Bennett Mitchell Speck

JOURNAL

Day Eleven- 2 pm (from Kelly)
posted on 08/30/2007

Greetings from Georgetown Hospital NICU- we are coming to know this place very well.  Thank you SO incredibly much for all your words of encouragement, strength, love, and prayers- they continue to sustain us and carry us and we cannot thank you enough.  We are humbled and truly strengthened by the outpouring of love and concern being shown to Bennett and our family; both from those of you that we know and love, and from those of you whom we have never met....thank you.

Bennett is having a good day, so we thank God for that.  Trav's mom and I just got to spend some time with our angel boy and also got to talk to his nursing staff a bit.  We have these things to praise God for:

 - Bennett's lung x-ray came back slightly better today (with increased signs of air flow), so we are so incredibly thankful to have baby steps in the right direction.  We continue to pray that the antibiotics kill that bacteria in a major way so that his lungs are freed from infection and pneumonia.

- Bennett's head scans from yesterday came back fine, which means that there has been no bleeding detected in his brain- praise God for that!

- Bennett's blood gases today are looking better than they have since he got to the Georgetown NICU, which gives us hope that his body is helping to contribute to produce oxygen in his blood and not solely relying on the ECMO to do this. 

- The nurses measure the circumference of his abdomen daily and today they were able to report that the circumference had decreased by a few cm, which is a good thing; the fluid they are pumping into him continues to decrease as he pees more and more, so we are so thankful for that.

- I don't have an update regarding the blood in his urine, but please continue to be praying that NO MORE BLEEDING will occur as a result of the blood thinner that he is currently on for ECMO.

We will try to get some more pictures tonight because I know you guys want to see how precious our little man is.....he is such a fighter and we are in constant amazement of Bennett's strength.  We know that God is holding our baby boy in the shadow of his wings, and for that we are thankful.

 





Comments:

comment by Kevin Watson on 09/02/2007
I will continue to pray for Bennett's recovery and for his parents' strength and faith to remain strong.

Love,

Kevin
comment by Cindy & Larry on 08/30/2007
Kelly & Travis,
So good to hear about the baby steps today. We are still praying for all of you and giving God the glory for each baby step achieved by Bennett. We love you guys!
Larry and Cindy
comment by Amy Crump on 08/30/2007
So glad to read another positive update! Although my pages have been slowing, my praying has not. We love you guys and continue to pray very hard for Bennett.
comment by Debbie Turk on 08/30/2007
What wonderful news! Remember that sweet Bennett is a baby, therefore, these baby steps are normal!! We just pray he keeps stepping in the right direction. May god continue to heal those little lungs and protect his little brain and kidneys. I can't wait to see more of your sweet family. Pictures are just a small glimps of the future, seeing your family at church worshiping our Almighty God. That indeed will be a blessed day.
Love you all and will not stop praying for you all,
Debbie
comment by Elizabeth McBride on 08/30/2007
So good to hear from you, Kelly! We are so happy to hear that Bennett is getting better daily. He is so precious and so strong. I saw the book "The Little Engine that Could" at the bookstore the other day and I just had to get it for Bennett. I think it is the perfect book for our little fighter. : ) We love you. You're constantly on our minds and in our prayers.

Love,
Brandon & Elizabeth
comment by Keith and Martha Rogers on 08/30/2007
We're so glad to hear the good news. We'll be praying now that Bennett progresses as both Anna Wren and Claire did. Once they turned the corner they made great strides and surprised us all with how quickly they got well. May God continue to bless you all with peace and patience as you wait for your day to carry Bennett home.
comment by Kim on 08/30/2007
So wonderful to hear from you Kelly and to know that you are feeling better. Great news about Bennett-he was probably a little concerned about his weight, so losing a couple of cm's around the middle-Hurrah!!!
My personal faith is renewed as I witness the hand of God touching your family and the faith and encouragement of all those who love you. Many hugs to you all...
Kim
comment by Mike and Donna Root on 08/30/2007
Praise be to the Father for the improvements made in the last 24 hours. You all continue to be in our prayers. Give our love to your families.
comment by Booker on 08/30/2007
Thank you for sharing the positive news! We are so thankful for this encouraging news! Thank you God! Way to go Bennett! We continue to pray that the infection will leave his body and that there will be NO bleeding.

Love to you all,
Alison
comment by Julie Sam and Co. on 08/30/2007
We are so glad that there has been improvement. We will continue to pray for more. He is such a fighter! We love you guys!
comment by christy on 08/30/2007
Hurray!! Thanks for sharing that awesome news with us. I know you just jump for joy at every little forward step that Bennett makes. Pretty soon that infection will be out the door!!!
love you!!
comment by Stephanie Mitchell on 08/30/2007
WONDERFUL NEWS! Praise the Lord!
We look forward to seeing more photos. We continue to keep praying for Bennett's strength.
The Mitchell's
comment by Robin and Jeremy on 08/30/2007
We're rejoicing with you guys in the good news! Praise God for His love and mercy and for better blood gases!! You all are always in our thoughts, and we continue to lift up Bennett in our prayers.

