Evening Prayer & Fun With Friends

Ayden & I pray every night before he goes to bed. He usually falls asleep before I get to the end; perhaps God washes him with a peace as we lift up praises and requests. Tonight we rejoiced for PROGRESS WITH THE BOTTLE! Ayden took 20ml last night and 30ml this evening. He refuses to suck on the bottle during the daytime, but these two feeds are very encouraging. He is certainly capable, but he is obviously very stubborn as well. Bryan always says that we are glad he is stubborn for some things, but we wish he would tone it down a notch for other things, such as feeding.

We also asked for God to watch over Ayden as he STARTS A NEW FORMULA TOMORROW. Bryan and I took Ayden (and a list of questions/concerns) to the pediatrician today. Ayden's cardiologist requested that the pediatrician take care of everything that doesn't involve Ayden's heart, so today the pediatrician picked a new formula for Ayden. If you remember, Ayden was placed on Monogen formula in order to give his lymph system time to heal. Approximately two months have passed, so the repair should be complete. It's time for a new formula, and since Ayden has tolerated a milk protein formula, he doesn't go back to Elecare. Instead, the pediatrician, Dr. Hood, chose a formula between Elecare and Monogen, Similac's Alimentum. Though Alimentum is actually a formula intended for children with protein allergies, it is not as elemental as Elecare, and it does contain milk protein. Dr. Hood intends to work Ayden up to full cow's milk, but she wants to do so slowly. We appreciate this plan since Ayden was thrown into Monogen by necessity, and we aren't sure his body had the opportunity to learn how to digest milk proteins.

A new formula is scary. It is possible his body has not yet healed. If it hasn't, Ayden will end up back at the hospital. If it has, we are still prayerful that Ayden can tolerate yet another formula change. We wish there was a better way to find out if Ayden's lymph system has healed. I am admittedly nervous about the coming two weeks. Ayden sees the cardiologist this week, and he will have a chest x-ray. He is supposed to have another one next week. We should have an idea if this is going to work fairly soon after he begins. Please, Lord, keep our baby boy out of the hospital!

On another note, Ayden had some visitors this week. He and Jude got to play for a couple of hours. We, of course, took lots of pictures, but the boys weren't quite as obliging... at least, not at the same time. I am so grateful that Ayden has Jude, another baby to interact with, another boy to grow up with, that happens to also have hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Ayden also met our friends, Cat and Ryan. Bryan and I were excited to have friends over to meet our little buddy and to spend time with us.

We are grateful that you continue to pray for Ayden!

Age: 8.75 months

Height: 27.5 inches - 25th percentile

Weight: 17lbs 4 oz - 5th-10th percentile
(Head circumference continues to be average.)