Page 11 - Journey of Hope by Raymond Moldenhauer

DAY8
For You created my inmost being; You knit me
together in my mother's womb. I praise you
because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You when I was
made in the secret place. Psalm 139:13-15
FIRST TIME
Jim sent me a photo from his phone camera at 8:30 AM this
morning. What a special blessing it was to see Alyssa in Heidi’s
arms for the very first time. When I got the photo message, I
was in the car. I pulled off of the highway and just wept. I called
Kathie and again cried for joy as I told her the good news. Tears
have fallen from my eyes a lot in the last week. But not tears of
sadness, sorrow, or hurt, but tears of joy and wonder and awe of
the awesome God who is watching over our little girl and
blessing many people through this event.
Jim took Heidi to see her Doctor this morning for a check-up.
She had the staples removed and was told that everything is
healing properly. They then went home for a few hours to have
lunch and see their dog, Buddy. Buddy, is very attached to Heidi
- and paced the house for the last 8 days looking for her. Jim's
parents were here visiting when all of this occurred (also a
blessing) so they have been staying at their house and taking
care of the dog. I think it lifted Heidi's spirits
All of the lines were removed from Alyssa's umbilical chord
today now that she is on a regular 3-hour feeding schedule with
Heidi's milk. She is still on the ventilator, however, but they are
now only using room air and not oxygen. They inserted a "PIC"
line into her arm (a long tube which will allow them to do IV's as
needed without having to constantly insert new needles into
her extremely small veins and arteries). The X-ray they did to
make sure the line was inserted properly also revealed that her
lungs, although far from developed, looked very good. Alyssa's
weight has fallen from 750 grams (1 pound 10 ounces) to 680
grams (1 pound 6 ounces). With Heidi's breast milk, we are now
anxious for her to begin to gain her weight back.
The day started out well and ended well.