Ella got lots of beauty sleep last night so I caught up too…that was a nice change.

Although Ella slept a lot, she was fussy most of the day. She had moments where she was very happy as I captured in the pictures. But her overall mood for the day was not great.

For feeds, I could only get her to take 10ccs twice today, for a total of 20ccs via bottle. After that, she was not interested. I tried rice cereal again and she would have nothing to do with it. At this point, it is hard to tell if she doesn’t like the experience as a whole, or if she truly doesn’t like rice cereal. Since she has tolerated rice cereal for a few days and it does not appear that she has an alergy, we’ll probably be able to try something else soon. Either way, we’ll try to see if we can entice her orally again tomorrow!

Before it became too warm, I took Ella on another walk today. She was tolerant and lasted for 25 minutes. There were moments of fussiness, but I seemed to be able to appease her with the binky and/or covering her completely from the sun (she gets warm easy and it makes her sweaty and uncomfortable). I hope that we can stretch out the time longer and longer.

Nurse Janet had planned to come over this afternoon to see Ella. Unfortunately, her plans changed and she was unable to come over and hang out with us. But, she still called and offered to bring over lunch. That was so unexpected and so sweet. The food was incredibly good and we were just in awe over her generosity.

Janet was able to run upstairs real quick and take a peek at Ella. She confirmed that Ella is looking good. She embraced and held her and after a few seconds, Ella started crying…and not a little cry, but a hard cry.

So, Ella is definitely getting stranger anxiety. If you remember, Ella did the same thing to Nurse Michelle last week. I know it is a normal baby response to have a preference for a parent, so in some ways, it is good that Ella had this response. It demonstrates a developmental milestone. At the same time, it is a bummer. These nurses love Ella and she would always smile at them before, so it is a good thing and sad thing at the same time.

We’re hoping that tomorrow is a day of progress forward for the Bun. As I type this, she is resting peacefully.

This afternoon, I took the time to reflect back on some photos of Ella. Can you believe that this is the same baby? This was when she was only 10 days old.

It is just amazing to look back at her story. And the story continues to get deeper and richer, yet already looking back, it is hard to believe all that we have been through since her birth.

We are so thankful for Ella Renae. She is a true miracle and the Lord most certainly has plans for her life. We hope that she reads this story someday and has confidence in the Lord, knowing that she was created perfectly in His image.

Jeremiah 17:7-8
7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

Ella slept well last night and woke up ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

All of us recognize the traditional icon of the day as the shamrock. I read today, “…And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.” I had no idea of the meaning behind the shamrock, but it certainly gives me more motivation to wear green and celebrate the day.

The first feed of the day did not go well – – she had a major meltdown requiring extra oxygen. The second and third feed of the day went much better. We tried the bottle again with the most being 20ccs at a time. Again, not a large amount but at least it was done with a normal amount of crying and fussing.

Also, we tried rice cereal twice today. She did SO much better this time. Even though she did not enjoy it and fussed each time, that is a normal baby response to me. But getting so worked up that she turns purple/blue and requires extra oxygen is a bit over the top. So, thankfully she did not have an episode over rice cereal today.

The weather was beautiful today so I pushed Ella for a walk. I enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine immensely. I think she enjoyed the change of scenery too. Eventually though, she became sweaty and bored. It lasted for about 20-25 minutes, which is the longest walk for Ella so far. Hopefully, we can increase that over the remaining days in Florida.

She had lots of fun with her bath today, but I think she likes cuddle time afterwards the best.

We never heard back from Dr. Kays on which oil to add to her nightly feeds. Kind of a bummer considering that we were really counting on that ingredient to help her gain weight. She has been taking her full 550ccs, so we are hopeful that we will still see some weight gain on her next weigh-in.

Also, we did not hear back about her blood work. We are going to make the assumption that no news is good news.

She has maintained on 400ccs of oxygen since last Thursday without an issue. That is very exciting. We still have a long way to go, but the fact that we made some progress feels good. It simply means that she is growing and getting stronger.

The more we care for Ella, the more we realize that she simply does not adapt to change well. It can be something fairly minor and she notices it. Until she has been exposed enough and realizes that it is not a negative experience, she is skeptical and can get upset very easily. So the moral of the story: introduce new things very slow and be patient. If she melts down, wait and try again another time. And keep at it.

