Happy Easter

    Dear Family, Friends & Prayer Warriors,

WOW!  In the blink of an eye, our precious Adalynn is 7 months old, and oh how our lives have changed.  The first time we wrote to you, it was hard to imagine what the next 7 hours or even 7 days would hold, let alone to be able to look back on 7 months of life. Today our little angel has grown into a little girl who is over 25 inches long and weighs nearly 20 pounds. The emotion and love we feel towards our daughter Adalynn is beyond words!  Seven months and ten days ago we experienced one of the best and worst day of our lives all at once.  The excitement of being able to see and hold our precious baby for the first time was unexpectedly halted by the shattering silence of an operating room with no cry.  Amid the focused medical voices and flurry of activity, we prayed and felt the unmistakable and overwhelming power of God’s presence.  Over the last seven months, our hope has remained in our Faith that God is in control.  Although the events of September 14, 2013 were a complete shock to us, God knew this was all going to happen; in that we find comfort.  God was with us that night and God has not left our side and we know He will be with us in the days to come.

Recently, Adalynn has been letting us know she would like an update to be sent.  This time we decided that we were going to give Adalynn a break and write this update from Dad and Mom, but don’t worry, she is sitting here letting us know what she thinks we should write!  Your ongoing support and prayers for Adalynn and our family overwhelm us. Without God’s help, we could not make it through a single day.  The most frequently asked questions in the last seven months are, “How is Adalynn?” and “How are you guys doing?”  These are both very difficult questions to answer.  Some days are hard.  Some days are GREAT! 

Today, Adalynn is doing well.  She did have an ear infection and pneumonia at the end of March. Thankfully, we were able to deal with her sickness at home with oxygen support, the monitors we already use daily, and medications.  This is a huge praise!  Developmentally, Adalynn continues to progress slowly. Here are a few specific highlights:

·         She has slept through the night a few times. 

·         She is beginning to use her legs more in therapy. 

·         Increasingly she lets her opinion be heard with more vocal responses. 

·         She has developed a love of music and often calms more quickly when it is playing. 

·         While not showing a consistent swallow, Adalynn has begun to respond to a spoon in her mouth.

·         Although delayed, her head control continues to improve. 

Currently, we are waiting for her hearing aids to arrive. Adalynn’s therapists are hopeful that by hearing more of the world around her will help her development.  Adalynn’s vision is still in question as it is not known how much she is able to see.  We will meet an eye doctor on May 2, in Madison, WI to test Adalynn’s vision.  Some people have questioned if Adalynn has developmentally ‘caught-up’ with kids her age.  Medically speaking, short of a miracle, for which we are still praying, Adalynn will never ‘catch-up’ with children her age in development.  Our Faith remains in Christ who is bigger than medicine and can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. 

Over a long weekend in March we took Adalynn swimming in a hotel.  She loved the water and was so relaxed she fell right to sleep in Dad’s arms.  Since it is no longer snowing and the weather has warmed up a bit, we have discovered Adalynn LOVES walks.  If she is having a ‘not so good’ day or her oxygen levels are a bit low, in the stroller and outside she goes to enjoy the fresh air and breeze. As a couple who loves the outdoors, it is a blessing that Adalynn can relax and breathe better when we are outside.  One of the first times Adalynn has appeared interested in something other than being held and snuggled was a few weeks ago when she appeared to truly interact and enjoy playing with a toy drum. Isn’t that the way it goes? All children must gravitate towards the loudest toys.

As parents, we are doing well most days.  It breaks our hearts watching Adalynn struggle to breathe at times, despite our best efforts to assist her.  Adalynn loves to be held and snuggled.  We laugh that although holding her as often as we do makes it quite difficult to get things done around house, we will never regret holding her and spending time talking to and cuddling her.  It is difficult not knowing what the future holds.  We know that none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow.  We live everyday loving our little family and spending as much time together as possible.  It is fun to see the little steps of improvement.  Looking back seven months ago, we were not sure if Adalynn would ever tolerate getting out of the house as, at the time, increased stimulation would make her oxygen levels drop.  Seven months ago, she would not tolerate being held by multiple people, today she welcomes any shoulder that will accept a snuggle.  God is GOOD!  We continue to learn how to best balance increasing her stimulation (to aid in her development) and giving her the rest she needs which will help her brain grow and heal.  Unfortunately, we have yet to find the balance between taking time for ourselves and spending time with Adalynn.  Mommy doesn’t do well when she is away from her baby girl (welcome to parenthood!).

Many of you ask for specific prayer requests and praises to bring before the Father. 
Here are some updated ways to pray:

Prayer Requests:

·         May 2 - Adalynn sees the Pediatric Ophthalmologist (Eye Specialist) in Madison, WI

·         May 2 - Adalynn has an EEG of her brain to help determine if she is having seizures that we are not seeing

·         May 15 – Adalynn meets a new Speech Therapist

·         Continued progress as Adalynn meets weekly with Physical, Developmental, & Occupational Therapists, bi-weekly with a Hearing Therapist, and monthly with a speech therapist

·         Continued health as Adalynn is so susceptible to pneumonia

·         Daily strength and health for Dad and Mom

Praises:

·         The ability to make it through a round a pneumonia without a hospital stay

·         Continued progress developmentally and moving her legs more

·         Adalynn’s love for the outdoors

·         Dad and Mom making it through the long winter without sickness

·         For the continued blessing of dedicated Therapists who come to our home to work with Adalynn. They focus on movement, massage (Adalynn’s favorite), flexibility, core strength (what will help Adalynn sit up one her own one day), hearing, and oral stimulation (to increase the activity of her facial muscles and tongue so that she might one day be able to eat without needing the feeding tube)

We thank you for your continued care, concern, support, and prayers.  Without all of these things, it would be difficult to make it through each day.  We hope you are enjoying the long awaited spring and that you had a wonderful Easter.

Love,

Ransom, Beth, and Adalynn