M and girls

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you all but it has been a long few days...but first, some pics we found at Grandma and Grandpa's. I know it is hard to tell where my girls get their looks from, but this is M somewhere around one year old...

...Emily...

...M somewhere around two years old...

...K at 21 months...

...one more of Dad...

Okay, where to start? In order? We cleared out the entire garage and rearranged all our junk so we could fit M's new car in the garage. Now that it isn't a piece of junk, we have to protect it. :) This meant taking the second freezer we bought for frozen breastmilk to Grandma and Grandpa and a nice visit to a warmer environment.

This leads us to Emily. We are going to run out of breastmilk tomorrow. Yes, we have been using all the frozen breastmilk from when I pumped the first six months after this happened. Tomorrow we run out, which meant a trip in to see the GI to find a course of action as we switch to formula. For the first time since Em was born, a dr said, "I am pleased with her weight gain." AND there wasn't a 'but' following it either. Anyway, we are basically going to continue with the same additives until she finds a formula she likes and then we are going to push the solids as much as she will let us. On that front, she has started to open her mouth and even draws the food back for a few tablespoons here and there!! She hasn't done this, well ever, and it is such a relief as I hate feeding her.

We also went to the pulmonologist and they are going to put Emily on oxygen at night. Her apnea episodes are not lasting longer than 12 seconds, but her blood saturation drops to 80% oxygen at that time, so they want her to be on oxygen while she sleeps. I am not pleased about this, but at least since this is central apnea (her brain forgets to tell her to keep breathing), she still has a chance of outgrowing it as her brain continues to mature. Please pray for her brain. :)

Everyone else is doing all right and having fun just being alive.

For those praying for my sister and her family, Mitch is doing better and is out of ICU, but they have found a second infection in the lining of his lungs. They are blaming this for his slow recovery and are trying to decide what type of action to take. Most likely they will do a second CT scan to look at the fluid that is accumulating between his lungs and his ribs and then insert a tube to drain it. My sister is doing better except that last night her truck died. Completely. She called me from the hospital while she waited for someone to come pick her up. Sadly, this was the one vehicle that was working well for them and well, all she sees is dollar signs as they get it fixed. So, virtually everything in their lives is broken from the vacuum to the car to their health. Please pray for continued healing and well, a miracle of finances somewhere. Thanks!!

Seriously??

For those following my sister and her family, it just gets worse.  Yesterday, my sister was having trouble breathing so they decided to go to urgent care to check it out.  They dropped the girls off at Grandma's place and before she got to the car, her two year old tripped and hit her head on the slate floor...so they all went as a family to urgent care.  Her baby girl got three stitches on her head and my sister got antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection (they caught the pneumonia in her before it turned into actual pneumonia...let's hope).

Her husband, who is still in ICU, was not responding to the 'normal' antibiotics so they gave him the 'big guns' as she so medically accurately puts it.  Today he started coughing which is a very good sign and he got really mad at her over something trivial, which is also a good sign.  My sister said she just smiled and was glad he was responding to something.  He is still on oxygen and to walk to the bathroom wears him out for several hours...BUT, he is walking to the bathroom.  As it turns out, on top of all this, he is having headaches because he is a major coffee drinker and they haven't given him any caffeine since he arrived at the hospital.

Please keep this family in your prayers!!  My sister is exhausted just from being sick, much less from all the stress.  She is still trying to work as they both have hourly jobs, but as you can tell she is really not in any condition to do so.  Their oldest daughter is struggling to process this emotionally but at least she will now talk to Dad on the phone.  I don't know how to tell you to pray, but please lift them before the Lord today.  Thank you!