Ella had a stable night and morning so far. At midnight, they flipped her on her back for 8 hours. This morning, she went back to her belly at 8am. They are on a schedule of flipping her back and forth every 8 hours. Although they are giving her an extra initial dose of fetanyl (which is pain medicine that lasts 1-2 hours), she is tolerating both sides for 8 hours at a time.

Nurse Angie is watching over her today and noted that Ella did have one fussy spell this morning around 9:45am. But, she suctioned her airway and gave her calming touch and this seemed to do the trick. Ella peacefully went back to sleep after 5 minutes or so.

Keep in mind that just this past weekend, there were times that nothing seemed to calm her down, not even an extra dose of fetanyl. So the fact that her saturations are returning to good levels on her own without extra meds is a sign that Ella is feeling better.

Her blood oxygen saturations have been between 98-100%. Her blood gas this morning was good, pH level=7.41, cO2=47, pO2=99.

Her urine output yesterday was real good at 265. Last week when we were going into the weekend and she was not doing well, it was low at 143.

The chest tube fluid output for yesterday was 51 between all 3 tubes. Today so far, it has been 16.

Dr. Kays was in briefly and made changes to her vent settings. He lowered her assisted breaths per minute to 70 instead of 80. Also, he lowered the nitric oxide from 4 to 3. She seems to be maintaining well. We will be able to tell when her next blood gas is taken later.

We know that Ella had a chest x-ray this morning. We have not heard those results and whether or not there is a CT scan scheduled.

All we know is that we are trusting the Lord Jesus. He has given us such amazing peace at this time.

Psalm 29:11
11 The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Job 22:21-22
21 Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.

UPDATE (4:45pm EST): The nurse practitioner just called a few minutes ago to let us know that Ella had an “episode”. She was on her belly sleeping and suddenly woke up very agitated.

Similar to this morning, Nurse Angie tried to soothe her by suctioning her, giving her a temporary boost in oxygen from the ventilator, comforting her, and even placing her on her back (she had been on her belly for 7 hours).

Her stats were not coming up as they should on her own. They paged Dr. Kays and he asked for a blood gas to be taken. Surprisingly, it was still in the acceptable range with a pH level of 7.33, cO2=58 and pO2=89. This was a good sign.

Since she was not calming down, Dr. Kays ordered for a large dose of fentanyl (equivalent to a surgical dose). That knocked her out and she is sound asleep again.

We know that Dr. Kays does not like to sedate her unless necessary. He wants to be able to ultimately solve the problem of why she is having discomfort. Although we have not talked with him, we think he might just be buying some more time until he figures out the next best steps for Ella.

Please continue to pray that Dr. Kays will be filled with knowledge, wisdom and discernment from our Heavenly Father. Also, that Ella would be comforted and given strength to continue climbing to the mountain top.

James 5:11
As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Ella had a restful night. She did a lot of sleeping.

When we were there for her last blood gas around 10pm, it was great.

When they drew the next blood gas at 4am, it was not good.

Her pH level was 7.0, cO2=83, pO2=123. They paged Dr. Kays with the information. He made some slight ventilator changes and re-took the gas at 6am and it was a little better. Her pH level was 7.14, cO2=73, pO2=99. They repeated another gas at 8am and it was still creeping in the right direction. Her blood had a pH level of 7.39, cO2=49, pO2=96. They plan to take another one at 2pm.

Dr. Kays came by this morning and removed the right chest tube that we just experienced him replacing Saturday evening, since it was no longer draining. Her fluid output on the right hand side, from the tube he put in last night after the CT scan, released a total of 107ccs, as of this morning at 7am (that is a lot for a 12-14 hour period). 23ccs were released from the new left chest tube and 19ccs from the previously existing chest tube, for a total of 42ccs.

So, 149ccs off of Ella! That is why she is responding so much better. I can’t even imagine what that must feel like for her.

Dr. Kays recognizes that this fluid issue is holding her back from her lungs developing. So, he has ordered another CT scan for today. He doesn’t like to do that because they have to transport her down to radiology with the ventilator, drips, nitric oxide, etc., attached to the bed (see picture), but at this point, he cannot tell exactly where the fluid resides unless he gets the CT scan. Also, he knows that the fluid builds up and accumulates and it is confirmed directly in Ella’s numbers.

We are still waiting on the report from radiology to see what the results are from the contrast x-ray concerning her superior vena cava.

Please pray that Dr. Kays will be given insight and wisdom for this issue. Also, that Ella will maintain her strength today and remain stable through the transport to get the CT scan.

