Our unsung Hero

Matt here again. No worries the better writer of the family will return soon enough! I have been wanting to post this post for several days but Mathew kept improving so rapidly he has dominated the blog.

We have some one very near and dear to us who I would really like to recognize here. Keli's brother Jeff was an amazing blessing during the last 10 days. Jeff was our only family member able to be there for Mathew's birth. Please imagine his agony sitting in the waiting room for nearly 2 hours with no news. They were supposed to open the curtain and let him see Mathew but due to the complications the curtain never opened. He sat in that tiny waiting room for about 2 hours anxiously awaiting news, but knowing in his heart something had went wrong. His nephew, sister, and brother-in-law were literally feet away, but we were not able to communicate with him. He was so close he heard Mathew's first faint cries. When I was finally able to send him a text it basically said "Keli is good, baby having breathing problems." It was about two hours before I was able to see him face to face. At that point we still had not received any news on Mathew. From that point forward he was by our side essentially non stop for nearly a week. Jeff was our chauffeur, our shoulder to cry on, our dog sitter, food delivery guy, bell hop, and just a great support. Keli and I will be eternally grateful for his love, support, and compassion during the most trying time of our lives so far.

As if all that was not enough, guess what else he did?? Most of you know, but those of you that don't, I am a DIEHARD St. Louis Cardinals fan. Every year Jeff and I attend at least one Cardinals spring training game. Last year we took the plunge and spent a whole week in Jupiter watching games, practices, playing golf and just having an amazing vacation.

click here for pictures of the trip last year:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=184615574/a=14224383_14224383/t_=14224383

Well it just so happened that the Cardinals were playing in Lakeland for the first time in several years this year. The date was March 16th. I had being preparing Keli for months that if all went well that MJ would be attending his first game that day. Needless to say, that plan went straight down the toilet. However, Jeff and his dad Steve did attend the game. As they sat on the outfield berm in the 7th inning Albert Pujols cranked a deep homer right at them! As usual Steve found someone to hide behind, but Jeff pounced on the home run ball. He immediately thought of us and has given it to MJ as a memento of the game we had hoped to take him too. Uncle Jeff gets huge props again!

On to Mathew. There are no big updates today. We are waiting for his breathing to slow down some more so we can feed him with a bottle. He is getting much closer and I would not be surprised if they tried tonight. His oxygen level is very near the minimum levels they give. They can still decrease the pressure but he is really doing nearly all the work. We were down to 72 breaths per minute tonight and they would like to see him at 60 before introducing the bottle. As always, we thank all of you for your support and prayers. We are getting so close that we are really getting anxious to take him home.

Love to all!
The Keyes Family