God's Faithfulness

Sweet Sadie's dedication was this past Sunday, and it was a special time. Each of our girl's dedication was special, but this one may have been a little more sentimental. It was a bonus having my parents here for the service. We promised before the congregation to raise Sadie in a home that taught her about God's love and grace. The pastor then did something different and had everyone in the sanctuary stand if they had prayed for us over the last several months. I don't share this to brag - it was overwhelming. I'm not good at numbers, but I bet ~500 people stood. Needless to say, I cried. I know many of you reading this would have stood if you had been there. We can't thank you enough for those countless and endless prayers! We read the verse that we have claimed for Sadie. I have felt that God gave a verse for each of our girls, and Sadie's is from Numbers: "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord's face shine upon you and be gracious. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."
Your prayers continue to be answered! We saw the pulmunolgist yesterday and got a good report. We can turn off the O2 during the day and leave her on 1/32 at night! It's such good news it's almost frightening. :) He had her O2 turned off for about 10 minutes, and her levels were 96-98. We will keep her on the apnea monitor another month or so. One less tail is already making a big difference!
We went up to the hospital while in Lincoln to see nurse friends, and we even met one for lunch! It was a fun time. May the Lord bless you and keep you...

4 Months

Time is moving along quickly, and Sadie is already four months old. I can hardly believe it! She seems to be doing well. At the doctor yesterday she weighed 9-3; that's up 15 ounces in 17 days! Her lungs continue to show signs of growth. We are now to 1/32 of a liter of O2. We go see the pulmunologist this week, so I am excited to see what he has to say. I know people are praying, because those lungs seem to be growing.
Sadie is smiling more and more and gives us a nice "coo" every now and then. We love it! She is sleeping longer at night; I let her sleep 5-6 hours before I wake her up to feed her. I could probably let her go longer, but since I have seen signs of lung growth, I want to continue what we've been doing. If I went to bed at 7:30 like she did, I'd get a great night's sleep. :)
We are dedicating Sadie in church this week. It will be an extra special dedication for us because there was a time we didn't think we'd have the chance to do this.
Hope you're staying cool!

Getting Bigger

HI! Obviously one of the pictures isn't Sadie; she hasn't grown that much. :) Our oldest daughter was in a wedding this weekend, and this proud mama couldn't resist posting a picture.
On to Sadie...last Thursday she weighed 8-8, and today she was up to 8-12! That's four ounces in five days...more than the half an ounce a day that they want to see. That's not the only good news. We turned down her O2 from 1/8 to 1/16 to see how she would do. It was awesome! She was statting at 96 consistently. Thanks for praying; God is working! I finally feel like there is hope again for those lungs to grow.
We still have the apnea monitor and may possibly have it for quite some time. The apnea center likes babies to have their monitor for a month after she is done with the oxygen. We have no idea when that will be. But after today, it's a little more encouraging.
Since she seems to be growing so well, the nurse is giving me permission to let Sadie wake me up in the middle of the night instead of me waking her up every four hours. Yeah! It's much easier waking up to a fussy baby instead of an alarm. I find myself turning off the alarm in my sleep, so sometimes it's much longer then the four hours.
Sadie did well at the wedding and being out of her normal "schedule" for a couple of days. She is staying awake for longer periods of time, and after supper she is especially smiley. We love it!

Ups and Downs

Happy 4th of July! We will be celebrating at a wedding with our own three firecrackers. Sadie is doing well and is pretty easy going. I took her to church for the first time last Sunday, so she was able to meet lots of people who have been praying for her.
Last week, Brandon and I went to a small group and was able to share our testimony on God's faithfulness over the last few months. Our "theme" was God going before us, and we were amazed again how many times He moved ahead of us in so many ways. It was a blessing to us to share and give God the glory.
We went to the doctor yesterday, and Sadie weighs 8-4! The doctor would have liked to have seen a little more weight gain, but we are close to being on track. The scale at the clinic had her gaining 9 oz in 19 days, where the home health nurse scale had her gaining 9 oz in 9 days. That's quite a difference. I continue to add the Neosure to her bottles, but I'm not giving up nursing. It's too precious to me. We also still have two tails, and I am SO ready to be finished with the apnea monitor. We haven't had many alarms and none in the last two weeks. I've tried to get the word we can be finished, but it's turning into a wild goose chase to find someone to tell me that. This doctor thinks one thing, another thinks something different, and so my home doctor will make the decision, and she's out of the office. All I want to hear is, "all done!" :)
Not only is Sadie gaining weight, but she is now 21.5 inches long; that's 2.5 inches growth since she has been home. I treasure each time I snuggle with her...my miracle baby.