We left Roman in the hospital the first night and as I said in my last post we went home without a baby which is surreal. The next day we got the amazing news that the surgeons had been able to remove Roman's blockage without surgery! Praise God! We were psyched that our little man would soon be making his way home, but with the good news of the removed blockage came the even more devastating news that he had a blood infection. Indeed, his little body was being ravaged by e. coli and now he would have to fight that battle as well as stay in the NICU for at least another two weeks.
So we stayed. Our families rallied around us and our church family was amazing. They helped us with childcare, gave us meals, and just were all around supportive. One vivid memory is me sitting in the chair in "D" nursery which was three steps up from the "A" nursery where we came in. I was rocking Roman and just cuddling with him when a nurse began asking me about his history. I told her the story and her jaw completely dropped. She went on to tell us that most newborns, by the time they spike a fever or drop their temperature due to a blood infection they normally just come to the NICU to die. That there's nothing you can do for them.
To this day I still think about that. God used what we thought was so horrible, a bowel obstruction, to get my son the medicine he needed two days prior to us even knowing he needed it. I am forever amazed at that kind of preemptive protection. How many other times in my life has God protected me when I was not even aware that I needed protection?
Roman finished out his two weeks in the NICU and we took him home. Being a family of four never felt so good.
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