Hello Dear Friends,
Today has been another full day of joys and trials. The biggest trial we faced today was talking to the neurosurgeon this evening about the condition of the hemorrhage in Suzie's brain. He informed us that there is no fluid in her brain that needs to be drained and no surgery that needs to be done. However, the bleeding is rather extensive in in her brain and he let us know that this has most likely caused a moderate to severe amount of brain damage. The consequences could be both a mental and/or physical handicap, but at this point there is no way to tell exactly what her disabilities may be. They will continue to do weekly sonograms on her brain to see if the bleeding gets any worse and in time will do an MRI to see if they can get more details about the extent of the damage. As grievous as it is to think of our precious little girl having any sort of brain damage, the joy that came from this was that the hemorrhage does not affect her survival in any way. This whole time we had been under the impression that this bleeding was endangering her life, but in fact it is not. This was a joy in the midst of this great sorrow. Kyle and I spent a lot of time in prayer immediately after speaking with the doctor and were encouraged by the fact that God can certainly surprise the doctors by defying their suspicions. But even if little Suzie has a severe disability, she is truly a gift from God and we are so grateful to be entrusted with her little life for as long as the Lord allows us to care for her. We love her so much and no disability will lessen that love in any way!
Some joys were once again having many visitors come to encourage us! Also, Suzie is doing much better with her breathing. The duct in her lungs still has a small hole, but it doesn't seem to be affecting her in any way. They will continue to monitor her and hope that the hole will close up. She was able to be taken off of the medicine that paralyzes her and has a less severe sedation at this point. She started moving around a little and even opening her eyes. They really don't see any manifestations of the brain damage at this point as she is moving very normally for a preemie, is breathing very well, and is not experiencing any seizures, so this is also encouraging. One of the greatest joys for me was to be able to "comfort" her by putting one hand on her legs and the other on her head. The nurse said that she finds a lot of comfort in that and it made me feel like a mom for once!
My husband has been tremendous through all of this! Everyday I witness him tell the doctors how much he appreciates them and yet how no matter what happens we will trust in the Lord Jesus Christ because He is in control of everything. Everyday he cries with me, prays with me, reads Scripture with me, and takes such tender care of me. Everyday he challenges me to put my faith in our good God and yet tells me it's okay for me to be scared. I have come to love and appreciate Kyle more in these past few days and I am so thankful the Lord has given him to me!
We thank you so much for caring for us. We thank you for praying for Suzie. We praise God for what He is doing through this huge trial in our lives and pray that He would continue to refine us and keep us focused on His glory.
Much love,
Kyle and Steph
Psalm 31:24, "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD."
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 24
Hi Friends,
Last night we received a wonderful piece of news from the doctor. If you remember, a few days ago they had told told us that our little girl had a 40% chance of surviving. As of last night, the doctors are giving her a 90% chance! She is doing very well on the new ventilator and her lungs are so much stronger. The greatest risk to her life at this present time is the possibility of different kinds of infection. What a joy to our hearts to hear that our little Suzie is progressing so well and that the doctors are anticipating she will fight through this time. Of course, no matter what percentage of survival the doctors tell us, we trust in our Lord who has planned every moment of her life from before time. We do praise God for the progress she is making and do not take for granted how much we need to pray and depend on Him still.
Suzie has gained a tiny bit of weight at this point, but any weight gain is milestone for her! She continues to have her little eyes covered by a mask so that they can shine these very bright lights on her to help her with her jaundice. She is currently being fed intravenously, but they will soon try to give her very small amounts of breast milk to see how she does. Her intestines do not know what they should be doing, so the doctor has told us it could take a while for her body to start digesting the food. They hope to move her off of this new ventilator in a few days. This will be a great day for us, for our hearts hurt every time we go to see her and have to see the tube that she is intubated with. Her new ventilator will only go in her nose and she will most likely be on that ventilator for several weeks. She is kept on a constant drip of pain medication that keeps her from feeling any sort of discomfort.
Kyle and I make our way in to see our little daughter several times throughout the day. We tell her constantly how much we love and miss her, how much we are praying for her, and how our Creator is with her and loves her even more than we do! My new favorite thing to do is to "hold her hand," or rather, she holds my finger, for her hand is not any bigger than my thumb! I love to watch her kick out her little arms and legs and I think I could just sit by her side and look at her all day long.
Today they will look at her heart again to see if the PDA is fully closed. Tomorrow they will take another look at her brain to make sure the bleeding is not getting worse. We will send another update tomorrow! Thank you once again for your prayers and for bearing this burden with us. We never have known the love of the body of Christ like we do in this most trying time.
In Christ,
Kyle and Steph
Psalm 31:24, "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD."
Last night we received a wonderful piece of news from the doctor. If you remember, a few days ago they had told told us that our little girl had a 40% chance of surviving. As of last night, the doctors are giving her a 90% chance! She is doing very well on the new ventilator and her lungs are so much stronger. The greatest risk to her life at this present time is the possibility of different kinds of infection. What a joy to our hearts to hear that our little Suzie is progressing so well and that the doctors are anticipating she will fight through this time. Of course, no matter what percentage of survival the doctors tell us, we trust in our Lord who has planned every moment of her life from before time. We do praise God for the progress she is making and do not take for granted how much we need to pray and depend on Him still.
