March 17, 2008

Finally,we have good news to report. They pulled Nate's breathing tube almost exactly at 2:30 today. The first hour was pretty stressful, but after that, he figured it out and did really well. We just left the hospital -- he has been sleeping for the last 5 hours. Please continue to pray for him as there is still the possibility that his body will get tired and he will not be able to breathe without the help of the ventilator.

Assuming that all goes well throughout the night, tomorrow they will try and get him to take the next step. They will begin to eliminate his IV heart medications (currently on 4) and attempt to teach him how to bottle feed. They tell us that teaching them to suck, swallow and breathe simultaneously can prove difficult. He's been sucking on a pacifier the last few hours which is a good sign so we're hopeful that he'll pick it up easily.

Please pray that he continues to progress so that we can get closer to coming home. We long for the day that we can all be together under one roof again.

Erik & Trisha