Update on Luke

Luke has been in the hospital for 5 days now and is slowly improving. They have weaned his ventilator settings a few times by turning down his oxygen level needed, and then by turning down the rate at which the vent is breathing for him. They did have to turn it up a bit this morning, but he continues to initiate breaths on his own very often, which is very encouraging.
Yesterday, he was alert and seemed to be uncomfortable and scared more often than I liked. They finally added another medicine in (versed) to help keep him calm and let him rest better. Since then, he has rested very well. He still tends to have bradycardia and desat when they suction him or mess with him, but he recovers more quickly and doesn't do it every time.
He is getting fortified breastmilk through his NG tube and is stooling, which we are happy about because that means his intestines are working. They say that the intestines are the first place to lose blood flow during a cardiac arrest because the blood goes to more important organs, like the heart and brain. He is retaining some fluid, which is normal for kids who are on iv fluids and on a vent. They periodically give him lasiks when he gets too puffy. His lungs continue to improve on his daily X-ray and respitory has begun lung conditioning, where they use the ventilator to open up his lungs and hold some oxygen briefly, like you do when you yawn. His liver numbers are still a bit high, but continuing to go down.
One of the doctors told Andy and I yesterday that they did not expect Luke to survive when he came in on Thursday. His numbers were just too bad...acidity, CO2 and others. While we knew how dire the situation was/is, it is still hard to hear that from a medical professional. I am glad he told us and he did it in an appropriate way, so I am not sharing this to be negative. We are so appreciative of the wonderful care Luke has received, No matter how bad things get, we have hope. I read this week that hope is not the same as wishful thinking. God knew I needed that discernment. We don't come into these stressful situations naïve. We know the possible outcomes, but we choose to remain hopeful that God will work miracles and save Luke's life. He is with us, beside us, giving us peace and grieving with us as we process this event and miss holding our youngest child. Andy and I both feel like Luke will make a full recovery! He has beat the odds before. When I start to feel panicked and defeated, I remember that even though this trial is hard for us to endure, there are many others (some of you reading this), who have endured far more. Please know God is with you, as He is with us.