This verse came to my mind this morning. Although this fluid issue is a mystery to us, God knows exactly what Ella needs. It also reminds us that He is ever-present with Ella, ALWAYS. And that He made Ella with His own hands, just perfectly.

Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

UDPATE (4:00pm EST): We just called in to check on our girl. Ella had another CT scan done, and at this moment was being put back in the NICU. Dr. Kays has yet to see the results of her CT scan. We did find out that Ella’s blood gas at 2pm looked good, similar to the better one she had this morning. We continue to rest in the peace of our Saviour.

The phone just rang at 8:10pm EST. “Hi, you have a new baby”, was the voice that came through on the other end of the line. “What??!!??”, Josh exclaimed. He was confused. Who is this person and what are they talking about?

It was Dr. Kays. He repeated it again, “You have a new baby”.

Dr. Kays explained that he went in and added another chest tube to the right hand side and replaced a tube on the left hand side. Not much fluid has drained from the left hand side, since he thinks it might be more gelatinous. But he removed 50ccs of fluid from her right hand side (which is where her better lung resides).

They took another blood gas and it was amazing, cO2 in the high 30’s and pO2 at 238. Praise God! He says that she is much more comfortable and responded well to the treatment, hence we have a new baby.

Josh then felt the prompting to make sure that Dr. Kays knows how much we appreciate him and his patience with our baby girl.

The phone was hung up, and we started to cry with joy and praise our Heavenly Father for just this small sign that He is with us and listening to our prayers.

Thank you Lord for giving us this refreshment for our spirits tonight. Thank you for the many followers that have earnestly been praying for us, Ella and Dr. Kays. You are a faithful and mighty God. We praise you for answering our specific prayers.

We thank you for giving Dr. Kays a victory tonight as her care provider, as we sensed that he was frustrated that nothing seemed to be working for Ella. Lord, we pray without ceasing that you will give Dr. Kays the knowledge of the next steps to take to resolve this mystery. We know that her condition with the fluid is getting tougher and tougher to treat. Yet, we know that nothing is too hard for you, the Great Physician.

Lord, we pray for Ella. We thank you for keeping her strong throughout the day. We thank you for providing her comfort in this hour. Lord, please continue to give her strength so she can continue to fight. We thank you for the privilege of being her parents. She is such a blessing to all of us. Already she is doing your work, by drawing all of us closer to you.

We praise you and thank you for using sweet little Ella Renae. We praise you in this storm and hold tightly to your promises. In Jesus Name, Amen.

UPDATE (10:15PM EST): Ella just had another blood gas. Again, it was amazing! Praise God. This is reassuring – – it means she is really feeling better and that her blood gas earlier was not a one-time fluke. This time it was a pH level of 7.40, cO2=55, pO2=277.

They paged Dr. Kays with the blood gas and he reduced the standard ventilator down to 60% oxygen and her saturations are still pegged at 100. She has another blood gas at 4am.

We are so thankful that we received encouragement tonight from the Lord. Through the past few days, we have had peace knowing that He is in control. But we were praying for a reprieve, a break from the storm. We received it tonight and feel refreshed.

Realistically, we know that what happened tonight has not necessarily resolved the problem. Dr. Kays was able to remove a bunch of fluid from her right side, and therefore, her body is responding positively. But, there is still a fluid mystery to solve.

Please continue to join us in prayer that the Lord will reveal the next best steps in Ella’s care to Dr. Kays.

Thanks again to each of you for joining us in this journey – – your support has been amazing. May the Lord continue to speak to all of us through this experience, so we may draw close to Him and hear His voice.

Ella’s night and early morning has been rough.

About 10:30pm, the nurse increased the fentanyl. That seemed to do the trick and Ella slept most of the night. But when she would awaken, things were touchy.

The blood gas at 3am was not good. Her pH balance was off and the cO2 was very low (alcalotic). Dr. Kays was paged immediately. He made changes to the vent setting and asked that they place the brain oximeter back on her forehead (you don’t want the alcalotic condition to be absorbed into the brain). He asked for a repeat blood gas in an hour.

At 4am, her blood gas was better (pH of 7.45, cO2=49, pO2=62). But the next blood gas this morning was back in the wrong direction with the carbon dioxide too low (pH level=7.29, cO2=36, pO2=76).

The other day, Dr. Kays had switched Ella to the oscillating ventilator because her cO2 level was too high and to help the lungs expand more. But with the cO2 numbers getting so low, he may decide at some point to place her back in the standard ventilator.

Her chest x-ray this morning shows that her right lung has collapsed a bit. This, of course, is making it tougher for Ella to breath since that is her better lung. They have positioned her towards the right in the hopes of getting that lung to expand again.

