Heart of Beckett

UPDATE (1/30/13)

Beckett had another good night. The Doctors are continually tweaking the weaning of his medication. They explained that they are seeing progress, just very slow progress. However, his progress is not inconsistent to the amount of trauma he has endured in his short life. They hesitate to commit to a day and time in which they will be sending Beckett back to the NICU. This has been troublesome as I consider going home at some point today to get prepared for classes tomorrow. One Doctor in particular is crossing her fingers that this transfer may happen as early as tomorrow (we certainly aren’t holding our breath though). If I’m home and in class when this happens…I’d be pretty bummed. But there literally is no guarantee at all that this may happen as early as tomorrow.

Anyways, Beckett is still doing well (which is so exciting!). His continual progress are the exact words we like to hear from the Docs and Nurses. Stay tuned for further updates as they may start coming from Leah the days I’m back home. But again, all the posted updates can be seen at https://heartofbeckett.com/

Lastly, the support has been astounding (I know I keep saying that), but after posting Beckett’s website yesterday, within a few hours we had over 1,000 hits. By the end of the day we were over 3,200….that’s crazy!! Please keep spreading the word and feel free to share Beckett’s story….we are so proud of him, his courage and strength! — with Leah ‘Whiteley’ Rupp at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

UPDATE (1/29/13) -goodnight-

Beckett had a very eventful day and seriously handled it like a champ. He’s usually quite temperamental (as mentioned before), but was so chill during all his examinations today. He began his day by receiving a new “PICC” line, then they removed his “Central Line” from his groin area, then had an hour long “Echo” Examination, then “Speech Therapy” came for the first time (they deal with feeding, swallowing, etc, along with speech if/when that’s necessary and we get to that point), then they did CPT on him (which is a vibration to break up any secretion build up and keep his lungs open) which he usually HATES…and he didn’t cry once. Unbelievable! I think he’s really making great strides and everyone seems quite pleased with his progress.

We continue to take it a day (and an hour) at a time, but we are quite encouraged with this progress and desperately PRAY for no more major hiccups.

Leah and I were discussing earlier today that if we were given a snapshot of what was to come this month, we would have certainly said that there is NO WAY we could handle it all. Though we often hear the phrase “God will not give you more than you can handle”…I do not necessarily believe that to be true. 1 Corinthians 10:13 explains that we will not be “tempted” more than we can endure. I believe that we are presented with many trials beyond what we can endure. These moments remind us to not depend on our strength, but HIS strength. I don’t mean to “preach”, but I feel that we need to learn to wholeheartedly lean into the Lord during trials and not attempt to muster up the strength to bear it on our own. These are the opportunities to live out 2 Corinthians 12:10…”when we are weak, HE is strong”. We are slowly learning to let Him be our strength, to rest in his peace, and swallow our pride during moments of weakness. The Lord is our strength, and there is literally NO WAY we could be doing this without Him!

Love you all….GO BECKETT!! — with Leah ‘Whiteley’ Rupp at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

I’m not sure if I’ve already posted this song…but Chris Tomlin’s song “Sovereign” has been a huge encouragement:

UPDATE (1/29/13)

I must first begin by apologizing for not posting an update yesterday evening. Two nights ago I went to sleep with a little headache and woke up yesterday morning with an even worse one (I hate it when that happens). Unfortunately the headache did not go away and I ended up going to bed last night at around 9:00pm.

…but enough with the excuses, on to the UPDATE:

Beckett had little episodes here and there yesterday, nothing too crazy, but it definitely seemed a lil more severe than just “typical baby crying”. Late last night, Leah and the nurse concluded that he may not have had his chest tube drained at all throughout the day because the nurse from last night drained 36ml of fluid in one sitting (which isn’t a lot per say, but “a lot” in one sitting due to his positive trending of less and less fluid in his chest). As soon as the fluid was drained, he nearly immediately fell asleep, and his breathing was less labored.

He’s having a new “PICC” line put in right now as I type, and this is a “good” thing. He has a “Central Line” in his groin that they want to pull out, and we are being told that his “PICC” line is just another step toward the direction of heading to the NICU. He really is doing “good” (#perspective), but he is still very “sick”. As you can tell, though, from the pics and videos, he really is just the sweetest and cutest thing ever!

