"I can do it all by myself!"

Do y'all remember that anxious feeling about the surgery I just couldn't shake? Well, God is always good and the surgery was cancelled literally minutes before they took him back. The surgeon came in for the last minute check and decided his diaper rash was enough to warrant cancelling the surgery. He said the risk of infection with perfectly clear skin was 2%, but on skin with any sort of lesions, such as diaper rash (which is where he would be cutting possibly) is 12%. So, either that is the coincidence of the year or divine providence. With this little Saint I vote for the latter. We went ahead and had the sedated MRI then he was admitted for vent weaning.

We have been weaning two breaths on the vent per day. We started out at a rate of 16 and each day we go down by two and monitor him closely to check for signs of distress for the next 24 hours. Yesterday he finally reached 10 breaths per minute from the vent and did great all day, so today was the day... we took the vent off completely for 2 hours. At first it seemed like he was a little scared, or maybe that was just me being scared, but soon enough he was just breathing like he had always done it. He was smiling as if to say "Look mom, I can breathe all by myself!"

I cried, and cried, and cried some more. To see him breathe, something we all take for granted, was the greatest gift this momma could ever ask for. I don't even care that he has the trach. I am just so grateful to have a breathing, pink baby.

We will continue to take him off, little by little, until we reach a point where he can not tolerate being off anymore then he will stay in the hospital for one more week to make sure he tolerates the new routine.

Thank you for loving our little man and remembering him in your prayers. God is always good and faithful!

In Jesus and Mary,
Chasity

Here is Dominic rockin' the no-vent look!  The blue tube is hooked up to the oxygen and humidifier but he is doing all the work!

He was a little tired after the trial... totally chillin' out in momma's arms.

Here is a video of sweet man without the vent.  It's loud so turn down your volume (the noise is from the humidifier)  Enjoy!