Timothy James
"Precious to God"
I was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 8th because my amniotic sac was leaking and I had begun to dilate. I was ordered to lie flat on my back until the baby came ( I was due April 2nd!). Well, on Dec. 17th my water broke at 7:15pm and Timothy James decided to come early. He was breech and already on his way out, so the doctor did an emergency C-section and at 10:20 pm he was delivered. He went straight to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and has been there ever since. Timothy was only 25 weeks along in his development (a "normal" pregnancy lasts 40 weeks) so he still has a lot of growing to do.
posted by Sheri
Stats at Birth
Date: December 17, 2003Time: 10:20 p.m.
Weight: 1 lb., 10 oz.
Length: 13 3/4 in.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Isaiah 64:8 "But now, O LORD, You are our Father. We are the clay and You our potter. All of us are the work of Your hand."
We definitely feel the Lord working in our lives through the special circumstances surrounding our son and we have seen the evidence of God shaping Timothy's little life.
Actual Age: 9 months
Adjusted Age: 6 months (Sat.)
Weight: 11 lbs.
Height: 20 3/4 in.
Sorry it has been so long since I have given an update. Our lives have been very busy since coming home from our most recent hospital stay. We are all settling back into our routines and for those of you who regularly visit our site, I am trying to post an update at least once a week from here on out. Also, we are hoping to get some new pictures posted soon - we have been experiencing some technical difficulties which we hope to iron out this weekend.
Timothy is doing great at home again. The eye doctor in LA said that his left eye looks ok for what he would expect after surgery. It is definitely compromised anatomically and will probably never be as healthy as his right eye. There is still some scar tissue that needs to be monitored.
Our most recent Dr. visit was to a developmental clinic where they will monitor Timothy's overall growth and development as a post- preemie. They observed his current behaviors and physical abilities and decided that right now he is not exhibiting any problems which would indicate cerebral palsy due to his brain condition (PVL). This was good news! He is definitely delayed in his development from what would be considered "normal" for a 6-month old baby, but they think these delays are mostly due to his extensive hospitalization and lack of movement, stimulation and experiences.
We are learning not to judge his development by the "normal " standards, but to look at Timothy as an individual and to measure his progress based on where he has come from since birth (which is a super-long way!). The biggest need right now is for us to interact with him and give him as many sensory experiences as possible. He will probably receive physical and/or occupational therapy at some point, but his lungs have to grow stronger before he will be able to tolerate those activities.
October will be a busy month for us as we continue to have 1-2 Dr appts. each week. We will be meeting with several new specialists to add to our list this month.
Praise - Timothy has regained his strength since his hospital stay
- God continues to grow and strengthen him every day
- He has developed much better head control
- He can hold his pacifier by himself now and is actually beginning to scoot himself across the floor (with a little help from mommy of course)
- He has very strong little legs
- God is still in control!
Prayer - He is working on lifting his head up when placed on his tummy. This takes lots of head, neck and trunk control.
- Some new insurance issues have come up. Please pray that God would provide exactly what we and Timothy need.
- Health for Jon and me and Timothy's nurses as we head into the cold and flu season. If Timothy catches any respiratory bug, it could be extremely serious for him and land him back in the hospital.
We definitely feel the Lord working in our lives through the special circumstances surrounding our son and we have seen the evidence of God shaping Timothy's little life.
Actual Age: 9 months
Adjusted Age: 6 months (Sat.)
Weight: 11 lbs.
Height: 20 3/4 in.
Sorry it has been so long since I have given an update. Our lives have been very busy since coming home from our most recent hospital stay. We are all settling back into our routines and for those of you who regularly visit our site, I am trying to post an update at least once a week from here on out. Also, we are hoping to get some new pictures posted soon - we have been experiencing some technical difficulties which we hope to iron out this weekend.
Timothy is doing great at home again. The eye doctor in LA said that his left eye looks ok for what he would expect after surgery. It is definitely compromised anatomically and will probably never be as healthy as his right eye. There is still some scar tissue that needs to be monitored.
Our most recent Dr. visit was to a developmental clinic where they will monitor Timothy's overall growth and development as a post- preemie. They observed his current behaviors and physical abilities and decided that right now he is not exhibiting any problems which would indicate cerebral palsy due to his brain condition (PVL). This was good news! He is definitely delayed in his development from what would be considered "normal" for a 6-month old baby, but they think these delays are mostly due to his extensive hospitalization and lack of movement, stimulation and experiences.
We are learning not to judge his development by the "normal " standards, but to look at Timothy as an individual and to measure his progress based on where he has come from since birth (which is a super-long way!). The biggest need right now is for us to interact with him and give him as many sensory experiences as possible. He will probably receive physical and/or occupational therapy at some point, but his lungs have to grow stronger before he will be able to tolerate those activities.
October will be a busy month for us as we continue to have 1-2 Dr appts. each week. We will be meeting with several new specialists to add to our list this month.
Praise - Timothy has regained his strength since his hospital stay
- God continues to grow and strengthen him every day
- He has developed much better head control
- He can hold his pacifier by himself now and is actually beginning to scoot himself across the floor (with a little help from mommy of course)
- He has very strong little legs
- God is still in control!
Prayer - He is working on lifting his head up when placed on his tummy. This takes lots of head, neck and trunk control.
- Some new insurance issues have come up. Please pray that God would provide exactly what we and Timothy need.
- Health for Jon and me and Timothy's nurses as we head into the cold and flu season. If Timothy catches any respiratory bug, it could be extremely serious for him and land him back in the hospital.
posted by Sheri at 10:16 PM
