Dear Friends,

Stephanie and I come to you with joyous hearts regarding our Alison’s daily progress.  We believe the Lord has mercifully reached down from Heaven and touched our little girl with His healing.  Thank you, Lord!  Our Heavenly Father continues to move faithfully among His children—if only we will choose to trust and wait upon Him.  Praise be to His holy name!

Alison celebrated three-months (13-weeks) of life on Tuesday, November 7, at 2:21 PM.  What a joy it was for us to see our daughter alert and smiling (yes, she is learning to smile!) on her birthday.  She continues to confound her doctors, nurses and therapists.  They clearly say that Alison is a miracle! Praise be to God!  Our daughter was born anemic with a blood hematocrit (proportion of blood volume that is occupied by red blood cells) of seven.  We have been told that a healthy baby is born with a blood hematocrit of 45 or greater.  By the Lord’s grace, our Alison is not showing any lasting side effects from her traumatic beginning.  Praise be to our merciful and mighty Lord!

Friday night, Alison moved back to Pod 2 (her original pod from birth) from her Isolation Room (Stephanie and I were blessed by that room for approximately 10 weeks).  Her room was needed for a very sick baby—so a trip to Pod 2 became necessary.  It was a tad emotional for Stephanie as Alison was moved back to where she began her journey.  The move has proven to be a blessing for Alison, as her primary nurses are once again able to be close to her at all times.  When she no longer required a dedicated nurse, Alison’s attending nurse had to move between two rooms (the Intensive Critical Care and the Isolation Room) to care for two to three babies at the same time—which left her alone at times.  In addition, Alison’s crib is now by a window and she is learning how warm and cheerful the sun can be.  Praise be to God!

Saturday morning, Alison nippled a bottle for the first time.  Since that first feed, she has quickly learned the mechanics and is now able to nipple every other feed (all 70 cc’s of Portegen).  Praise be to God!  Alison continues to gain strength and clearly fusses when it is time to eat (because she is hungry!).  Praise be to God!  The doctors have decided to wait a few more days (to allow Alison to build up needed endurance between feeds) before allowing Alison to nipple every feed.  Alison is still not strong enough to nipple every feed—as a bottle feed tires her out too much for the next feed (her breathing rate increases during and immediately after each feed).  Alison is spitting up much less often, but she has a tendency to have a large spit-up when she is fed by the stomach tube.  Alison’s doctors do not yet understand why and are a little concerned about her slow weight gain (she has been hovering around 8 lbs for a few days now—partially due to the spit-ups).  Alison had an Upper GI (contrast study to make sure her stomach did not have any blockages) this afternoon.  Her stomach checked out fine.  Thank you, Lord!  Please pray that the Lord would grant Alison the strength to nipple every feed.  Please pray that the Lord would grant Alison's lungs strength so that her breathing rate will remain unlabored during her feeds.  Please pray that the Lord would strengthen Alison’s stomach to limit her spit-ups to help ease her doctors’ concerns. Please pray the Lord would bless Alison’s body with the correct nourishment to properly grow.  Please pray that the Lord would bless Alison’s doctors with His wisdom and knowledge of her body.

Monday afternoon, Alison finally had a MRI on her brain tissue (her neurologist had requested a MRI early on).  The preliminary results came back normal!  This would not be possible without the Great Physician!  Praise be to God!  Alison’s neurologist came by to check on her this morning.  She said Alison’s brain tissue was healthy, her blood vessels are the correct size, her head circumference is a tad small for her age, and she will continue to monitor Alison’s progress due to her rough start at birth.  She was truly amazed at Alison’s continued progress (Praise be to God!) and recommended that we should pray that her head circumference would grow a little.  Please pray that the Lord would continue to protect and nourish Alison’s brain.  Please pray that the Lord would grant Alison’s head circumference with growth.

Tuesday afternoon, our daughter was changed from a high-flow nasal canula (pressure is added to the oxygen to help force the oxygen down her trachea) back to a low-flow nasal canula (oxygen only).  Even better, she is at the lowest setting (0.1).  Praise be to God!  Alison has a tendency to move around quite a bit, which sometimes causes the canula prongs (the inserts into her nasal passages) to come out of her nose.  When this happens, her blood oxygen saturation remains in the high 80’s and low 90’s.  Praise be to God!  Her doctors are beginning to discuss removing the canula for a couple hours on certain days to allow her to fully breathe on her own.  In the not so distant future, our daughter could actually be breathing room air without any assistance.  Praise be to God!  Please pray that the Lord would continue to strengthen Alison’s lungs.

Alison’s doctors are beginning to discuss changing Alison from Portegen milk (medical formula) to her mother’s milk.  The pulmonologist is still concerned that Alison may not be ready.  He is considering doing an additional surgical procedure to retrieve a tissue sample from her small intestine to test for a lymphatic disorder.  Without his okay, Alison’s neonatologists are hesitant to begin this transition.  The downside of the procedure is that Alison may have to be reintubated (placed back on the ventilator) for two to three days to help her lungs regain their momentum (because a scope is placed down her trachea, and the medicine used to keep her still during the procedure can interfere with her breathing).  Please pray that the Lord would grant Stephanie and me His wisdom in knowing if this procedure is in Alison’s best interest.  Please pray that the Lord would grant His wisdom and knowledge of Alison’s lungs to her pulmonologist to determine if the procedure is medically necessary.  Please pray that the Lord would grant His healing to any potential weakness Alison may have in her lymphatic system.

Due only to the mercy of the Great Physician and the hard work of His able assistants at Woman’s Hospital, our Alison is making progress each day.  Praise be to God!  Her personality is so animated: she is beginning to lift up her head, her eyes are able to intently follow you, and she even tries to stand with her legs when you are holding her upright on your lap.  Alison fusses when she is hungry, when her diaper is dirty, and when she is demanding to be held—just so many blessings we might have taken for granted.  The Lord has been truly merciful to our family.  Thank you, Heavenly Father!  Our Alison still has a ways to go, but it seems possible that she might be able to go home in time for the holidays.  Please continue to stand in the gap with us for our Alison.  As Thanksgiving approaches, Stephanie and I continue to give thanks to the Lord for your continued prayers and best wishes.

Blessings to you,

Langston and Stephanie