When Ella is awake, they are giving her sedation to keep her calm (remember she also does not like laying on her right side). Without sedation, she is getting very upset and is having a tough time breathing. Her saturations are in the high 80’s to mid 90’s and she is on 100% oxygen. She is struggling.

Please continue to pray for sweet Ella this morning. We are walking on thin ice in this moment: we just need for her to remain level and not nose dive. Dr. Kays plans to be at the hospital later and we look forward to getting an update from him.

Psalm 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

UPDATE (3:15pm EST): Ella does not look good. We have not seen her look this way in weeks. She is so puffy and having such a hard time. She looks like a completely different baby.

As we sit near her bedside and try to not make any noise, her saturations are in the high 80’s. After this morning where her cO2 was too low, now her cO2 has gotten too high again, 96 (should be around 40).

Dr.Kays looked at the x-ray and said that he does still see fluid on her right side.

The brain oximeter shouldn’t be below 51. We are seeing high 40’s.

Again, the numbers are glaring and she does not look good. But God prepared our hearts for today. Thanks for all your posts and prayers – – all of you are ministering to us in this time.

This hymn keeps coming into our mind and we keep singing it:

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power through-out the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

UPDATE (5:30pm EST): Your prayers are making a difference in Ella’s comfort and her strength to keep fighting. Her last blood gas was traveling in the right direction, cO2 went down to 85 and her saturations have been between 98 and 100.

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

UPDATE (9:30pm EST): The Lord is so good. All of your prayers mean so much.

He has placed a hedge of protection around us and filled us with joy. The nurses can’t figure out why we are doing so well in a moment that seems dark. The Holy Spirit has been continually feeding us truths and promises. As we seek Him more earnestly, we are experiencing His works first-hand, and being filled us with an amazing oneness and peace.

And the words of encouragement and hope from all of you are amazing. God is using so many of you out there to minister to us. Some are posting, others are emailing, some are leaving voicemails and others are simply on their knees. It is so amazing to see God work and know that He is in control and orchestrating every detail!

Ella’s last blood gas was ideal – – pH level was 7.5, cO2=44, pO2=117. Dr. Kays was amazed.

We take it in as fresh air, knowing that it means Ella is experiencing the same. There may be dips, but we trust that He is sovereign and Ella is resting in His hands.

We continue in prayer this evening at her bedside and will keep you updated on her progress. Thanks again to all of you. It is such a privilege to be Ella’s parents and to experience this journey with all of you.

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Ella had a bit of a rough day again.

When she was sleeping, she appeared to be fine. Her blood gases and saturations were in the acceptable range. But in between, she had a few episodes.

All the normal things to calm her: suctioning, changing her diaper, switching positions, placing your hands on her head and feet, talking/singing to her…none of these were good enough. She would get so upset that her skin turned a deep red/purple color.

In those moments, I think she is scared. She is having a tough time breathing and she gets upset. When she gets upset, she creates more secretions in her airway which make it even tougher to breathe. From there, it spirals and the situation gets worse. At that point, the ventilator can’t do its job either.

Emotionally, it is tough to watch her struggle and feel so lousy. You want to take it all away and make it better for her…and you can’t.

Dr. Kays came into the hospital to take care of another baby and stopped by to see her. Her chest tubes only let out 3ccs for the day, so he feels like the fluid issue is resolved (otherwise we would see more coming out). But now, we have a different problem and he is not sure what it is.

His best theory is that this is a delayed response to something that was stirred up from the surgery on Wednesday. Although not much was done, that is the only variable that has changed dramatically for Ella.

He feels confident that she can get through this challenge, but we need to keep her stable. At this point, if she turns the wrong direction, she is at a high risk to go south fast and it may be tough to get her to turn around.

With this new challenge, Ella has taken several steps back in her progress. There were times today where they had to sedate her and turn up the oscillating ventilator to 100% oxygen, just to calm her down. If you remember a couple of weeks ago, Ella was maintaining well with 35% oxygen on a standard ventilator.

You can just tell that she is having a tough time breathing. Dr. Kays and I were at Ella’s bedside and he was looking at her, thinking and pondering about what could be happening.

I have been praying that God would give Dr. Kays the wisdom to know the next best steps.

I felt prompted to ask him about Ella’s scar. A few days ago, her scar was clear – – you almost couldn’t see it. It was healing so well. Now, her scar looks pronounced and bright pink. All of a sudden, he said, “systemic inflammatory reaction”. He walked away slowly to the nurse’s station, exchanged a few words with Dr. Saxonhouse, and sat in the chair pondering a bit more.