Now, onto the last few announcement/updates. We are still “trending” to be transferred to the NICU by the end of this week! Yay! Though I’m not overly anxious because I’d rather us be 100% sure he’s ready than rush anything (gotta trust the Docs on that one though). My Grad-School classes begin again this week, and I just found out we have an assignment due on our first day of class (“Dr. Gaier Shout-Out” ;-)), so my mind has had some time to start thinking about all that’s still going on outside of the hospital (mortgage, school, bills, apple stock dropping ;-), etc, etc). We are eager for this next chapter, but know that there are many more chapters to write before this story concludes (“one-step-at-a-time”). Thanks again for all the prayer and support (as always)…we can feel it, and so greatly appreciate it….you have no idea!!

And lastly, announcing Beckett’s own personal website in which my Facebook Update, Leah’s Facebook Posts, Pictures, Videos, etc will be posted for anyone outside of our “Facebook Bubble” to follow the story. I think the link is awfully fitting, as we have chosen the domain name https://heartofbeckett.com/ . Please feel free to pass this link around and share Beckett’s story with anyone you want. I’m proud to be his Dad, and I’m proud of his Mom. We are surrounded by amazing family and friends! Bless you all!! — with Leah ‘Whiteley’ Rupp at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

UPDATE (1/28/13)

Happy (1 month) Birthday Beckett!

Well, everyone keeps saying how well his color looks and that they are very pleased with his uneventful weekend. Ever since his lil outbreak Thursday night, Beckett was put back on some medicine to support his heart again. As somewhat mentioned in my older posts, Beckett needs to be off any IV cardiac (heart) support meds and switched to oral before we can be transferred back over to the NICU for his next chapter in this recovery process. This then lead to the weaning of these meds over the next few days and Beckett instilling confidence with the Doctors that he is ready to move forward without that support. Soooo…..we continue to sit…and wait, and wait some more.

I can’t help but be reminded of Isaiah 40:31- but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. — with Leah ‘Whiteley’ Rupp at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

UPDATE (1/27/13)

‘No News is Good News’

I have very little to report other than another quiet day (so far). He’s been a lil moody this evening, but hasn’t raced his heart rate too high from it (so that’s good). Tomorrow is his 1 month old birthday….craaaazy! This has been one of the slowest AND fastest months of our lives! I can’t believe Beckett is already a month old (…..almost). All the Docs and Specialists will be back tomorrow and we may know more details for this week after morning ’rounds’. Have a good night y’all, I’ll post a more informative update tomorrow!

(thankful for a quiet weekend) — with Leah ‘Whiteley’ Rupp at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

UPDATE (1/26/13)

Beckett had a great night. He has had no major ‘episodes’ since Thursday night and seems to be getting ‘better’ little-by-little each hour and each day. His surgeon came in today while I was holding him and asked ‘How’s our never ending saga doing?’. lol Beckett is well known around here, and many are still quite optimistic of his progress.

Continually asking and praying for a quiet weekend of rest, strength and healing!

James 1:6-8

…when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. — with Leah ‘Whiteley’ Rupp at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

UPDATE (1/25/13)

Last night was interesting. After the Update I posted last night, Beckett threw his heart rate around for a few more hours…not nearly as intense as last week, yet severe enough to get our attention. Sooo, its pretty safe to say that we won’t be leaving the PICU today, and will most likely be here for at least a few more days (minimum).

-added clarity-

When arriving nearly a month ago (wow!) to Indy from Ft. Wayne, we were sent to St. Vincent’s NICU. Beckett was then transferred from the NICU to the PICU because of his heart condition. All heart surgeries for kids (at least here at St. Vincent’s) are done and managed at the PICU. Once his cardiac function is “healthy” enough to be discharged from the PICU, we are then transported back to the NICU for further care (continual weaning of pain medicine, relearning how to eat orally, etc etc).

The Doctor’s are watching him closely, but have expressed that this isn’t nearly as critical as other things we’ve already gone through. Beckett will be treated with various medication to strategically assist his heart while relearning to breath off the ventilator. Though this does feel like a minor setback, it’s basically another 3 steps forward 1 step back scenario. No use getting ahead of ourselves, Beckett will show us his pace one way or another. 😉

Psalm 57:7, 9, 10

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and give praise.

I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing to You among the nations.

For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,

And Your truth unto the clouds. — with Leah ‘Whiteley’ Rupp at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.