Tests, tests, and more tests...

Hello family and friends...

Today was a long day, but God brought us through it. Levi, Steph, and I actually got some decent sleep last night, close to 8 hours worth. That made a huge difference. We finally rolled out of bed (or our respective crib, day bed, and weird chair bed fold out thingy) close to 10 am. Levi couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight, which made things interesting. He actually was asking for something to eat and drink, which was a good sign, but we had to distract him so he wouldn't get too upset. He was pretty happy this morning, and played, talked, and smiled quite a bit more than he had the past few days. That was a huge encouragement to mommy and daddy.

Our family started showing up around 11 am, which helped the day move quickly. The nurses took him back for the biopsy around 3:30 pm. He was back there for about an hour, then the nurse and doctor came to talk to us and told us the biopsy and the placement of the PICC line went great. Steph and I went back to the post-op area, where we found an enraged little 15 month old beautiful boy wanting his mom and dad. He calmed down pretty quickly once we snuggled a little bit and gave him something to drink.

He started to have PVCs with a few runs of V-tach not long after we got back there. The nurse was pretty concerned, so she brought a few more nurses to help watch him and got in touch with the PICC line team. They suspected that the PICC line was too far in (although we had been told it was "perfect placement"), and brought in the portable x-ray machine to do a chest x-ray. They were thinking that the PICC line was irritating Levi's heart. After the x-ray, they pulled the line out a centimeter or so, then followed up with a second x-ray to confirm placement. That must have done the trick, as his PVCs stopped once the PICC line was adjusted and he was back in the room.

We had a great evening with Levi and our family. Steph's parents were here, as were Nate, Amy, and little Xavier. My parents and Cyrus brought Caylee towards the end of Levi's procedure. It was very calming to have everyone here. Levi was very excited that they allowed him to have food again, and ate like a champ (including an entire cheese quesadilla from Chipotle that his Grandpa Richard bought for him). He played with everyone tonight, and gladly shared a cup of ice cream with his big sister. It was a blessing and an encouragement to have him engaged and happy again. He went right to sleep tonight, and we are very relieved that they will be able to do his 4am blood draw through the PICC line instead of poking him again. I am not sure how many more sticks his poor little bruised arms could take (or his frustrated and anxious mommy and daddy could tolerate).

Thank you all again for your prayers and support. They were felt today, and we know that God was with us throughout all of this. We are relying on Him to get us through this. We should get some results back tomorrow, and hopefully know enough to start fighting whatever it is that's bringing our little bubby down. Please keep the prayers coming! Also, thank you so much for the comments, texts, emails, and messages. They provide so much encouragement for us. We try to reply to as many as we can, but it is simply not possible. Thank you again for the outpouring of love and support. We love you all,

Michael, Stephanie, Caylee, and little Levi