Our Anniversarry - July 1

It is our nine year anniversary today! It has been a day of doctor appointments. Next week is booking up with appointments as well. I will hold off on any normal routine for a few months.

Aaron is doing well today. He weighs 4 lbs. 10 oz. He had a "spell" a couple of nights ago where he stopped breathing for 90 seconds. They had to do a full work up on him to insure he was clear of any infections. His cultures were clear; nothing grew and he is infection free. Needless to say it was a flashback to March when we got the 12am phone call asking to do a lumbar puncture. Thank God he is ok. Aaron's left eye is doing fairly well. It is not normal, but he will have some central vision. His right eye is progressing poorly. He may need a surgery to keep the retina from detaching. If the ROP does not progress further, it is expected that he can see light and shadows. We were informed that this is the worst case of ROP that the Opthalmologist has seen in his 5 years of practice. From that perspective, I am thankful that it appears he will have some vision. He may not be able to drive, but things could be worse. Please pray that the ROP does not progress to requiring a surgery. Surgery entails traveling to Baylor in Houston. I am thankful that the option is available to us, but would rather not have to go. Aaron is still on 2 liters of O2 requiring a high flow nasal cannula. Please pray that he can tolerate the O2 being lowered, as he can not come home on high flow O2. Still no news on the MRI. In order to discharge Aaron will need to go through a bi-lateral hernia repair, which require intubation and a ventilator. Hopefully once the surgery is over (not scheduled) he will return right back to lower O2 and bottle feeding all feeds. He is currently eating well. He appears to be excited at times, expecially when he has special visitors (like mommy). He smiles frequently and is crying as a normal baby would (dirty diaper, hungery, or wants to be repositioned). As he grows he is looking more and more like his fatter younger brother. I am definately getting tired of going to the NICU and many dr. appointments (please pray for more energy). I do know that I am blessed to have both boys, so the appts. and visits are better than the alternative.

James is very well. A week and a half ago he weighed 8lbs even. He is social smiling and getting to be a cute chubby baby. He eats almost 5 oz. 6 times a day. His eyes are a little bigger than his tummy. ;) Hannah is enjoying having him around.

We would have a hard time with life if my mother-in-law and mother were not around to help us out. We are very thankful for our family support. We are thankful to have both boys and look forward to life outside of the NICU. We are thankful for you prayers and faithfulness. We are abundantly thankful for God's faithfulness to us and his ability to sustain us. Have a great fourth of July!