Baby Avery: Surgery scheduled for 9:30am tomorrow

So I just wanted to do a quick post of the latest with Avery.  I don’t have time to write one so here is a prayer request email that my friend Heather Botero  put together. Thank you all for your prayers!!! They are obviously effective! =)

Heather wrote,

I just off the phone with Jennifer and my heart is so filled with JOY! Avery is doing so well, and he is so strong.

I remember when she got the first sonogram and the doctors were pushing her to end the pregnancy, they told her there has only been 3 women who unborn children had the same condition as Avery at Winnie Palmer that chose to carry to fullterm and each ones baby suffocated at birth, and they told her that it would be the same for Avery…

Well they were WRONG!!!! We serve an amazing God who is so faithfull and so true! Avery was born with a normal APGAR score, and breathing on his own! And the nurses in the NICU told Jenny that he was almost rolling over, and she didnt believe them untill she saw for herself he almost rolled over!

Avery goes into surgery tomorrow at 9:30am to drain the fluid from his brain.

Prayer Request:

• -That there would be no complications durring surgery, & Jesus would be leading the hands of the surgons
• -That once the fluid has been drained his brain will expand. (they say the brain is like a sponge and will expand once the pressure is relieved)
• -That none of his brain will be missing, and it will be completely functioning
• -That once the pressure is gone, the swelling in his eyes will go down & that his bottom lip would be normal, its twisted right now to the left a little and is problamatic when nursing.
• -There would be no nerve damage
• -The shunt would never get infected, and would not give him any issues. 
• -He would have a speedy recovery & would not be in alot of pain.

Baby Avery: Calling a 7 Day Fast

In exactly a week I will meet my nephew for the first time. In exactly a week he will come into the world and we will see his precious face. Jennifer’s C-section is scheduled for next Thursday morning at 7:30am. I am calling a 7 day fast to any who would like to join us in prayer for his complete healing in the next week. Here are some prayer focus’.

• That Jennifer would be at complete peace and that her spirit would find rest in the Lord before the surgery. This is her first major surgery.         
• That the family would be supportive and also at peace about the procedures for both Jennifer and Avery.
• That the hands of the doctors would be led by the Lord during Avery’s Shunt procedure.  (draining the fluid in his head) and that Avery would have a healthy and full amount of brain tissue under all the fluid.
• Pray also that Avery’s healing after the process would be quick and speedy.
• That Jennifer’s milk would come in quick so they wont have to supplement any food for the baby. This is also the key to fight infection after the babies surgery.

• The doctors have scheduled his surgery exactly one day after he is born. They need him to be stable enough for exactly 24 hours. So also prayer for his stability. After the surgery he can go home as soon as 2 weeks and after about a month of being stable after the procedure he can travel back home to Florida.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

 ¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 ³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

This is the way we are hoping things go but we give the situation fully to the Lord and trust in him and lean upon his goodness. We feed upon his faithfulness and in that we would call him worthy and glorious no matter the outcome.

Thank you all for your prayers they are greatly appreciated!

SURPRISE!

Saturday we celebrated my big sisters 2?th birthday! Genesis (my niece) has been attached to mommy since birth. She is the kid that has a nervous breakdown every time you attempt to leave her in daycare or with a baby sitter. Since my sister is living away from her hubby for this season, it was very important that she got to spend some one on one time with him before the baby comes which happens to be the next time they will see each other (NEXT THURSDAY!!). So to distract Genesis from the five hour extravaganza of birthday festivities, we spent that time preparing a surprise party for mommy. Birthday parties are Genesis’ favorite thing in the world. So much so that she would rather it be some ones birthday then Christmas! For this little three year old has always been about “giving” before “getting”.

After Genesis and Adam had a squirt gun fight they got right down to business and started to bake the cake

All in the name of ‘Birthdays’

Mixing is her favorite part of the process

and into the oven it goes!

Birthdays are impossible without birthday hats

Then on to decorating…..

Waiting for mommy to arrive

If you can’t read it…it states, “happy birthday mommy” and yes that is a heart in the upper right hand corner

Ballons? Check. Hats? Check. Presents? Check. Cake? Check.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY

Here is a video clip from the surprise. It was Genesis’ first surprise party and I think its the first of many. Its all she can talk about since Saturday!

Baby Avery: He’s not growing and its a good thing

I know this is a late update but last week we had a sonogram appointment for Avery. Before we went into the hospital we prayed and talked about our faith in Jesus and how he loves to heal. We discussed all of the prophetic words Avery has received along with the dreams the Lord has given people about his healing. We prayed for a more positive doctor this time around and boy did we get one! It was a rather quick appointment with little conversation during the sonogram. At first I was nervous and to be honest, I was expecting bad news. She wiped Jenny’s tummy dry, turned on lights and said. ” His head hasn’t grown in a month and his body is catching up in size! 4 weeks ago it was 11.2cm then 2 weeks ago it was 11.3cm and today it was 11.4cm. This is a good thing. We want to see you every week just to be sure he is happy and healthy.” I then asked her with a smirk on my face, “Did he seem happy in there?” she said, “Yes he does!” This was the best news I had all week and was enough to off set anything negative that came my way. Thank you Jesus for life!

Baby Avery: an update

So I just got home from a couple of doctor appointments with my sister. The first appointment was awesome, we met with the doctor who is the head of NICU at the Overland Park Regional Medical Center. She was the sweetest, down to earth doctor I have ever met. She was also full of hope and positivity about Avery’s chances of survival. She was all for Jennifer supplying him with breast milk as soon as possible after birth which was a concern of ours. We learned, even though we kinda already knew, that breast milk is even better then the medications in all cases of baby’s being in NICU. It fights off infection and even speeds up the healing process in most cases. She explained that there will be a team there, including herself, of four people that will work as soon as he is born to keep him stable. We are praying that Jennifer’s milk comes in as soon as possible after he is born. We are going to try our hardest to prevent formula substitution as much as we can. Avery will be in the hospital anywhere from 2weeks to 1month depending on his healing process.

I know these things are hard to figure out so I decided to add some arrows and stuff

The second doctors appointment was not as positive as the first one. It was a sonogram appointment to check on Avery’s growth since 2 weeks ago. His head is still measuring as a full term baby (11.5 cm) and his body is growing at a normal rate. They still don’t see the cerebellum and the brain stem (this is the part of the brain that communicates for his motor skills, breathing included) but they say there is a chance it might be suppressed by the fluid considering when they monitored his lungs they saw strong breathing motions.

This Doctor also said that he had no hope for Avery. That there would be no chance that he will live because of how much fluid is in his head. But at the same time, this doctor was just a sonogram doctor and works only with babies in the womb. Good thing he wont be around during delivery.  I belive that Avery will live true to his name. In the English origin- Counselor; sage; WISE. That he will confound the wise (doctors) and that his little body would have wisdom and revelation of the healing power of JESUS!