Roller Coaster Ride

This week has been full of many ups and downs. Ariana was taken off the ventilator and put back on about 3 times...she's back on the ventilator. And she started not acting like herself, not moving all around and just sleeping and being really out of it. They think she has another infection somewhere and are running test. Carlos and I prayed for her this morning and we are trusting God to continue His healing work in her.

Back on Ventilator

Ariana had to be put back on the ventilator this morning. They are running tests to see if she has pneumonia. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Off the Ventilator

Ari is off the ventilator and breathing on her own! On Saturday they took her off and put her on Cpap, it puffs air in her nose, like a nasal cannula. She's been doing really well. Her heart rate is lower than it has ever been, she always had a high rate on the ventilator. She also being fed 6cc of milk and doing well...she was being fed 1cc on Friday. So she is making progress.

She weighs 2lbs 7oz...she is gaining weight too :)

And we held her this weekend for the first time...it was amazing. She was so peaceful. I wanted to hold all night and not let her go.

Soon to be off ventilator

Ari has been doing really well. Soon she will be off the ventilator. They say that will be her next hurdle, breathing on her own with the help of CPAP, which simply puffs air in her nose to encourage or reminds her to keep breathing....a nurse described it like sticking your head out of a car window while it's moving...the wind makes you take a deep breath.

She's been doing better with tolerating her milk. Just having a hard time staying on a "pooping" schedule. I guess breathing, digesting the milk, and pooping is too much to process all at once :)

1 Month

Ari is doing very well :) She will soon be off the ventilator. Her swelling has come down. She's being fed after 2 weeks of no milk. She was so active this weekend. She cried - not that we heard her - but we could see her expressions, which tell us she is very alert. I felt so bad for her she was crying and even though I couldn't hear her, I could feel her cry. We are so grateful to be at this point, we have been feeling such relief this weekend as we continue to hear of her improvements each day. I'm afraid to take it all for granted and just keep reminding myself to appreciate each moment...even with our older ones.

Mia (the 11 yr. old) sang at a concert this weekend and I listened to her play her violin and was so pleased with her and her talent.

Aliyah (the 8 yr. old) is my right hand girl, she's so helpful and willing to serve.

Mikayla (the 4 yr. old) has been so happy, laughing, being silly, and jumpy...she wasn't always this happy so it's really nice to see her full of joy. And she loves Jesus - she reminds us every day.

DJ (the 3 yr. old) is the one who expresses his love and concern for Ari the most. He asks for her everyday and always prays for her. He woke up one day and told me he had a dream about Ari...very deep dream I will have to put in another post.

We are grateful for each one and each moment God gives us.

Almost 1 Month Old

Ari continues to get better. You see in the latest picture of her, she is swollen. They have been giving her medication to get rid of the fluids and to help with the swelling, however, as long as she's on the oscillator and being sedated, she will continue to have the edema. Her oxygen levels have been improving, they have held off on the steroids for now because she has shown improvement each day. She hasn't been fed yet, but has no more bile coming out of her stomach.

Each day I thank God for showing me how He has His hands on her and is taking care of her.

3 Wks Old

Ari just had a great weekend, compared to how she's been doing. She's been maintaining her oxygen levels and the line in her stomach came out. With the line out of her stomach, we will be able to hold her soon...I can't wait! They haven't fed her yet, as she continues to have bile coming out of her stomach so they will be checking her stomach in the next day or so. She didn't need blood all weekend, which was also nice since they had given her blood almost every other day the past week. They will look into started steroids on her this week, since her lungs aren't functioning as well as they should be at this point.

I helped the nurse check her temperature, change her diaper, and wipe her face and Ari handled it really well. She gets really annoyed at times when she has this done and she fights this hands on care and gets worked up, then her oxygen levels drop. Only when I was wiping her eyes, she did get touchy and I did have to stop and put my hands on her without moving to calm her. She lets us know what she doesn't like. Like the saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words." She can't speak, but she can stop breathing to be left alone...and she turns red.

I met a lady this weekend whose baby was born last Dec. at 23 wks. They told her there was a 95% chance her baby wouldn't make it. Her daughter had a lot of complications. Her due date was today and her daughter is 8lbs and learning to eat and breathe at the same time...then she will be ready to go home. God is amazing, He is in control of our lives. If we look around us and see all the things in this world and look at life and these little creations...how could there be no God?

To All The Brothers and Their Family

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Carlos really enjoyed being out with you guys. Words cannot express our appreciation for your generous gifts. I just wanted Carlos to have a break and you guys went above and beyond your call of duty.

To all the wives, thank you for letting your hubbies out for the night :) The way you all have supported us has just been blessings added on to our abundance of blessings.

We have just been humbled by the way everyone has stood up to serve us in such special ways.

Day 19

Ariana has continued to improve this week. They are continuing her antibiotics for another 3 days, which she's been on for her stomach/intestine infection. She has a line in her stomach which they plan on taking out tomorrow, this is the one they give her transfusions from, which they have given her a lot of them. The line in her stomach has been in for over 2 wks now and is a source for infection, so they need to take it out. So they will put a line in her wrist so they have another area to give her blood. Her other wrist has her picc line and one leg has a line for her thyroid medicine, which they started her on yesterday. So she has one little leg free of lines. We continue to trust soon she will be free of all these lines, healthy, strong, and in our arms.

She continues to be sedated but is still very active, so they may give another medicine to get her to calm down more. She's had many wet diapers this morning, which is good, she's getting rid of all the fluid she's holding. She weighed around 2lb 3oz last night and that's going from 1lb 9oz a few nights ago...and she hasn't been fed - so with the wet diapers some of the swelling should come down.

She's getting there slowly - God's teaching us some serious patience!

Day 17

Ari continues to be a little fighter. They have her on a 7 day course of antibiotics for an infection in her stomach. She's still on the oscillator and being sedated. They actually went up on her sedation because she gets very agitated and her oxygen levels drop. One nurse said being sedated doesn't faze her, she keeps moving all around, as we all say, "She is feisty."

To All the Guys:
Thank you for getting Carlos out. You all work fast. He's looking forward to Friday and I am too.

Thanks again to everyone for all your prayers and well wishes. We have been so blessed with meals and my family has been great at taking our other 4 kids so we can spend time with Ari. Now if I can just get someone to do our laundry and clean, we will be all set :) I'm kidding! We have been taken care greatly by all of you in one way or another - I can't say it enough - Thank you!