Thank you for the continued prayer coverage. Trying to stand away and be objective, this past year has been rough for us on many levels. We have a beautiful daughter to be thankful for, and as such He has placed an enormous responsibility on our hands and trusted us to take care of her. We need the prayer support for her and her health. Along with that, we need lots of prayer to remain obedient and lean on Him for daily strength.

Psalm 105:4
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

Today was a big day for the Bun. She ended up having a bath twice, if that gives any indication.

The night included lots of interrupted zzzzs, so the day started at 7:30am when Ella decided that she had been in her crib long enough. By the time we made coffee, ate breakfast, gave Ella meds, tried to feed her with the bottle, and then fed her via g-tube, it was almost 10am.

Then, we all needed bathing. Time was ticking along quickly today and we needed to pick up a prescription for Ella by 12:30pm. The specialized pharmacy is across town and we needed to go to Sam’s Club too. So, we decided to take Ella with us.

We’re always nervous taking her out anywhere since there is a higher risk of her getting sick. But we had cabin fever so badly, we decided to go for it.

Overall, Ella was great. I took her in the stroller and Josh pushed around the cart separately and did the shopping. At first, she was engaged by the different surroundings and sounds. Then she just wanted to suck her binky and take a nap. She kept fussing for the binky and since it was busy, I was having a tough time accommodating her while trying to weave through the people. Finally, Josh needed a restroom break and we stopped in a corner. My creativity kicked into high gear as I crafted a solution for the Bun, as you can see below.

We were gone for about 2 hours on that errand, but it felt like a long time. Probably just because it was so much work taking her along.

Once we came back to our apartment, we had lunch and I left Dad and the Bun to head out again to the regular grocery store for the other half of the shopping list. When I came back and put it all away, it was already 5:30pm and time to prepare feeding Ella again.

I had purchased rice cereal at the store, upon recommendation from Dr. Sarantos. I grabbed other fruits and veggies that she suggested and will store them for future feeding sessions. When the time for 6pm feed came, I thought we should try the rice cereal first to gauge her response.

Unfortunately, Ella did not like eating the rice cereal…and we are not talking a small amount of dissatisfaction. It got her fired up. She really did not like the experience. We thought it was maybe that she hadn’t napped in a while or was too hungry and figured we could try later. We are talking the increased oxygen to 1 liter and she is purple/bluish and crying so hard. Fortunately, we were able to calm her down after about 10 minutes to take a decent picture.

Did I mention that by this time of the day, I had changed Ella’s poopy diaper three times? Seemed a bit looser than usual, but nothing really came to mind or caused concern. Finally after the fourth dirty diaper of the day, I remembered.

Dr. Sarantos stated that we could add a very small amount of sugar to Ella’s bottle feeds. So all day yesterday and this morning, we were adding sugar. But we did not have regular sugar. The only sugar in our cabinet was brown sugar. I googled infants and brown sugar to make sure that it was not a problem. When I saw that it is usually used in remedies to relieve infant constipation, I knew it was safe for her. However without realizing it, we had given her a laxative without meaning to! No wonder she went sooo many times today. Hmmm….maybe that is also why she had a blow out with Dad yesterday morning? It’s certainly possible.

After trying to feed Ella again with rice cereal this evening and having her completely melt down, we opted for bath time again. She had gotten so diaphoretic (sweaty) all over her body and this was the second time today that she bathed in sweat. I just had to put her in the bath again.

Fortunately, she liked the warm bath and shortly after I fed her via g-tube with her full belly, she went down for the night at 9:30pm. That is a bit later for Ella, so we are hoping this means that she will stay in bed longer tonight.

We praise Him for our baby girl. We ask for His strength and perseverance to make it through each day and give Ella just what she needs. We plead for endurance to make it through the feeding issues. We know it is important for Ella to learn, but it is so tough to be disciplined when you feel like you are torturing your baby.

We know He has a reason for everything and although we do not know His plan, we want to be obedient.

2 Corinthians 2:9
The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.

It is the end of the week and we are happy for the weekend!

