Long over due update!

Sorry there hasn't been any updates lately! This past week I think it all caught up with me and the mommy adrenaline was withering away! To think of what to post just made me tired...but today I'm refreshed and ready to go!

Faith continued to be a star with her lung issues! She has impressed many, but I continue to remind the docs it's b/c soooooo many people were praying for her! Faith decided at two weeks old that she didn't want to be on oxygen any more and pulled off her own nasal cannula! And she did really well, this girl knows what she wants! God is good!

She contines to show progress everyday in her breathing rates, they are still a bit fast but way more under control now. The next step now becomes getting her to eat well. Sometimes CDH babies have a hard time with nippling but Faith takes the binki, bottle and nursing well! One more thing to thank the Lord for! Although she is nursing good she wasn't quite getting enough calories, so on Friday they decided to put the feeding tube back in to help her catch up. Today she is nursing and then following up with 30ml through the feeding tube. Hopefully in a couple days she will be nursing well enough to take out the feeding tube.

Sleeping Beauty

Bath Time!

Grant and Olivia got to help with Faith's bath, they each got one leg! We had to be fair!

Just a few cry's during bath time. Her cry kind of sounds like a little lamb:)

Faith lungs are doing GREAT! One of the head Dr's commented today that she is very impressed with Faith's latest chest x-ray that showed lots of expansion in her left lung! And we(the docs) don't see this happen often in CDH babies!!
I think we all need to give a BIG shout out to our Maker the GREAT Physician!
So now that her lungs are well on their way our next hurdle will be starting feeds and getting the digestion to work properly. Faith did start some tube feedings on Thursday, she seemed to be doing well until 12pm Friday morning. She was uncomfortable and they gave her a small dose of morphine. This helps the pain but slows the gut! She then got a little backed up and the doctors stopped feeds for 24 hours. She now is getting Tylenol for any pain and we started bottle feeds again this afternoon! Please pray with us that she will be able to digest her food well and that she will continue to be a good eater! A good eater leads to weight gain. All these things together get us that much closer to going home:)

A quick note on Elizabeth, she still is fighting off the cold but starting to sound better. It just takes her twice a long as you and I to get over a cold. So keep praying for her as well!

She's our overachiever!

Just got off the phone with the night nurse....and Faith made a few more steps in the right direction! 12:00 last night they moved her settings on the sipap to 21% oxy - that's room air!!!!
About 5am she was doing so well they moved her to a nasal cannula with high pressure! WOW..I'm so amazed at how God is working in her little body!!!

They also started a feed through a small tube and she is keeping that down and she pooped right away! So everything seems to be working right:) Our prayer now is that she will continue to digest her food and not get "backed up" and this is the time where fluid my build up in her lungs where all her digestive parts where. We don't want that to happen, because that could lead to a chest tube. So keep the praying up.....What a mighty God we serve!

OFF THE VENT!!!

PRAISE THE LORD, Faith is off the vent!!! She is now on Sipap which is oxygen support through her nose and doing GREAT!! Just a quick update to let you all know:) I'm going to try to give a more detailed updated later tonight!

Once again thank you so much for all the prayers! To God be the glory great things He has done!!!!!!

Holding Faith for the first time!

Holding Faith for the first time was soooooo wonderful! I think I held her for 2 hours, I didn't want to put her down! She stayed very relaxed and her oxygen levels were very good! Faith took a good nap in my arms. I knew I loved her very much but my heart was so overwhelmed with JOY! Yes there were a few tears..but tears of joy!

She has a little bit of jaundice, so here she is working on her tan with her daddy! I think this is the ONLY time he will allow her to lay topless! LOL

Aaron got to do the first parent diaper change! Yes, he changes diapers and doesn't complain!
I think he's a GREAT daddy!

We are cautiously optimistic, she is making little baby steps everyday but she has a lot more to make. The Dr's are pleased with her progress and say she really isn't following the book
of CDH babies...thanks to our Lord and all your prayers:)
We can't believe she is a week old...the shortest and longest week! WOW!

Thanks for all your prayers, we can sure feel them! Please also keep the rest of us in your prayers too.. Elizabeth is battling a cold, the kids are back at school and Aaron went home to try to get some work done so he could come back this weekend! So I miss them all:( But we are taking in "One day at a time!"

Thanks again for all your prayers, xoxo to all of you!

€€

Faith Opens Her Eyes