"I will worship while I'm waiting"

     These are lyrics from a song that frequently plays on KSBJ, which is pretty much the only station we listen to now.  It sums up what I've been feeling the past few days.  I believe that Riley is healed and I will continue to pray and praise God while I'm waiting for Riley's healing to be revealed physically.  My Aunt Tess sent me a verse recently that speaks to this:
¹⁴ Wait patiently for the LORD.
    Be brave and courageous.
   Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.
Psalms 27:14, NLT

    As I have said before, I know God is trying to teach Craig and I many things through this and one of those things is patience.  Babies in the NICU are very special and their treatment plan is as well.  It's not as simple as when we go to the doctor and they say you have strep throat, here's your meds and you'll feel better in a few days.  Riley's body is adjusting to life on the outside and he will need time to develop and may encounter many hurdles along the way.  This is why we all need patience right now.  We just need to trust God that he is taking care of it all and Riley will come home with us one day.
    I have been visualizing Riley riding home in his car seat and being carried into our home by Craig.  These visualizations are helpful and give me peace and hope.  I recently read in Genesis 13 about Abraham visualizing God's promises to him that he would lead many people.  God tells Abraham to look and foresee what will happen, that is what we are doing as well.  I know many members of our family are doing the same thing. 
    The rollercoaster took some twists and turns again this weekend.  Riley was having difficulty urinating for a couple days and he swelled up a lot over the weekend.  It is so hard to see him like this because he had gotten so tiny and he was looking so good.  Thankfully, his urine output has picked up and has been pretty steady the past 36 hours or so.  His blood pressure also dropped a little, but they have him on dopamine and are giving him blood or other meds as needed to help keep that number between 35-45. 
    Yesterday was difficult because they put him on his side to help alleviate what they thought was a hyperinflated right lung.  He did NOT like that at all, his vitals were not good while he was on his side.  Eventually, they layed him on his back again and his vitals came back up.  After a couple more chest x-rays, they decided the best thing was to reinsert the chest tube.  Since then, his blood gases and vitals have been better.  They have been able to lower his settings on his oscillator (ventilator) today and he's on a low oxygen level.  We pray that he will continue to have good days and that his swelling will go down.  I know he cannot be comfortable, even though they are giving him morphine. 
     We thank each of you for your constant prayers.  This is the best thing anyone can do for Riley right now.  God is listening.