Ella was restless last night and I was constantly getting out of bed to tend to her. When 7am rolled around, Josh tried to give me a break so I could catch some shut eye before his work day started. About 15 minutes later, he came into the bedroom confessing that he needed my help: Ella had a full blowout all over her outfit, blanket, play mat, etc. Indeed, it was messy and I could see why he needed an extra hand!

Overall, Ella did well today. We had an appointment with the OT and worked on bottle feeding again. We were able to get her to take 35ccs over 40 minutes. It was the second session with the OT where he watched her feed. He commented that he does not think she has true oral aversion. He can tell that she wants the bottle. His diagnosis is that she is just having a tough time getting the sucking and swallowing technique down and that it will simply take practice. Between all her sessions today, she took 70ccs. This is a high amount compared to recent days, but we also added a very small amount of brown sugar to the formula. The sweetness seems to be working!

The OT thinks that we should try and thicken the formula the slightest bit by adding some rice cereal. Again, just the slightest amount to make the formula a touch thicker, but where it will still easily flow out of the nipple.

We were bummed to not get an update from Dr. Kays today. So, we still don’t know how dry she is or which oil to start adding to her feed. I guess we will try to get an answer again in Monday.

We are also trying to not make too many changes to food until we hear back. But we have been able to get the 550ccs in her each day, so hopefully she is still gaining weight.

Ella is starting to take notice of the cats which is fun to witness.

She did great last night and today on 400ccs of oxygen. That is a really good sign. We’re hoping that she can maintain this until we go to see Dr. Kays. I’m sure he will be happy to know that we have made progress in that regard too.

All we know is that we are in love with The Bun. She is so cute and sweet!

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. They mean so much to us and definitely have an impact on our lives.

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Ella had a rough night of sleep, so we gave up and called it a new day at 6am.

During the day, she was in a great mood considering she had little shut eye. Our big project for the day was getting to the pediatrician.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Dr. Sarantos. She is so sweet and knowledgeable; we feel so fortunate that she was nice enough to take on a complicated baby like Ella, even for the short term.

Most of the appointment focused on food strategies and Ella’s eating trends. She could not stress enough how much to continue to push through the tough times and get Ella to eat orally with the bottle. She spoke with such conviction, since this was a personal challenge for her with her CDH baby too. On the extreme, she talked about someone she knew that has a 14 year old son that still has his g-tube since he did not learn to eat when he was young.

We discussed ideas such as adding a little bit of sugar to Ella’s formula to make it more enticing. Not only will it add those few calories, but maybe it will make it more interesting for her. She did tell me that when it makes sense with Dr. Kays plan, I can try feeding Rice Cereal to the Bun. We are excited to take that next step and try it when the time is right.

Another mom that reads this blog suggested that we try placing Malox on the g-tube site in the gauze to help with granulation tissue build-up. Dr. Sarantos suggested that we try it; it certainly will not harm her skin. So we are excited to try that remedy to see if it will help with that issue as well.

We are still waiting to hear from Dr. Kays concerning the addition of oil to Ella’s food at night as well as the results from her blood work earlier this week. There is concern that she might be too dry and if that is the case, he may want to change her diuretics.

Whether it is adding oil to food, trying rice cereal or changing the diuretics, we want to make sure and only make one change at a time with Ella. If we get too aggressive, we know that Ella does not respond well to change in the first place. Along with that, if there are any negative side effects, we will not know what is causing the symptoms. For now, we are on hold until we hear back from Dr. Kays.

One change I attempted this afternoon was the weaning of oxygen. I felt like Ella gave Dr. Kays a fake saturation of 94 in the office the other day. And he wanted it higher because I know he wants to wean her (she has been at 500 since she first went on cannulas in mid-December). So while she was asleep and sitting at 100 today around 4:45pm, I weaned the oxygen down to 400, just to see what would happen. There was no change. For now, we are going to try it and adjust if necessary. We do know that the rule of thumb is 90 or above when she is awake and 95 or above when she is asleep. We will see how she does overnight and into tomorrow.

In the meantime, we are still trying to feed orally which is a huge challenge. Ella seemed to be interested in it initially, but I think that she is getting tired of the air issues that it causes. And although Dr. Brown’s bottle is the best for her, the real issue is how Ella tries to suck on the bottle. She does not latch on real well and really go at the eating. She might for a few rhythms, but quickly shifts the nipple to the side and catches her breath. It is hard work for her and not natural to breathe, swallow and suck at the same time. It is hard to explain, but she gets really frustrated and fussy with the oral feeds.

