More unknowns...

Well, today was an interesting day of unknowns and new tests and more waiting. Matthew was not digesting his breastmilk today so they took an ultrasound and x-ray of his belly to see what was happening especially since he was not having any bowel movements. They discovered that he was not passing any stool because he has some meconium stuck in his small intestines. This is called meconium ilieum. His stool was so dense that it even showed up on the x-ray, which it normally wouldn't. They also noticed that his lower intestines (the colon) was very tiny which means that nothing had ever been in it. The suppositories and enemas were not working. So tomorrow they are going to do an ultrasound while performing an enema so they can basically go all the way up into the small intestines and to try and break it up. If that doesn't work after a couple of tries then they are going to have to perform surgery to remove the meconium.

Matthew has also been having a lot of thick secretions in his lungs and he is having more episodes of periodic apnea (not breathing). His oxygen saturation has also been a bit more unstable. The episodes of apnea they say are common in premies but they are concerned with the secretions they keep getting from his lungs.

One of the things the doctor said today was that there are several things that are pointing them into thinking that Matthew may have a genetic disorder called cystic fibrosis. Specifically because of the meconeum ileum and the secretions in the lungs, the liver issue, etc. They have sent off some blood work to test for this but we won't know results for a while.

They did an ultrasound on the brain at the same time they did the abdominal ultrasound today. The abnormality in the brain has changed shape. The doctor's think this could be a good thing because it looks like it may be breaking up and will eventually dissipate. They will continue to monitor it by doing ultrasounds over the next few weeks.

Prayer requests: Pray that the enema in the small intestines works so they don't have to do surgery.
Pray that Matthew does not have cystic fibrosis.
Pray that his lungs mature and that he produces the right amount of secretions and that he keeps breathing.
Continue to pray that the brain abnormality goes away completely.
Continue to pray that Matthew does not get the NEC infection.
Of course continue to pray for us as we go through this. Today I am very worried and I feel like I am kind of numb. Please pray for us to have God's peace and to not be worried and anxious about everything we just found out today. Thank you for all your support.