Ava's Big Day

Thank you all for your thoughtful emails and notes of encouragement over the last few days (and months for that matter)! We have been encouraged to know God is faithfully working in all this. Even though we don't always respond, please know that we read every email and blog comment and are so blessed by your words and the heart behind them. 

 

Ava's doing well overall. She's almost at 7lbs and looks like she could be born any day! :) (my due date was the 18th) The neurologists continue to be stumped by additional abnormalities they're seeing on Ava's most recent MRI and are sending out her file to experts around the country. In the mean time, we are taking advantage of the lack of certainty to remind ourselves that God is the designer of her brain! And even with a diagnosis, God is the one who determines her function.

 

Now for a NEWS FLASH: In an effort to jump start Ava's round-the-clock nursing (joy!) and move us one step closer to discharge, she and I have been moved to a "Family Practice Unit" for the next 48 hours. We'll share what amounts to a little hotel room (bed, crib, bathroom, desk, cafe table) inside the NICU, for the purpose of letting families do a dry run for 24-48hrs before leaving the NICU entirely.  This all happened this afternoon, so none of us had preparation time, but it's a great development and we're praying Ava will begin to wake up and eat vigorously...and then have the weight gain to show for it! We'll still need to jump a few more hurdles before discharge, but this would be a huge step in the right direction.

 

Thank God my mom is here to help right now. She'll be home with the big girls all weekend, while Matt studies for his upcoming (on Friday) board exams...(no, the tests never end!)

 

We would all appreciate your prayers for:

~Ava's brain

~Ava's nursing and good weight gain

~Peace and grace and fun for the big girls at home with Granna (and stamina for our dear Granna!)

~Efficient & effective study time for Matt

~Preparation of Elizabeth's heart (and mine too) as she gets ready for Kindergarten to start on Monday. I'll update more on that later

 

Thank you for continuing to carry our family in your hearts.

Love,

Sara

Sent from my iPad