Then, he stood up with a confidence and walked over, “It’s time”. We knew that he was referring to steroids. They can take 24 hours to begin showing a positive effect. Then, he went through and explained about how he has been debating about giving her steroids the past day or so. When I asked him about the scar, something in him triggered and it makes him feel like now is the right time.

Although there are risks, the steroids will help her body fight off the inflammation. Immediately, Josh and I felt such a peace about this next step. We know that something is not right with Ella. And this time, it feels different than the other challenges we have faced. It is an infection or something outside of the standard set of issues that CDH babies are known to encounter. We sense that if we wait too long it might make things worse for Ella.

And through all of this, she is such a strong baby girl. You can sense her sweet spirit and her willingness to keep fighting.

During our visit, she woke up and looked around for 5-10 minutes and remained calm. This was not something we had seen from her the past couple of days. It was her way of letting us know that she is still holding on, despite the numbers.

Thank you for your prayers. He hears all of them and collects each tear. Ella is drawing all of us closer to our Creator.

Around 6:30pm, Ella hit her low point. Her blood gas turned up with cO2 of 120! If that problem was not corrected quickly, it could have been bad.

Fortunately, right before this low point hit, God had ministered to our hearts by reading all the posts on the blog at her bedside. One of them spoke to us so deeply, it seemed as if God himself put the words down. It was the exact right message that we needed to hear.

That provided a peace that was beyond amazing as we entered this scary, unknown situation with Ella.

Right after, Dr. Kays turned the corner. He shared that he was not sure what was going on with her, but something wasn’t right. After thinking about it, he made some changes to her vent, med changes, added antibiotics and told us that he wanted to replace her right chest tube.

Another component that changed today: her urine output slowed down. So, he decided to put the catheter back to start monitoring her fluid output again.

Although fluid in her chest was a partial reason for her condition, he still feels that there is something else going on. He ordered several tests and cultures so that he can rule out infection. One of his theories is that she may have vomited and aspirated some of her feedings.

Something is different based on how she is responding. Josh and I were praying fervently that God will reveal it to Dr. Kays.

He did mention that he might have to give her steroids. It is something that they try not to give babies because some studies in preemie babies have shown that steroids cause slight difference in neurological function when compared to preemie babies that did not have steroids. So if they can avoid it, they do.

About 3 hours later, and especially with all of you praying, Ella has taken steps back to the right path. Her most recent blood gas at 8:35pm and at 10:15pm were much better and her saturations have been near 100.

We had the privilege of watching Dr. Kays in action as he replaced her right chest tube. That was so incredible. Of course to him, that procedure is minor and no big deal. But it still amazes us to see him in action, using his passion and God-gifted talent.

Ella is still on quite a bit of sedation and they are watching her closely. She will be having blood gases every couple of hours to monitor her progress. As long as she can remain stable, he will not have to give her steroids.

Nurse Michelle is working tonight. It is comforting knowing that Ella is in familiar hands!

Dr. Kays admitted that he was surprised and not sure why she had such a turn-around this evening, but he is pleased. We know why she had one.

Thank you so much for praying for Ella. It makes all the difference.

Ella had a good day. Her blood gas at 2pm was great, cO2=54, pO2=114. Plus, her chest x-ray looked improved since the surgery. Keep in mind that her total chest fluid output for yesterday was 165ccs. So it was not a total surprise that her chest x-ray looked better – – she was able to get rid of a lot of that fluid build up.

Based on her good results, Dr. Kays weened the ventilator from 60% oxygen to 50% oxygen this afternoon. Also, he started the Portagen feedings again at 4ccs per hour. These are good steps in the right direction.

Tonight, Ella was sleeping a lot and her saturations were at 100 mostly. When she did wake up a few times, she was quite fussy. Based on her high saturations though, it seemed like she was just extra tired (or upset that we woke her up from a great dream)!

Her blood gas at 10pm was cO2=60, pO2=90. At that time, her chest fluid output was only about 25ccs total for the day. This is significantly less.

At this point, we are not sure if that is good or bad. If her chest x-ray looks good in the morning, it is great news. It would mean that we are making progress with the fluid issue (her body is processing the fluid via her kidneys instead of settling in her chest cavity). If her chest x-ray looks worse in the morning, it means that the fluid is not draining as well and is still residing in her chest.

It is our heart’s desire to have the fluid issue resolved, but we do not know what God has planned.

Thank you for continuing to pray for our baby girl.

As I was finishing this post, God just put this verse on my heart:

Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God”

Ella did not do as well today. She is still in the stable range and the cuteness factor is amazingly high. But, her saturations were low 90’s tonight and her last blood gas was pH level of 7.2, cO2=79, pO2=74. This is not real good – – carbon dioxide is too high.

