. Her trach is actually a little big so they are going to get a smaller one made for her, and if it works we can start ordering those instead. Bobby and Diane went to the hospital today and said that she was awake the entire time and the the nurse put a mirror in her bed. They said she just laid their looking at her sweet self in the reflection. 

Here are some photos from Friday. I look forward to my day with her tomorrow. Thanks for the Santa hat Kelly P.