Suzie has gained a tiny bit of weight at this point, but any weight gain is milestone for her! She continues to have her little eyes covered by a mask so that they can shine these very bright lights on her to help her with her jaundice. She is currently being fed intravenously, but they will soon try to give her very small amounts of breast milk to see how she does. Her intestines do not know what they should be doing, so the doctor has told us it could take a while for her body to start digesting the food. They hope to move her off of this new ventilator in a few days. This will be a great day for us, for our hearts hurt every time we go to see her and have to see the tube that she is intubated with. Her new ventilator will only go in her nose and she will most likely be on that ventilator for several weeks. She is kept on a constant drip of pain medication that keeps her from feeling any sort of discomfort.
Kyle and I make our way in to see our little daughter several times throughout the day. We tell her constantly how much we love and miss her, how much we are praying for her, and how our Creator is with her and loves her even more than we do! My new favorite thing to do is to "hold her hand," or rather, she holds my finger, for her hand is not any bigger than my thumb! I love to watch her kick out her little arms and legs and I think I could just sit by her side and look at her all day long.
Today they will look at her heart again to see if the PDA is fully closed. Tomorrow they will take another look at her brain to make sure the bleeding is not getting worse. We will send another update tomorrow! Thank you once again for your prayers and for bearing this burden with us. We never have known the love of the body of Christ like we do in this most trying time.
In Christ,
Kyle and Steph
Psalm 31:24, "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD."
Friday, July 25
Hello Family and Friends,
As our nurse told us today, it seems like little preemies take two steps forward and one step back. Suzie had three very good days, but we encountered a few small set backs today. Suzie has another PDA in her lungs. This time, the hole was big enough for the doctor to hear a murmur. After the cardiologist assessed her, he determined that she was strong enough to put on the medicine that clears up PDAs for 70-80% of preemies. The two common side effects from the medication are high blood pressure and trouble urinating. When we left Suzie this evening, she didn't appear to have either of those problems so we are very thankful. They will give her a second and third dose of the medicine every 12 hours assuming she continues to do well. There were a couple of other minor things that happened today with our little girl, but everything seems to be under control now and she is stable again.
We attached some more pictures of our precious little Suzie! She looks like a little old man in some of them with all the tape on her lip and chin, but we think she is the cutest thing we have ever seen. Last night, I got to "hold" her for the first time, which was very touching. The nurse had me reach my hands in the incubator and he put her head in one of my hands and her body in the other. It melted my heart to be able to hold my sweet daughter even if only for a little while.
As you pray for sweet Suzie, please keep some dear friends of ours in your prayers as well. Kyle's good friend Patrick and his wife Holly have been going through pregnancy with us as Holly was just a week behind me. Today we found out that she went into the doctor because she hadn't felt her baby move for a little while and they determined that her baby was two weeks behind developmentally and her amniotic fluid was very low. They had just moved to Texas and were flown by helicopter to a hospital in Louisiana to perform an emergency C-section. This occurred just this evening and their little daughter, Addison, was born weighing 1lb 11 oz. We are waiting to hear a status on how she is doing, but we hurt so much for them and know that the prayers of believers everywhere was and is the biggest encouragement to us. So please pray for Patrick and Holly Briscoe and their precious little daughter Addison.
We love each one of you and praise God for your ministry to us!
In Christ,
Kyle and Steph
Psalm 31:24, "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD."
As our nurse told us today, it seems like little preemies take two steps forward and one step back. Suzie had three very good days, but we encountered a few small set backs today. Suzie has another PDA in her lungs. This time, the hole was big enough for the doctor to hear a murmur. After the cardiologist assessed her, he determined that she was strong enough to put on the medicine that clears up PDAs for 70-80% of preemies. The two common side effects from the medication are high blood pressure and trouble urinating. When we left Suzie this evening, she didn't appear to have either of those problems so we are very thankful. They will give her a second and third dose of the medicine every 12 hours assuming she continues to do well. There were a couple of other minor things that happened today with our little girl, but everything seems to be under control now and she is stable again.
We attached some more pictures of our precious little Suzie! She looks like a little old man in some of them with all the tape on her lip and chin, but we think she is the cutest thing we have ever seen. Last night, I got to "hold" her for the first time, which was very touching. The nurse had me reach my hands in the incubator and he put her head in one of my hands and her body in the other. It melted my heart to be able to hold my sweet daughter even if only for a little while.
As you pray for sweet Suzie, please keep some dear friends of ours in your prayers as well. Kyle's good friend Patrick and his wife Holly have been going through pregnancy with us as Holly was just a week behind me. Today we found out that she went into the doctor because she hadn't felt her baby move for a little while and they determined that her baby was two weeks behind developmentally and her amniotic fluid was very low. They had just moved to Texas and were flown by helicopter to a hospital in Louisiana to perform an emergency C-section. This occurred just this evening and their little daughter, Addison, was born weighing 1lb 11 oz. We are waiting to hear a status on how she is doing, but we hurt so much for them and know that the prayers of believers everywhere was and is the biggest encouragement to us. So please pray for Patrick and Holly Briscoe and their precious little daughter Addison.
