six months old!

No more free rides around here. You're six months now. Time to start pitching in with the laundry. :)

Happy Half Birthday to our little heart warrior! It's been six months, and, in many ways, it seems like a lifetime. God has shown himself mighty in your little life. I can't wait to see what other big, big plans He has for you. We love you beyond measure and are so grateful for you, Brooklyn Hope. You are a gift!

loving the bottles

Turns out that our sweet babe is a HUGE fan of having her NG tube out! :) She's had a great day with bottles. Thank you so much for praying. Keep it coming! We still have much progress to make, but we are thrilled with how far she's come in just a day! As a dear friend said this morning..."God is showcasing His power again!" Yes He is!! And just look at this adorable tubeless face! :)

NG-free trial

Wow! I can't believe it's already been over two weeks since our last follow-up appointment. Brooklyn checked out well. Praise the Lord! Life has surely been happening since. And THAT is the best news! We are loving being out more and more and enjoying the simple pleasures of life...taking walks in the neighborhood, taking big sisters to the park, going to the grocery, etc. It was a LONG winter!! :) 

As far as her check-up back on the 10th goes, Brooke's chest x-ray looked good. Echo looked good. Numbers looked good. She looks good. :) Our next check-up in St. Louis is in early May. So strange not to be going back every other week! Woohoo! 

So, for the prayer requests... 

Tonight (Sunday) I pulled Brooklyn's NG tube, and we are giving it another trial run for the next day, maybe two, without the tube for feedings. Typically, Brooklyn gets a vast majority of her calories through the tube during her continuous overnight feed. She loves bottle-feeding for the most part (and takes four per day currently), but she just hasn't  taken the volume (and calories) she needs overall.

In working with our team (speech therapist, cardiologist, NP and dietitian), we agree that it's best to give bottle-feeding a try for an extended period (1-2 days depending on how she does) without the tube in place.  

Will you pray that our sweet babe just takes off with these bottles in the next day or two? 

Specifically, please pray that...

*She learns quickly what it feels like to be hungry

*She understands that bottles can satisfy that hunger

*She maintains a positive association with bottles especially throughout this trial

*She takes significantly more volume than she has thus far. She averages about 30-35 mLs per bottle. This is a good increase from even previous weeks, but it is still only about 1/4 of the volume that a healthy almost-six-month-old would typically take. 

We have high hopes as usual for our sweet baby girl. We would love to get rid of the NG tube sooner rather than later, but we know that, as Brooklyn's speech therapist says, "This is a marathon, not a sprint." Yes. Yes it is. Speaking of our speech therapist, she has been such an encouragement to me, and I am SO grateful God crossed our paths on this journey. We love you so, Jeanne! 

Thank you so much for lifting us in prayer, friends and family!

a quick update & prayer request

Our Brooklyn is doing well. She is very happy to be home with her silly sisters and quite entertained by them. :) It is pretty amazing to be through our second surgery, home together as a family and moving toward our new normal. Praise Jesus! I will have more of an update after our first post-op check-up in St. Louis tomorrow. 

For now, will you join me in praying for another heart baby today? Baby Nicole was born in December with the same heart defect that Brooklyn has. She had her first open-heart surgery, the Norwood, right away like Brooklyn and is undergoing her Glenn procedure (the same open-heart surgery Brooklyn had a couple of weeks ago) TODAY. I met her mom at the hospital last week and found out that she received one of the gift cards that was donated at Abby's birthday party. She was so, so grateful! I've had her and Baby Nicole on my heart since I met her last week, and I would love if you would join me in lifting Nicole, her mom and the surgical team in prayer today. Thank you so much, friends. 

home sweet home

Yes, you read that correctly. We. are. home!! Outside of a lot of spitting up/vomiting (due to the change in feeding plan), Brooklyn had a really good last couple of days. The feeding plan will likely be ever-changing as we try to determine what best suits Brooke's tummy. We would love your prayer regarding figuring out this plan. We are really anxious to get rid of the NG tube, but it may be awhile. We have to just take it a day at a time. Overall though, she is doing so well. Praise God! Thank you so much for the continued prayer, encouragement, love and support. We feel the love, and your prayer has made a huge difference! I will continue to post updates probably each week. For now, enjoy these sweet photos...

Yeah, I just had open-heart surgery eight days ago. No big deal. ;)

Two excited sisters! Make that three. These silly monkeys made Brooklyn laugh--like belly laugh--for the very first time tonight! Such joy!!