All our Love,
Jeremy and Robin
comment by b and g on 08/30/2007
What wonderful news !! The Lord is so good to us. Thank you for taking time to inform us of Bennett's progress. Each day is filled with positive feedback, and we are so thankful. Take care of each other and give Grana a hug for me. I look forward to more good news ! Love and Prayers B and G
comment by Kate Martin on 08/30/2007
I am constantly checking Bennett's site for updates and am SO thankful that you have positive things to report! You, Travis and Bennett are in my constant prayers. I even prayed for Bennett the entire time I was vacuuming the other night (but I didn't page due to how late it was). Boone and I typically have at least one conversation per day asking each other if the other has checked Bennett's site recently. You are loved and covered in prayer! I pray for more good news in the days to come and for COMPLETE healing of Bennett's little body! Thanks for keeping us updated! I can't wait to see more pictures of your little man!
comment by Ashley Nelson on 08/30/2007
Praise God! What great things to be thankful! You are still in our constant thoughts. Please keep us updated. Love you!

Cody, Ashley, and Carley Nelson
comment by Colleen on 08/30/2007
Thanks for the detailed update Kelly! We praise God for Bennett's improved health and continue to praise him for the healing he will continue to do through your son. We are so thankful that Bennett is growing stronger day by day and can't wait to see more photos. Your son is so beautiful, adorable, and is a fighter. Thank you for sharing your son with all of us. May God continue to bless y'all and may y'all continue to feel all of the love and prayers being sent your way. We love all three of y'all!
comment by Brenda Newberry on 08/30/2007
Thanks for the update and so happy to hear the great report! The miracle of your little boy keeps amazing us all. He is soooo precious. Looking forward to new pictures! Love, Brenda
comment by John, Elizabeth, Chloe & Mark Fortune on 08/30/2007
So good to hear from you Kelly! What a wonderful update! Praise God for the healing that is taking place in sweet Bennett's body. We can't wait to see more pictures. Stay strong and take care of yourself too as you heal. We love you guys!
comment by Rachel Klick on 08/30/2007
YAY!!! Thanks for sharing all this great news with us! Today as I was strapped down, lying very still for 2 hours I thought of you, Trav and Bennett A LOT! I thought of how his little body must want to move around like crazy and how much he wants those tubes gone! Praise God for bring him one day closer to that day! You and Travis are amazing parents already...I'm excited to watch as your relationship develops! I love you very much my friend! You look amazing (by the way) :)
In Him,
Rachel
comment by John, Elizabeth, Chloe & Mark Fortune on 08/30/2007
So good to hear from you Kelly! What a wonderful update! Praise God for the healing that is taking place in sweet Bennett's body. We can't wait to see more pictures. Stay strong and take care of yourself too as you heal. We love you guys!
comment by Sarah Thompson on 08/30/2007
What a day already. Thank you Abba, father. We are soooooooooo thankful for every baby step this strong boy makes. So good to know that mom and Grandma are spending the day together. Earlier I was praying, "I need thee every hour....." and I'm so thankfu that your tender hearts have witnessed him yet again. Keep the faith!
comment by Gretchen Davis on 08/30/2007
The news keeps on getting better. So glad to hear that he is healing. Yes, please post pictures of your little cutie. We love looking at them. Cole can't wait to meet his buddy face to face. We love you guys. Gretchen
comment by Laura Mundie on 08/30/2007
YEAH! We are so excited to hear ALL of the wonderful news! I know it is baby steps for his lungs, but it is comforting to know there is a little change every day. The drugs are working!! And the fact that everything else keeps coming back normal is AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!! We will continue to pray and you know we would love to see more pictures so brag away!

Love,Laura
comment by Jaime Sanderson on 08/30/2007
Thank you for the update. We are praising God for these improvements and boldly asking for more!

We look forward to more pictures of your precious boy as he has quite a hold on our hearts!!!
comment by Ann and Derran on 08/30/2007
What a great update! Praise God for these improvements. What joy that brings to us to hear all of it. We'd love to see more pictures! We will be thanking God today and continuing to ask His continued healing on those little lungs. We love you guys. Thanks for the updates today. Bennett, we are so proud of you, keep up the good work little man.
comment by Jonathan and Jessica on 08/30/2007
We are grateful for some good news and continuing to pray constantly for you guys!

Jess, Jonathan and Simone
comment by Sarah Booker on 08/30/2007
It's good to "hear" your voice, too, Kelly - and with lots of "good" to report. Definitely will keep praying for you all. Thanks for giving us specifics to lift up.
comment by Julie Beth Fox on 08/30/2007
Praise God for all of Bennett's 'baby steps' in the right direction! We continue to daily lift you up in prayer and can't wait to see pictures of you holding sweet Bennett!

Love, Julie Beth, Adam, Sara and Anna Kate
comment by Kristen Yost on 08/30/2007
Praise God for the good news on Bennetts improvements! We continute to pray for Bennett's healing and strength. Keep up the good work sweet little boy! I can't wait to see some more pictures of him!
comment by JP and Beth on 08/30/2007
Great news! Thanks for continuing to update us. We keep praying. God has been so faithful!
comment by Meredith on 08/30/2007
thinking, praying and praising God every day for the little victories that are so huge!



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