We love each one of you and praise God for your ministry to us!
In Christ,
Kyle and Steph
Psalm 31:24, "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD."
Friday, July 11, 2008
Please Pray for Suzie!
Suzie Lorraine Sanderson
Born Friday, July 18, 2008 at 5:44am
Weighing 1lb 14 oz. and measuring at 13 1/4 inches
Please pray for our precious baby girl. She is in critical condition and is being transfered to the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena this evening. Here are a few pictures of our little one. We will post an update when we have one.
Born Friday, July 18, 2008 at 5:44am
Weighing 1lb 14 oz. and measuring at 13 1/4 inches
Please pray for our precious baby girl. She is in critical condition and is being transfered to the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena this evening. Here are a few pictures of our little one. We will post an update when we have one.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
99 Days and Counting!
Well, on my handy-dandy little pregnancy ticker I see that we have flown right through the 100s and landed in the double digits with only 99 days until little Suzie makes her entrance into the world. Of course, if she's anything like my niece and nephew, she might get pretty cozy in there and decide to stick it out in there for another week or two. But it's pretty exciting to see that the due date is just around the corner!
We also have great news to praise God for! Yesterday, Kyle and I were able to go see the heart specialist. The doctor said Suzie's heart looks great and there does not appear to be any sort of defect! If there was a little hole there, it is all closed up now and we are so thankful to God for that. He said everything else looks great too and we have a healthy, normal little girl who is developing right on schedule! Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. We are so grateful to God for this great news, but pray that we would trust Him no matter what the circumstances are.
According to the baby center, Suzie is as long as an English cucumber now and weighs just about two pounds. The picture below shows the cucumber compared to a quarter...she's long! Only 14 weeks to go!
We also have great news to praise God for! Yesterday, Kyle and I were able to go see the heart specialist. The doctor said Suzie's heart looks great and there does not appear to be any sort of defect! If there was a little hole there, it is all closed up now and we are so thankful to God for that. He said everything else looks great too and we have a healthy, normal little girl who is developing right on schedule! Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. We are so grateful to God for this great news, but pray that we would trust Him no matter what the circumstances are.
According to the baby center, Suzie is as long as an English cucumber now and weighs just about two pounds. The picture below shows the cucumber compared to a quarter...she's long! Only 14 weeks to go!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
25 Week Belly
Oh man! Look at that belly! You know, I don't think I realize how big I'm getting until I see a picture of myself. I'm suddenly very prego!
The fun thing is that I feel little Suzie move around inside me a little every day! I love it every time I feel her little kicks! Here is our most recent picture of her...Kyle calls her, "Skelator woman." He means it very affectionately:)
We see a heart specialist on Wednesday to determine whether or not she has the VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect). Dr. Frields still is unsure if she has the defect, but he's pretty confident that if there is a hole there, it is most likely very small. This is very comforting yet we sure do appreciate your prayers! We'll post an update after we see the heart specialist next week.
The fun thing is that I feel little Suzie move around inside me a little every day! I love it every time I feel her little kicks! Here is our most recent picture of her...Kyle calls her, "Skelator woman." He means it very affectionately:)
We see a heart specialist on Wednesday to determine whether or not she has the VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect). Dr. Frields still is unsure if she has the defect, but he's pretty confident that if there is a hole there, it is most likely very small. This is very comforting yet we sure do appreciate your prayers! We'll post an update after we see the heart specialist next week.
A Very Hairy Wedding
Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures to share of our good friends' Chris and Becky's wedding because much to the chagrin of my husband, I forgot the camera in the car during the ceremony and then after retrieving the camera for the reception I realized that I didn't bring any spare batteries and the camera died shortly after. I did manage to grab one or two pics which I included below.
It was a very hairy wedding as Chris decided all his groomsmen as well as the fathers of the bride and groom needed to grow beards in order to take part in the festivities. My dashingly clean-shaven husband forgot about this little fact until 10 days before the wedding. So he sported the scruffy look and I got to rejoice the day after the wedding when he shaved again and I no longer had to get my face all scraped up every time we kissed. The wedding, however, was absolutely beautiful, God-honoring, and a privilege to be a part of. Chris and Becky leave for Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Saturday to start a church plant and we couldn't be more excited for them!
It was a very hairy wedding as Chris decided all his groomsmen as well as the fathers of the bride and groom needed to grow beards in order to take part in the festivities. My dashingly clean-shaven husband forgot about this little fact until 10 days before the wedding. So he sported the scruffy look and I got to rejoice the day after the wedding when he shaved again and I no longer had to get my face all scraped up every time we kissed. The wedding, however, was absolutely beautiful, God-honoring, and a privilege to be a part of. Chris and Becky leave for Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Saturday to start a church plant and we couldn't be more excited for them!
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