While I am doing this, I can tell that air is getting in her belly so while I am holding her, I will hook up her g-tube one-handed which takes major coordination. Then, I have to hold the syringe as low as possible in one hand while still holding her with the bottle and let her try to eat. This way, she is venting at the same time and the air in her belly can escape. While this is happening, sometimes the gas can get painful so she will push up the food from her belly all the way back into the syringe. Again, tough to coordinate all this on my own. If she decides to really pitch a fit, I have to ask Josh to intervene and turn up her oxygen.

As a mom it is really tough because I feel like I am torturing her. Every 3 hours, I have to feed her and try to convince her, distract her enough to try and get her to try eating orally. It will literally take up to an hour just to get her to take 20ccs. And you can tell it is directly from eating orally because if I give her the binky or stop making her work, she calms right down and regains her color and good mood.

Please pray specifically for Ella and her eating challenges. We need for her to gain weight and progress forward, but we also need her to learn to enjoy eating.

Her last meltdown of the evening occurred during the feed at 9pm. Once she calmed down and fell asleep in my arms, I could feel her breathing hard and deep. She was up and over my shoulder, so I could feel her chest movement and the breaths near my ear.

I stopped for a moment to praise God. My baby girl could not even take a breath when she was born. And here she was after her episode, breathing in and out, with all her cuteness.

Psalm 22:10
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Yep, today was the first day that Ella tolerated her sunglasses.

We tried them a few weeks ago on a walk, thinking that it would help her eyes adjust. She would have nothing to do with them. Well, today she was feeling more adventurous. I put my sunglasses on to join her. We were having a great time.

Ella slept well last night and got up around 5am. Nurse Michelle came over for a visit this morning. We grabbed a coffee initially, just having some one-on-one time. Then, we returned so Josh could start work and stayed with Ella.

Normally, Ella is in a good mood, especially with her nurse friends. Today, Ella was crabby. She was fussy and was not interested in being held or entertained by Michelle. When she was having major meltdowns, I would take her into my arms and she would calm down within seconds. Michelle looked at me and said, “I think she is having a Mommy day”. Today is the first time that I have experienced a Mommy day. In other words, it did appear that Ella simply wanted her Mommy. That was a new thing for her and me.

We have been trying to get in touch with the physical therapist, but have not had success. Ella and I did play a lot physically today by just rolling on the ground, moving her legs, stretching, etc. We had a good time. She was smiling for most of it and I could tell when she had enough and was getting tired (it didn’t take much).

We took a later lunch break and drove over to our old apartment community. They called the other day to let me know that a package had arrived for me. I wondered who had sent a package to my old address. When Josh walked in to get the package, he was instantly recognized by the staff. Sara, the leasing agent we worked with in the past, greeted him and was so excited that Ella was outside in the car. She made a point to come outside and see Ella in person.

Unfortunately, Ella was not real happy from the car ride and her general mood for the day. So there were no smiles for Sara. But it was nice to see her and know that she has been keeping up with Ella’s progress via the blog. We had no idea. It was just a blessing to be surprised by someone who had such a genuine interest and concern for Ella.

Back to the package, it was a sweet surprise from four of my colleagues, who are truly my friends. Once again, another complete surprise for the day. It was so nice for them to think of me and send me a gift to let me know that they will miss working with me. I feel spoiled!

We did not hear back from Dr. Kays office regarding the oil for her nightly feeds nor the results of her labs. We are expecting that information tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, we are going to see Dr. Sarantos. We’re excited to see her since it has been a month and we are looking forward to discussing some ideas for Ella related to food/weight gain. We’re not looking forward to the synagis shot, but getting blood drawn is worse, so I guess we’ll take it without too much complaint.

We know that with each day that passes, Ella is growing and getting stronger. We sense that it is going to be slow, but steady movement forward. We are trying our best to remain focused on why we are here in Gainesville and why I placed my career on hold: to give Ella the best chance at life. That is the entire reason we came to Florida in the first place.

