Day 5-"The Very Quiet Cricket"

This is Rafa's new nickname, and for those of you who are familiar with the book, you know why. The title character needs time and patience to be ready to share his chirp with the world, and when he does, it's the most beautiful sound in the world.

We can't wait for Rafa's chirp!

This was our first morning in the hospital with him post-Mommy's discharge, and boy, was it an eventful one! We got to see Little Man's chest X-ray, and the amount of lung he has on the right side is astonishing! It's about half the lung volume (cc's, they call it) you need in order to breathe at present, after only five days. Amazing! This will be his "good" lung, as people refer to lungs in the CDH world. His left lung is still a late bloomer, and we have yet to see it puff up at all. But we have every confidence that it will. Mommy had a quick catnap, Grandma Sherrie got Rafa's help finishing her crossword puzzle, and we learned all sorts of trick of the breastfeeding trade.

Dr. Jennings/House/Rusty-Dusty called the nurses to check in on him last evening, and according to Daddy, his take on Rafa's progress thus far is "encouraging." And this is a very hard man to please.

A word about Rafa's father--he is, by far, the most dedicated, gentle, persistent advocate for his son, and I wouldn't want it any other way. They've both been through war, and I think that Daddy will be Rafa's spiritual guidance through his own battles. I'm just happy to have a front row seat to the show.

We need more lung chants and prayers, that both Rafael's right lung keeps expanding and that his left lung does the best it can to catch up. There's no real rush, as his doctors are taking his treatment at his own pace, but as always, he needs all the support he can get.

And please keep all of the world's CDH babies in your hearts--they teach us more about humility, courage, living in the moment, and sheer will than anyone else.