December 21st, 2025
Update from Kate Drzycimski:
We got to FaceTime for a few minutes with Will/Hannah in the NICU. Little Ruth is doing well. Here's a few things we found out as I peppered poor Will with all my questions (he was suffering from digestive woes, so did not look too great!)…the multiple blood transfusions are because they do labs every 12 hours, measuring things like glucose, oxygen, etc. So when she had some bad blood work results that one time, it was one of many many lab draws (and it righted itself by the next one). When they talked to the heart doctor about the valve issue, it is still small enough at the moment that they are going to wait to do anything/make any decisions about it. They did an ultrasound of her head again today but they haven't heard back results on it. Andrew/Iris in their trailer and Will/Hannah in their camper are currently camped out in the parking lot of the church that Andrew/Iris are associated with here, but Andrew has been able to do some checking with various contacts and has arranged for them to move to a different church parking lot that is much closer to the hospital (only 5 minutes away), so that's good.
The c-section did end up being a "classical" incision, so more invasive than they typically are anymore and it nixes the option of a VBAC in the future. :-( Hannah's looking well though! So praise God for that!!Ruth weighed 15.7oz at birth and weighs 14.25 right now. The hospital has dealt with babies of that size before (with successful discharges) and even ones that were smaller than that, so that's encouraging.
Sorry for the long update. :-) Hopefully Will can correct me if I got any details wrong.
Ruth is stable and doing well! She has lost one ounce since birth, but this is to be expected. She has had multiple blood transfusions this week to compensate for drawing blood tests every 12 hours. Overall these tests have had favorable results.
The main battles this week have circled around the ventilator settings (how they are affecting her lungs and ribs), and her blood pressure. We go back and forth on the respirator, and she’s currently on two blood pressure medications. Once we can get her off the blood pressure medication, we will be able to feed her breast milk again. Along those lines, until she moves her bowels there is some doubt as to whether her digestive system is fully developed.
We are very grateful that she is doing as well as she is. This morning she had a bunch of tests and people tampering with her, but her nurse was wise in spacing it out over an hour, letting her recover between tests. She’s a feisty little girl by what the nurses tell me, constantly taking sensors and leads off her chest and being troublesome. She also recognizes her mother and I when we talk to her.
We are currently visiting Ruth every six hours when we’re allowed to touch her: 2pm, 8pm, 2am, 8am.
Thank you so much for your prayers. Please continue to pray for Ruth’s life, her health, and her continued development. Also pray that Hannah and I get enough rest—we are both trying to avoid chronic fatigue and exhaustion. We are taking every minute as it comes, but the Lord has been merciful.
Quick Ruth update: they’ve started the Tylenol in an attempt to close the heart valve. There’s some fluid that’s shown up in the lungs and they’re not sure where it’s from, but hoping that if they can get the valve closed the lungs will look better. Brain bleed looks better. She’s still doing well after all the scans this morning.