Josiah's Christmastime is here...

Posted by Milo Wilson On Wednesday, December 23, 2009 2 comments
Christmastime is here... here in the PCICU that is. Josiah won't be making the trip to Greenville with us when we leave tonight to head back up the road. When we complete this holiday week, we will have made the 3.5 hr trip 6 out of 9 days. We spent 2 hrs over lunch the other day arranging our most complicated Christmas schedule ever.

He turned 7 months old on Sunday, and I guess somehow we had begun to feel entitled to leave here or something. But the reality is, we don't want to leave this unit until our little guy has reached the goals necessary. Goals like...

Maintain ventilator settings of 40% oxygen or less
Breathe on a trach collar (water vapor and oxygen instead of a vent) for at least 1 hr a day.
Stabilize his glucose (sugar) levels to a safe level of 70.
Tolerate his feeds in a way that doesn't make his belly swell into a Jabba-The-Hut-like pose.
(it would appear that he is sneaking in a ridiculous amount of donuts every night)

So, while we were beginning to feel sorry for ourselves and our crazy busy Christmas, we were reminded of an incredible story you may have heard of before. Through this process we have gotten to know a family on the other side of the United States. Their little baby is named Rudy, and this is what Rolf had to say Christmas Eve 2008 when they didn't make it out of the hospital:

So this is our Christmas and, the more I think about it, it’s all very appropriate. As I’ve shared in a few settings over the past few weeks, we tend to associate Christmas with preparation and organization. We shop, plan, decorate, dress and clean up. All this to commemorate an instance that was anything but. Mary and Joseph had no time to make plans and prepare but found themselves caught in a setting that bordered on deplorable. A birth in a cold, stinking stable. A baby placed in a crib that was far from cozy, sterile or hypoallergenic. No, a manger coated with dried spittle and decaying bits of cud from the livestock that dined there. Had they even the opportunity for the slightest bit of planning it would have seen them far away from anything like this. Yet it’s into this dirty setting, populated by frazzled and unprepared people, that God comes bringing life and hope. And that’s a tremendous comfort to us here in Room 5439 because it means that Christmas will come to us, regardless of how much we’ve prepared for it. Not to say we haven’t done a bit of planning, but our primary wish was to be together as a family. With this in place, we’ll let the celebrating begin.

Perspective strikes again...

2 comments to Josiah's Christmastime is here...

  1. says:

    Anonymous Dear Wilson Fammily,
    We are the Bentley family and we will be traveling to MUSC in a few days for the birth of our heart baby, Anna Grace. She is scheduled to be born by c-section there on Dec 30 and has HRHS (along with a few other heart defects). Dr G has been our Maternal Fetal doctor here in Greenville, SC & I understand that you saw him as well. Praying that Josiah will be home in Greer by the time we arrive at MUSC, but if not then it seems that he & Anna Grace will be spending some time together. May God grant you & your family comfort & peace that you need for today.
    Love in Christ,
    The Bentley's

  1. says:

    angie byrd I hate to hear that little Josiah will not be making the trip home for Christmas but we both know he is in great hands in the PCICU & thankfully he will not even know its Christmas time, only his dear family will feel a scense of missed memories. We will continue as always to keep you & your entire family in our prayers.

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