Update October 18, 2007

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for little Sierra Rose. She has made remarkable improvements during her stay in the hospital. Tomorrow will be her 1-month birthday, and she is so much farther ahead than when she first arrived in the NICU on September 19th.

CURRENT STATUS AND PLANS
-Sierra is being fed completely or almost completely by R's milk (through the feeding tube). She is receiving little or no IV fluid (other than the sugar water).
-Unfortunately, Sierra has not yet learned how to drink from a bottle. The most she has been able to drink is 5 cc. She would need to be drinking 120 cc every 3 hours in order to be released as-is.
-Because of this, doctors will perform a gastrostomy tube insertion on her (probably Tuesday). This tube in the stomach will allow her to be fed directly. At first, Sierra will be on a continuous feed. After a while, the feedings will be farther apart.
-Sierra will remain in the hospital for 7-10 days after the surgery and then will be released if everything is fine.
-Rosetta will take Sierra to the hospital twice every week so the therapist can continue to train Sierra how to drink from a bottle. In addition, R will have more freedom to practice with Sierra at home.

PRAYER POINTS
-Pray that Sierra Rose will learn to drink from a bottle soon so that the gastrostomy tube can be removed.
-Pray that Sierra Rose will maintain her throat function. Even if the gastrostomy tube can't be removed soon, Sierra might be able to begin eating solid foods at the appropriate time if she is still able to swallow.

Thank you for your prayers. We really appreciate your intercession even if we haven't been able to reply to each one of you personally.

--MK