So I know it has been awhile since the blog has been updated and so I thought I would update everyone on what has been happening in the last couple of weeks!

Seraya has been quite stable these last couple of weeks. She hasn't had any extreme incidents. Her breathing has been around the same though they continue to try and lower the pressures from the ventilator on her lungs. Current she is at a pressure of 15 which is good for her as two weeks ago she was on a pressure of 19. She is currently still on the high frequency oscillator as her lungs have a lot of growing and maturing to do yet. We had a meeting with the doctor last week and they were hoping to try and switch her to cpap this week. I don't think this will go well as she seems very dependent on the ventilator still. I am not sure if their plan of cpap will happen this week yet as she has been having a lot more desaturations lately with her oxygen etc. Overall we do see a lot of improvement in her lungs and for that we are so thankful and continue to see God's hand in her life!

She has been on a few more rounds of antibiotics over the last couple of weeks for various infections. Again they weren't able to pinpoint exactly where the infection was coming from and so each time they put her on a broad spectrum antibiotics to ensure all bases were covered. Currently she is free of any infection and not on any type of antibiotics, another reason to be thankful!

The concern of Seraya's bowels has improved immensely over the last couple of weeks. She is currently up to her full feeds which is 16 mls every 2 hours. They feed her through her gtube and it is pumped into her stomach slowly over an hour each time. She seems to be tolerating her feeds beautifully and growing!! As of last night she has doubled her birth weight and is sitting around 2 pounds 12 ounces:) The extra weight she has gained is quite visible in her cheeks and body as she is starting to look chubby and a lot more filled out:) She is pooping regularly and her stomach is no longer blue or distended. She seems to have overcome this hurdle in her life. Praise be to God for this immense blessing!!

Seraya continues to receive head ultrasounds but so far they have remained the same since her birth. Her bleeding has not become worse and has not started up again which is great news!

Seraya no longer has a picc line as they had to remove it early last week due to there being a blood clot at the end of the line not allowing it to work properly. We were not happy to see this happen as we knew it meant a lot more pokes for her with pivs. She has a lot of bruises over her small body as her veins are so tiny and so it was not easy to insert an iv line into her veins. It would often take 3 or 4 tries before they would get the needle in:( it was not easy to see her be poked continually and not be able to pick her up to comfort her. But at the same time we knew she needed to have this done. On another note she is completely iv free today as she is up to full feeding and is done antibiotics:)

They have not been able to insert a new picc line in yet as her platelets seem to keep dropping. They are not sure why this is yet as platelets  usually drop due to infection or a blood clot. She doesn't have an infection and her blood clot hasn't got any bigger. The medical team will continue to monitor her closely to see as to why they are dropping.

Another new thing that they want to start this week on Seraya is eye testing. We all have blood vessels growing in the back of our eyes behind our retina. Now these blood vessels are supposed to grow straight but often what happens in premature babies is the vessels will begin to form crooked which will cause problems with her eyesite. This is because they are born so early and they're eyes are exposed to light a lot sooner than they are supposed to be. If they see when she is examined that her blood vessels are in fact growing crooked there is a treatment they could give her. We are not sure what this treatment is yet as we have to wait and see what the results of her eye test are first.

The last thing I wanted to mention is our snuggles with Seraya. Since she is more stable the nurses are fine usually with her coming out for skin to skin once a day if she is doing good. This is our favourite part of the day! When we get to hold her it is for at least 1.5-2 hours or more as it is quite the ordeal to get her set up on our chest:) They have to work around all of her wires etc. and she still is not totally pleased when she is moved around a lot. She tends to desat when she is jostled around but then quickly settles down when she is in our arms! It is amazing to be able to hold her and give her comfort in this way!

As the weeks pass by we fall more in love with our sweet Seraya:) We are so thankful for the time we have been able to spend with her so far! We see how small and fragile she still is and know she is so completely in Gods hands at all times. We continue to put our trust in God, and take life day by day as we do not have to worry about tomorrow! We continue to be amazed and thankful for the medical team and all the equipment which God has allowed  and provided to take care of Seraya! She is a tremendous blessing in our lives and we feel so blessed that we were given such a wonderful gift!

We would like to say thank you again for all the prayers, words of encouragement and support we have received so far! We appreciate this all so much and know that we could not face this journey alone!


"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Ps 27: 13,14