Jack Everett Burns

From Jack!

First off, Lisa and I want to say thank you everyone for all of your prayers!!! As I told Lisa and the rest of the family, it’s no coincidence that we have been reading a book for the past several months about missionary endeavors in China funded and sustained solely by prayer! One thing we have been reminded of throughout the past couple of days is that the Lord answers the prayers of His people. There is simply no other explanation for Jack’s amazing turn around.
Now, for the details. Lisa began early labor around 2:30pm on Saturday the 19th. The contractions continued to increase in frequency and severity for the next few hours until finally at 8:00 we decided this was it and headed for the hospital. When we arrived Lisa was examined and the nurse confirmed she was definitely in labor. Lisa was admitted and the doctor was notified. We moved to our own room around 10:30pm and began the long process that would eventually lead to Jack’s birth a few hours later. Around 4:00am Lisa the effects of Lisa’s epidural began to wear off and the nurse was considering calling the anithesiologist about repositioning the tube. But, just to be on the safe side, she checked Lisa one last time. Good news! Lisa was fully ready to begin pushing, and so, we did. At 4:16 and with the first set of pushes, we saw a little bit of Jack’s head emerge. Cindy, our nurse, was absolutely amazed, stating that most women push for an hour or so before seeing such progress. After about 4 or 5 good contractions, Cindy decided we’d better take a break until Dr. Gray could get up there or she’d be catching the baby herself! So, we waited until Dr. Gray arrived and got prepped, and she helped Lisa deliver Jack, a wonderful experience that was completed only a few minutes later. Jack was born at 4:43am and placed on his mommy’s chest. Praise the Lord!
I was able to cut the cord and end the 9 month long dependency for a new type of relying on mommy. It was truly a joy to watch him experience life outside the womb for the first time. He was cleaned up and weighed as we all watched and Dr. Gray began attending to Lisa. Jack tipped the scales at 10lbs 2oz. and stretched the tape to 22 ½ inches!!! Who knew such a big boy could be hanging out inside Lisa?!
Pretty soon the doctors and nurses noticed that Jack’s crying didn’t sound right. He was struggling much too hard to breath and the mucus coming up out of his lungs did not look very good. They took him up to the nursery to see about getting his lungs cleared out and observing his breathing. Lisa was taken to another room where we dealt with complications of her own. After about 4 hours or so a nurse practitioner came down to our room and informed us that Jack was not doing well at all. At this point they did not know what was wrong with him, but had three possibilities in mind 1) pneumonia, 2) something with a long name I can’t remember, or 3) a problem with the plumbing of his heart. An x-ray was performed in order to check for the first two, and a pediatric cardiologist from UNC-Chapel Hill came over to read a EKG on his heart. The rest of the day was spent in prayer and anxiety as we waited to hear the news. Around 9pm that night we learned his heart was ok and the hugest weight was lifted from our shoulders, it seemed. As you’ve seen in the pictures, at this time Jack spent all day on an open bed, head under an oxygen hood, as doctors and nurses tried to saturate the air with as much pure oxygen as possible. Attempting to keep the atmosphere around his head as close to 100% pure oxygen as possible, Jack still struggled to get his blood oxygen saturation to 75%. The doctors officially decided it was pneumonia that was causing Jack’s breathing problems and they began administering a 10 day course of antibiotics. And so, Father’s Day ended with the greatest present a father could ever ask for, and at the same time barely a day into the greatest challenge we’ve ever faced.
Monday was spent trying to catch up on some much needed rest, with frequent trips up to Jack’s new home, the Special Care Nursery. Monday was a much better day for our son, as he continued to improve, he gradually got his blood oxygen saturation up while nurses steadily decreased the amount of pure oxygen being pumped into the hood. A feeding tube was put down into his stomach and Jack received milk instead of intravenous nourishment for the first time since being born.
Tuesday morning I couldn’t sleep and so I rode the slowest elevator in the world back up to the SCN at about 6:25am. I was allowed in for a few minutes before the nurse’s shift change at 6:30am required all visitors to leave. As I entered the Pod, I noticed a dramatic difference in Jack’s appearance: no oxygen hood! I spoke with the nurse on duty and was informed that they had gradually weaned him off of pure oxygen until at last he was able to breath room air and maintain 90-100% blood oxygen saturation. Also, late Monday night he removed the feeding tube on his own, and a nurse decided to try a bottle rather than replacing it, as his breathing had slowed to a safe rate. He ate like a champ and hasn’t looked back!! Tuesday was spent with more trips up and down the elevator, going back and forth between the SCN and Lisa’s room. Two wonderful developments took place: I was able to hold Jack for the first time and Lisa was able to begin nursing him. Late Tuesday night, Lisa was discharged and we made the (seemingly) long trip home to Wake Forest. Being home was great and difficult at the same time. We were overjoyed to be in our own bed again, but it was no fun leaving Jack at the hospital.
The rest of our time here has been thankfully uneventful. Aside from the IV lines and monitor leads, Jack is much like any other baby. We’ve been able to hold him, change his diaper, try to figure out why he’s crying, and rock him to sleep. We’ve brought him some of his own clothes and blankets, in an effort to make the SCN feel a little more like home. Tomorrow, I go back to work... But we’ll be over here every day until he gets out.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support. We’ll keep you updated of anything else that happens.