Family Photo Shoot

My dad brought his fancy camera when he and Granna came to visit so we took the oportunity to get some family photos at the beautiful Missouri Botanical Gardens. The tulips were in full bloom and I think we got a few (like a thousand) pictures for posterity. Thanks Papa!

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth's Endoscopy...good report!

We have wonderful news to report from Elizabeth's endoscopy today.  The procedure went well, and Elizabeth came through with flying colors. The varices, while still there, have shrunken by one grade.  They saw only one small "red spot" (a sign of potential future bleeding) where before there were three.  The three WashU experts who attended the procedure were delighted with the improvement, and feel like her current medication regimen must be working.  As Matt puts it, "We're not sure the medication is helping, but we're positive the prayers are.  We'll definitely keep taking the medications and we certaily won't stop praying!"  Best of all, the good report means Elizabeth won't need endoscopy for another 6 months.  For the time being, a liver transplant is, I think, officially off the table.

 

On the way home from the hospital, while the anesthesia was still wearing off, we stopped by our pediatrician's office for an ear check.  Elizabeth has been "ignoring us" for about a week, and almost completely deaf for several days.  The pediatrician confirmed double ear infections.  She's such a tough little girl that she hadn't even been acting sick or complaining of ear pain!  Pray that we've caught these infections in time and that the antibiotics will prevent any permanent hearing loss from occuring. 

 

Thank you for your thoughts & prayers. We all feel good about today.

 

Love,

Matt & Sara

 

This picture was taken at the St. Louis Zoo yesterday...

 

 

 

The fun doesn't end

We're having a glorious time...Elizabeth has eaten a Thin Mint (I guess everyone loves girlscout cookies), Ruby is trying her best to sit up and charm everyone within reach, and we're all soaking up the family time. Monday is the big day, so we'd appreciate your prayers for Elizabeth's endoscopy.

 

 

 

A New Approach to Feeding Therapy??

Elizabeth's Granna & Papa arrived on Wednesday, and life is GOOD. We're enjoying the spring like weather and lots of time outdoors. Granna has such a beautiful affect on Elizabeth, constantly encouraging her to try new things. It's amazing what she'll do at with a little encouragement from Granna. :)

 

Be Inspired.

This video was sent to us by a friend. It is worth the 13 minutes of time it takes to watch it. Be prepared to be inspired and encouraged. God has great plans for Elizabeth's life...and yours, and mine.

Back in the Saddle Again

After a 7-month hiatus, we're trying to start feeding Elizabeth by mouth again. With all her illnesses last fall, and the multiple hospitalizations, her oral feeding just stopped and we've been waiting to move forward again until she was stable. (read: not throwing up, in the hospital or suffering from severe diarrhea) Winter seems to be officially over here in St. Louis and we are hoping it takes the cold season with it. Elizabeth has regressed quite a bit in her chewing and tolerance of textures, but has matured quite a bit and seems let adverse to some flavors. She asks for a "bite" of anything resembling pizza and will tolerate some small tastes of yogurt.

 

I frequently get asked if we can just start her off like a baby again and reintroduce everything...the answer: unfortunately it's not quite that simple. We'll start there, but she has a history of throwing up when anything stays on her tongue, (something a healthy baby doesn't necessarily come with) so we have to retrain her to not gag and desensitize her to the textures on her tongue. I did it last spring, but it was my full time job...no less than 8 hours a day spent making food, helping her eat it, cleaning her up after a vomit and re-feeding her via g-tube everything she either lost or didn't get in the first place. With a 2nd child, I simply cannot do that this time around.

 

The good news is, we've had some success at self feeding, so hopefully the excitement of doing it herself will motivate her to try more...that has yet to pan out, but it's definitely not hindering her eating.

 

I'd appreciate your prayers for:

*Wisdom about how & how quickly to progress. I tend to want to push her and make daily progress...one more cc today than yesterday, etc. But she's got her endoscopy scheduled for April 21, and depending on what we see (still praying for a miracle!) this may or may not be a great time to make significant changes in her diet (she's on 100% Peptamen Jr. ~ 40oz/day). If we add food, then we have to start counting calories...and so far, we've really struggled to get all 1200 calories (what she needs to grow) into her just by feeding her food.

 

*Courage and encouragement for me (Sara) to tackle this again. Honestly, I'm dreading it and if I had an extra $10,000 lying around, I'd gladly pay for the feeding folks in SF to come work with her. I feel quite overwhelmed at all that she has to learn in order to first eat, then eat enough in order to get rid of her g-tube.

 

*Healing for our Eliza-bug!

 

Here's a little video of us getting started