Please pray for us, as her parents, that we will continue to be refreshed for the journey. We are looking forward to the idea of going back home, but know that we need to be obedient through this season while we are in Gainesville. Some days though, it is tough.

Fortunately, we have a obvious reminder of Him and His love when we look at Ella. We simply need to focus on that truth and what He has called us to do…and give Him our worries and concerns.

We thank everyone for your support and prayers.

Ella had a great day.

She took a bath and got all cleaned up to see one of her favorite people, Dr. Kays. The best news: The Bun gained weight. She gained about 140 grams over the past week, bringing her weight to 11 lbs, 9 ounces. Dr. Kays wants her to gain weight at a rate of 15-30 grams per day. Most babies will gain 30 grams per day, but as low as 15 is acceptable for CDH babies. Since Ella averaged 20 grams per day, that pleased him.

He did want to discuss the strategy for further weight gain over the next couple of weeks. He asked what we thought she would tolerate the best: a volume increase, further calorie density, etc. After some discussion, we leaned towards making a change in the overnight feeding when she is asleep. The likelihood that she would notice any difference is minimal. He is checking with the nutritionist and will be contacting us, but we will likely add some oil to her feed at night. Even just 1 tablespoon of oil to her food each night would give her an enormous boost in calories which should result in weight gain.

We did find out about her labs from last week. Interestingly enough, her BUN was 28. It jumped a tremendous amount from the prior labs. Now, it is in a place where she could get too dry. So, he asked us to get labs before we left the building today, since we will not be seeing him for 2 weeks. Since she is on such a high amount of diuretics, her electrolytes do need to be monitored closely. If she is too dry, he may make an adjustment to her diuretics.

When we went to the blood lab, they had a tough time drawing blood from Ella’s veins. This could be another indication that she may be too dry. Hopefully, they drew enough to test her electrolytes, so that Dr. Kays can do his analysis. It would not be fun to have to make a special trip just for that purpose.

Ella did have granulation tissue around her g-tube again this week. The only thing you can do is keep it clean and dry. We do our best at that by keeping gauze around it. It is frustrating that it continues to return each week. I’m hoping it will decrease over time, but have accepted the fact that it may remain until she no longer has a g-tube.

Dr. Kays always tries to give Ella the benefit of the doubt while checking her saturations. I think he is secretly hoping that he will be able to wean her oxygen. Unfortunately, she only gave him a 94 while he was checking. That is definitely not good enough to even consider weaning. But slow steps downward will eventually be another milestone for Ella.

All in all, a great day for Ella. We thank the Lord for our precious baby girl.

Today was uneventful which is a blessing in our eyes.

The Bun slept through last night only waking up a handful of times. Most of the day, she was in a great mood. We took a 15 minute walk and she tolerated it. We were able to get 550ccs of volume into her throughout the day via g-tube. We are hoping this translates to weight gain when we visit Dr. Kays tomorrow.

The only drawback is that she does not seem to be interested in feeding via the bottle. Our high point was 120 ccs last week and now, she is only taking 10-20ccs at the most each time. Sometimes, she is clearly not wanting the bottle at all. The intake over the past few days via bottle has been between 20-40ccs. I can’t figure out what has changed over the past week, but clearly, something is different.

I’ll be excited to see the pediatrician this month, so I can discuss a food strategy with her. I want to see if there are other things that I can consider giving Ella orally since she is 7+months old. I think having something with texture and taste would be good for her and she would like it. We simply have to tread lightly since it could cause her other issues.

She was ultra smiley today as we spent time together. That smile is healing. It reminds me of what is important. It reminds me that we have been through so much, yet there is so much more to come. And that He has a plan.

1 Peter 4:12-13
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

Today was a nice day with the Bun.

Ella had a restful night of sleep. We gave her a bath today and went outside for a 15 minute walk since the weather was perfect. She seemed to tolerate both well. In general, she was just in a good mood. Also, we decided to put her in the car while we ran some errands. The more we can get her used to the car, the better.

While I stayed in the car with Bun, Josh went upstairs to the pediatric floor of the hospital. A friend that we met in the NICU last December had her son readmitted. Initially, his CDH was less severe and he was only in the NICU for about 1 month, but he returned due to some complications with scar tissue. He had surgery to repair his intestines and bowels the other day and is in recovery on the pediatric floor.

