Hey everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know about some friends of mine that are in need of prayer right now. Their names are Jordan and Patience Leino, and they just gave birth to their first baby boy, Isaac Jordan Leino. He is having some major health concerns, and well, I’ll just repost what they have on their blog.

Birth:

I was awake all through Friday night with lower back pain
that continued through the day on Saturday with increasing severity.
Around 4:30p, we packed the last of our bags & headed out to Chapel
Hill, curious if this was the real thing. We were admitted by 6p &
at 3:40a Sunday morning, February 25, Isaac Jordan Leino was born! 7
lb. 10 oz. & almost 19 inches long (48 cm). After a few minutes,
they got him breathing & I was able to hold him for a few seconds
for a quick picture. Then the NICU team rushed him off to the Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit to stabalize his breathing & get all the
necessary lines in him for meds, monitoring & oxygen.

Unexpected News:

About
an hour after birth, a NICU nurse, Laurel, came to our room to give us
an update on Isaac. After much effort, they were able to get all needed
lines in to him, stabalize his levels, & do a full evaluation of
his health & status. He was now incubated as he was needing to put
so much effort into breathing on his own, though breathing room air
with low oxygen assistance. Sonogram confirmed the presence of HLHS, so
he was now receiving prostyglandin through an IV to keep the ductus
arteriosis open in his heart. Laurel told us that several other
defects/abnormalities were also discovered, now giving cause for more
testing to be done. Isaac has a cleft palate. His left ear is
malformed, giving concern to his ability to hear out of that ear.
Excess skin folds on the back of the neck were present, which often is
indicative of other problems. He also has a spot on his lower back that
was discolored & dimpled in, which could mean spinal development
problems. Due to the combination of these defects, the doctors decided
to do a genetic evaluation, retesting his chromosomes for
abnormalities, particularly DiGeorge syndrome. These all had been
tested during pregnancy coming back as normal, but it is possible that
they may have missed something in the original test. It is also
possible to have these defects with no genetic syndrome present, so we
will continue to pray that the tests come back confirming that there
are no genetic problems.

Some Good News:

On a good note,
Patience was able to hold Isaac for the first time since delivery on
Monday at 5pm for about 1.5 hrs. This was quite an endeavor since he’s
hooked up to all the machines, but was a very sweet time of bonding for
the three of us. Later Monday night at 11pm, I (Jordan) was able to
hold him for the first time. Words can’t express the emotions Patience
and I felt while being able to hold him close. He’s so beautiful and
strong through all of this. Even the nurses and doctors have commented
on his high tolerance and strength thus far. On Monday morning, they
did some sonograms of his brain, spine, and kidneys. This morning
(Tuesday), they let us know that his brain, spine, and kidneys look
great, with the exception of a small cist on the back of his head and
another small cist on his back. The doctor said that they would
continue to watch these cists, but have no reason to think they will be
a problem. We praise God for these good reports!

Some Bad News:

At
2:30pm on Monday afternoon, they did an x-ray of Isaac’s diaphram. They
found that his diaphram had not developed completely, resulting in the
inability to take deep breaths. This is probably why he was having such
a hard time breathing when he was born, which was the reason for
needing the ventilator. We spoke with one of the cardiologists, Dr.
Buck, today about this finding. He and Dr. Mill (the heart surgeon) had
met for a while today discussing the surgery and the effects this
finding about the diaphram will have on the surgery. He also spoke of
the possibility of doing a tracheotomy to assist his breathing. We
don’t know all the details about the diaphram and surgery quite yet. We
are scheduled to meet with Dr. Mill (the surgeon) Wednesday morning
after he’s done with a morning surgery to discuss the details of
Isaac’s condition and surgery.

NICU to PICU:

Just a little
while ago, Isaac was moved from the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)
to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). In the PICU, the nurses
will be able to get to know Isaac, his condition, and care needs prior
to the surgery, so that they’ll be able provide the best care for him
after the operation.

Surgery:

As of right now, the heart
surgery is scheduled to take place early Friday morning. Over the next
couple days, leading up to the surgery, they will be carefully
reviewing his condition and test results to be sure they have all the
necessary information needed to be as successful as possible in the
operation.

Please remember little Isaac Leino in your prayers today and tomorrow. We know God is bigger than this and He can heal Isaac completely. Thanks for your support!!