Elizabeth Archives - May 2006

Week 29 (April 28 to May 4) Update:

Sent on May 3, 2006:


Hi Everyone,



The last few weeks have been busy. Here are a few highlights from Sara...



Elizabeth was the belle of the ball...well, excluding the bride of course...at her Uncle Philip's wedding. We had a wonderful time introducing her to family and friends and she only made a few comments during Grandpa Sid's wedding message!



What we thought was a cold turned out to be a simple case of teething! This year on my birthday she gave me two teeth...a beautiful sight, and has since returned to her cheerful self.



Finally, she's growing and changing every day and provides us with countless opportunities to whip out the camera. She turns the pages when I read to her, and has moved from gurgling to blowing bubbles with her rice-cereal...not an easy trick! We're still working with her to help her gain the strength she'll need to eventually sit up. This is slow going but hopefully will be sped up with the aide of some Physical and Occupational Therapists that we'll meet with in the near future.



To update you on our prayer requests, last week we found out that Elizabeth will need to have another surgery to repair her hernia. Because of her history (lots of complications following her previous surgeries), what should be an outpatient operation, will have to take place at the hospital, where Elizabeth will be intubated again and admitted for 24 hours. The good news is, the surgery remains routine and complications aren't expected. Additionally, while they're fixing her right side, they can also go in and "shore up" her left side since many babies who have 1 hernia eventually develop a 2nd one.

This saves us from a future surgery and hopefully any more hernias! Please pray that the surgery can take place laproscopically and that she has no complications (a la lymphatic fluid drainage) like her previous surgeries.



The surgery will take place on May 15th, Matt's last day of work before a two week vacation. We've been planning to have some desperately needed family time on the coast, but we'll just wait and see how Elizabeth's recovery goes. Would you join us in praying that God will make a way for Elizabeth to heal quickly so that the three of us can get away for some respite?



Her feeding is...well, mostly the same. I pray often that God will multiply the nutrients she's getting and keep her growing and just give me the high sign when I don't need to stress about how much she's taking. I'm learning that my stress doesn't deliver food into her, so I'm getting better at rolling with the punches. After a visit to the feeding clinic, we're re-introducing solids and though she's still not a fan, I have more confidence that I'm not going to push her over the edge into hating food by pressing her to eat. If she can gain weight on the volume she's taking (about 60% of her goal) then we can relax a bit. We'll find out how she's doing at her pre-op appointment next Friday.



Thanks so much for your continued prayers.


Love,

Sara (for all three of us)






Week 31 (May 12-18) Update

Email Update sent May 16, 2006:


Well, we're home, and still picking up the pieces after only one day in the hospital. Once again, I realized just HOW much of a blessing it was that we lived only 1 block from the hospital through Elizabeth's time in the ICU...after last night, I don't think I could have survived sleeping over at the hospital night after night on top of all the other stress those first two months. Elizabeth came through surgery beautifully. She's still a little puffy (that's normal) and she's cranky and totally out of whack with her eating and sleeping (also normal) so we're going to try to get her a little more settled before we think about leaving the house for some family time. Thanks for your prayers. Elizabeth's pleasant demeanor leading up to the surgery was nothing short of a miracle. Se went 7 hours without food (no pacifier either) and even though our surgery was delayed an hour, she was delightful 'till the very end. THAT we can only thank God for.


Now we all desperately need sleep.



Love,

Sara (for all of us)