When we visited, we had a nurse that had never taken care of Ella. She seemed really nice, but I think it just made it that much harder to leave our baby’s bedside tonight.

If Mom’s intuition is right, Ella has less and less fluid output over the past several days. I think her fluid build up is to a point where it is now beginning to affect her more. She seemed less comfortable and more fussy tonight. When she did have an episode, it took her a very long time to recover. This is usually her pattern when she is not feeling great.

As of last night when we looked at the CT scan with Dr. Kays, radiology had not published the report on Ella’s superior vena cava. We did not hear an update today either. Hopefully, we can get a status on this soon.

Tomorrow is surgery. We did not hear from Dr. Kays today, so we are not sure about the plan for surgery. We are hoping that we can get more information from him directly tomorrow before the surgery occurs. We are told that it is planned for the early afternoon.

Please continue to pray for sweet little Ella. Petition for the Lord to give wisdom to Dr. Kays, so Ella’s fluid issue can be solved. Ask for the Lord to uphold us, so we can remain strong in His love for us.

Psalm 63:7-8

Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

Ella had a successful trip down to radiology. The CT scan went well; they were able to transport her and do the scan without requiring any sedation.

Tonight when we came to see Ella, they had made one other change during the day. At noon, she had a blood gas of cO2=79, pO2=88, with her pH level down. Her carbon dioxide was definitely too high, so Dr. Kays bumped up the ventilator to 50 assisted breaths per minute.

Then, her next blood gas was at 4pm. It improved quite a bit, cO2=65, pO2=92, with a better pH level. While we are sitting here at her bedside, she had another blood gas at 11:30pm, cO2=64, pO2=116, with a good pH level. Much, much better.

Dr. Kays decided to hold off on replacing the left chest tube yesterday and today, until he got the results of the CT scan. Fortunately, the CT scan gave him the information that he needed.

Her right lung looked good and there was just a slight amount of fluid retention in the chest cavity. However, the left side of her chest has a tremendous amount of fluid, confirming Ella’s difficulty in progressing forward.

Dr. Kays is still trying to decide the best way to treat Ella’s condition. We know that it involves Ella having surgery this Wednesday, but we do not know how extensive. Some of it may have to be decided once he gets the camera in her chest to see.

Fortunately, Ella has been doing better. If you remember 2 weeks ago when Dr. Kays removed the left chest tube, she took several steps back in her progression. Now, it is almost as if her left tube is out since it hasn’t drained anything for days, and yet her blood gases and saturations look better. And as we have experienced, she seems comfortable and in a pleasant mood when we visit her. So her toleration of the fluid in her chest cavity has improved significantly.

We are looking forward to speaking to Dr. Kays tomorrow to hear about his plan for Wednesday.

Please keep praying for Ella and her surgery this week- – that it will go well, be on the less invasive side, and ultimately resolve the fluid issue.

We trust that the Lord will provide wisdom to Dr. Kays. We are taking comfort that Ella is in the hands of the Almighty God.

If you did not have a chance to read yesterday’s post, you might want to catch up!

We just called to check in on Ella and discovered that nurse Angie is taking care of her today. What a nice surprise!

Ella’s blood gas last night at midnight was cO2=66, pO2=66. Thankfully it is slightly better this morning, cO2=61, pO2=90. She mentioned that Ella seemed comfortable and was sleeping sound.

As of yesterday, the plan was for Dr. Kays to replace Ella’s left chest tube. When we called to check in around 10:30pm last night, he had decided to wait until today, once the CT scan was performed. Although we have not talked with him, it would make sense that he might want to review the results of the CT scan before replacing the left chest tube and giving her one last chance for her body to resolve the issue.

We have not heard the exact timing of when the CT scan is scheduled, but we understand that it will be sometime this afternoon.

Again, Ella is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, since Dr. Kays is not expecting her to improve. We know that the Lord could choose to resolve the fluid situation instantly. But we also recognize that whatever happens, His timing and ways are perfect.

Lord, we pray for your peace and comfort at this time. We pray for Ella’s safety during transport to radiology today. We ask that you bring wisdom to Dr. Kays and staff; we want to achieve great learnings from this scan.

We praise you and thank you for who you are – that we can have an intimate relationship with the God of the universe, that we can come to you for comfort and peace, knowing that we will never lose when we are centered in your will.

You always have our best interests at heart, even though we may not understand.

Thank you for the blessing of this little girl. Amen.

Hebrews 10:35-36
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.