Nurse Michelle came by for a visit this morning. It was nice to see her and it will be one of the last times before going back to Colorado.

Also, we received confirmation today that Nurse Janet will be visiting Colorado this summer. We are so excited! It will be nice to see a familiar Gainesville face after being home for a bit.

Ella had a good OT session today. The therapist suggested a different strategy with the bottle, using more negative traction, to help Ella’s suction technique yield more formula. It should help her get more formula with each swallow.

The feeding has been tough on Ella since her recent congestion that worsened. She has been taking 20-55ccs each bottle, depending on the time of day, her mood and congestion status. Many native Floridians tell me that it is likely allergies. I’m sure hoping that it decreases when we go home to Colorado. It just makes it tougher to breathe and that makes bottle feeding even more challenging for her.

We have our last appointment with Dr. Kathy Sarantos tomorrow. We are really going to miss her too. She has been an excellent pediatrician and a voice of reason for a new mom like me. And of course, I always felt that she could relate because she also has a daughter with a diaphragmatic hernia.

Only 10 days till Josh leaves and 17 days until we walk in the front door of our Colorado home.

Some of you may recognize the picture of Ella shown above from September 30, 2007.

I’m not sure if some of you noticed that another mom posted about her preemie son that has chylothorax. She searched the internet and found our story. In a nutshell, she has transferred her son to Dr. Kays at Shands. So even though he does not have CDH, she was looking for someone that wanted to help save her son.

I think that is one of the best things about Dr. Kays. He gives parents hope. Even though he is not ultimately in control of the outcome, I do believe that God uses His talents every day to save children. I sympathize with this mom and am glad that she has found Dr. Kays, so she too can give her son the best chance at life.

This reminded me of a set of scriptures that resonated with me, in the midst of our journey:

Romans 4:18-24
Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.

We’re so thankful for Ella Renae and for the hope and peace that He continues to give us on this journey.