Sunday's Coming

At our church, we have a phrase of hope when things are tough.  "It might be Friday now, but Sunday's coming."  It stems from an Easter service where we contrasted the hopelessness of Good Friday to the overwhelming joy and promise that Sunday morning would bring.  The application of that Easter message to our lives has never hit closer to home for me, than right now...

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, nurses came to tell me my newborn baby girl was in the NICU with dangerously low platelet levels.  Normal range is somewhere between 150-200 thousand.  Hers were 9,000. She could possibly have bleeding in her brain and major organs.  There were no answers yet for why this was happening to my baby.  I couldn't see her, hold her, or feed her. 

That was Tuesday, but Sunday's coming...

By Wednesday morning, my two-day old daughter had undergone a blood platelet transfusion.  She was being tested for a full gamut of infections, blood disorders, and dangerous viral diseases with long term effects.  Still no real answers for what was going on inside my girl. 

That was Wednesday, but Sunday's coming...

Thursday rolled around, and Lucy had undergone a second platelet transfusion.  This time her levels one hour after transfusion were 198k, which was a big step in the right direction, the first time we crossed into safe platelet levels so far.  However, she was still not holding on to her gains, and she dropped back down to 108k twelve hours later. 

That was Thursday, but Sunday's coming...

Friday marked the first day that little Lucy was making progress in the right direction on her own.  Without transfusions or IVIG treatments, she increased her own platelet levels by 7,000.  A small gain, but we would take it.  Dr. Walker seemed fairly confident that Lucy was not suffering from an infection or a life-threatening virus after all.  She was tentatively diagnosed with neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia.  Still no discussion about when our girl could come home though. 

That was Friday, but Sunday's coming...

Saturday morning, this morning, we made our usual call to the NICU to check on our girl's progress and found out her platelet counts had come up to 236k without any interventions!  Her body was winning the fight!  We celebrated our biggest win yet and prayed right then giving thanks to our God who is faithful to answer prayers and fulfill the desires of our hearts.  We headed to the hospital to visit our girl to find her detached from all wires, tubes, and monitors.  Dr. Walker came over to inform us Lucy was being released and could go home with us...tomorrow...Sunday. 

Right now, I type this post from a complimentary hospital room with my healthy baby girl asleep beside me.  We are "rooming in" with her tonight.  She finally got to meet her big brother this evening, and he is enthralled with her.  She will go in for one last set of lab tests in the morning, and provided all goes well, we will take her home around lunch tomorrow. 

It's Saturday now, and praise God, Sunday's coming!