Unfortunately, it is just as tough for her as it was for me at the beginning of February. The nurses are not attentive and you cannot leave your child because it is not a locked down unit. So while her husband and 2 others sons are 2 hours away, she is trying to live in the hospital room with her baby boy and hope that he heals well.

It is that lonely feeling where you feel like you have no support, yet you are in the hospital. It is such a culture shock from the NICU.

We felt led to visit her in the hospital and bring her a bag of goodies, just like some friends did for us. If you remember, please pray for her and her baby boy (Hope and Jayden).

Again, we have only been home with Ella for 29 days total. Yet driving through the parking structure, it had felt like an eternity since we had been there. I was happy to have that feeling. I do not miss it, that is for sure.

We have been doing well with her food intake this week. Although her oral skills have not improved, it is a great milestone to be intaking 550ccs each day. She is still retching and having some discomfort, but it is tolerable. Please pray that she will have gained weight when we go to see Dr. Kays on Tuesday.

I wish the weekends just continued and continued. It was nice hanging out as a family today, just the three of us.

We will miss the Grandmas – – they were a great help with Ella and to us by cooking, cleaning and just giving us support and love during the past 2 weeks.

All of us set our clocks forward today and it made me reflect on how in an instant, we will not be fast forwarding an hour, but months or years. I’m hoping and praying that these initial days of her life are the toughest ones for Ella and that as each day passes, her health issues will become less and less.

Nahum 1:7
The LORD is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him.

Yep, you guessed it. The state of Florida had a day of severe thunderstorms and tornado watches. When Josh woke up and watched the news, concern set in.

The Weather Channel showed that we had about an hour before the storms truly hit Gainesville. The reports indicated that there was already one tornado just east of Tallahassee and 2 people had died. They were urging people to take shelter since the storms were going to be heavy.

Looking around in our second floor apartment, there is not a real safe area to take shelter. In addition, the last time we had heavy storms, the power went out. Fortunately, it came back on within an hour. But remember that when this happens, we have to scurry to hook Ella up to a portable oxygen tank.

So knowing that a heavy storm was approaching and that if we felt in danger and needed to leave, that would not be an easy task with Ella and her garb.

Our best idea was to go to the hospital. It is close, has a basement and would have oxygen and anything else that Ella might need.

Once we decided, we were on a mission and began running around the apartment to gather all our necessary items. We made it to the hospital just as the storm began to get heavy.

We hung out in the atrium of the hospital. Without knowing it, they have free live music on the first Friday of each month. So, we ended up sitting in the perfect spot. They played jazz type music and Ella just loved it. She ended up falling asleep as they ended their presentation.

With wifi available, we did our best to work with all the craziness. Fortunately, we were both able to get our obligations completed. For me, it was my last day at work…how strange.

We ended up coming home around 5pm, safe and sound. What an experience…

Reflecting back on the whole day, the highlight of the hospital visit was a lady named Eve. From the moment that we walked into the atrium, Ella was alert and checking everyone out. She spotted a lady at the coffee stand. From across the room, they exchanged a gaze. Next thing I know, she walked over.

Josh did the talking as I was holding and entertaining Ella. Eve expressed to us the beauty that she noticed in Ella. She confirmed the sweet spirit in our baby girl.

We told her about our journey from Colorado and how we spent 6+ months in the NICU. All in all, we simply shared that Ella is a miracle and that it has been an amazing experience. It ended by us sharing the blog, so she could read about our entire story, if she wished.

She mentioned that she would pray for us and that she would share our story with her church, so that others could pray for us too. By the time we settled into the atrium and logged onto our computers, she had already posted a comment and subscribed to email notifications!

I am not giving it justice by my description, but the entire experience was almost surreal. Here a complete stranger decided to walk up to us and ended up being blessed by Ella and her story. But more than that, we were so blessed by Eve and the comments that she had to make about our girl. Josh kept affirming that if the encounter with Eve was the sole reason for us being prompted to go to the hospital, then it was all worth it.

It is amazing how the Lord can use our baby girl each and every day to bless others and remind us of what is truly important.

Exodus 9:16
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.