Our little Carissa turned one year old today! You can probably imagine how thankful we are to have been able to celebrate today. I love writing an update that was never supposed to happen...almost as much as Carissa loved the first cupcake she had ever consumed...make that absorbed instead of consumed.Many of you remember that a few days before Carissa was born we found out that she was having serious issues while still in the womb. We were blessed enough to be admitted to St. Luke's in the Houston Medical Center and then Carissa spent the first few weeks of her life in Texas Children's Hospital. It has been humbling to watch for the past year as the Great Physician has overcome every challenge and every seemingly impossible situation. Just a real quick timeline reveals His amazing ability.
- 4/8/09 Pamela goes from mid-wife to Ob-Gyn to specialist to being checked into St. Luke's and having 2 liters of excess amniotic fluid removed in a late night procedure. We learned this day that our unborn baby has "hydrops fetalis" and online research offers us scary facts.
- 4/9/09 Neonatal experts tell us there are no potentially positive outcomes for our daughter. After several "she will never make to here" points are explained they point blank say that is she were to ever go home she would have severe special needs for as long as she lives, which would not be long.
- 4/8-4/17/09 Minimum of 3 ultrasounds a day and 2 intra-uterine procedures performed to remove fluid from unborn daughter's chest cavity and to give her a blood transfusion.
- 4/17/09 We are going to have a C-section...no we aren't...yes we are...no we aren't...LOOK! WE HAVE BABY AND HER NAME IS CARISSA FAITH SHUFFLER!
- 4/18/09 Tube is inserted into lung to drain fluid after Carissa has already survived many things that doctors said she wouldn't. My update at 30 hours post birth sounds surprised that she is still with us.
- 4/23/09 ventilator removed and Carissa is put on cpap beginning the Shuffalufagus period.
- 4/24/09 We got to hold Carissa for the first time!
- 4/28/09 Cpap removed and nasal cannula inserted.
- 5/1/09 Moved to a crib from a warmer.
- 5/3/09 Moved to an incubator from the crib on a faith-challenging day.
- 5/7/09 Moved to Level 2 NICU when Carissa was never supposed to leave the C-section operating room, let alone Level 3 NICU
- 5/31/09 Feeding tube removed.
- 6/3/09 CARISSA GOES HOME!
- 6/25/09 Last blood transfusion. Looking back this looks normal with everything Carissa had gone through but this was like a punch in the gut since she had avoided a transfusion a few days before this.
- 7/31 Received OK to remove oxygen support.
If you look back through the updates you will see an incredible correlation between specific prayer requests and progression via answered prayers. I hope each of you, like us, have been reminded or maybe even first convinced to take all your needs to God in prayer.
Since Carissa was OK'd to breathe without oxygen support there have been challenges with illness, challenges in drawing blood from tiny crooked veins, wondering if she will ever be able to nurse on her own, and many, many others...and our Almighty God has gotten us through every one of them. Carissa is closer developmentally to an 8 month old than a 1 year old but she continues to make steady progress. She is a really happy baby and would be very easy to deal with if she slept a little better...ok a lot better. She is a shocking contrast to Colt and Luke as babies with her graceful hand movements and usually measured responses.
We still have occasional doctor visits and have gone through many time consuming and some painful tests, but have neither found a real source of Carissa's early challenges, nor have the tests revealed why Carissa improved when the original facts pointed to another outcome. We are thankful that we know the Source of her healing and hope that you do as well.
Once again, we want to thank each of you for your incredible support through prayer. We hope to get a chance at some point to thank you in person if we have not been able to yet. Like I have ended most of these updates I still ask for your prayers for Carissa.
- Please thank God for His incredible healing of Carissa and His faithfulness to get us through every step.
- Please pray Carissa will continue to develop and that she will become less susceptible to illnesses, especially respiratory ones.
- Please pray that God will get the glory for Carissa's miraculous healing.
A verse that has shown up more than once in these updates seems very appropriate again: And my God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 19.
Yours and His,
Terry
One very determined look below. I think a love of cupcakes must be instinctual.
