Timothy James

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.

Psalm 37:23-24 "The steps of a man are established by the Lord and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong because the Lord is the One who holds his hand."


For the past 2 weeks we have definitely felt at times that we were being hurled into a sea of swarming emotions, but God was with us every step of the way, holding our hands; and at times, He has been the only thing carrying us through.

Timothy now weighs in at right around 18 pounds!!!

We are settled back at home after a taxing 10 day stay at the hospital. Wednesday, April 13, we rushed Timothy to the ER with breathing problems. Very soon after being given a bed, he went into respiratory distress and they had to put him on a ventilator to help him breathe. We were transferred to the Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit and he stayed on the ventilator for 2 days. Once he was breathing on his own again his oxygen requirement was still very high so they couldn't send home until that was lowered. We sat for 5 more days - full of blood draws, IV pokes, x-rays, ultrasounds, and numerous medications and tests all in attempt to find out what was causing the problem and to treat it. Mommy & Daddy were always at his side, at least one of us anyway. We did take turns going home every other night to get some much needed rest, but it was not nearly adequate for the stress we were under.

After a week of conflicting test results, guesswork by the doctors, and waiting for medications and breathing treatments to work and seeing no results, we were tired and completely spent. Wednesday morning, April 20, we poured out our hearts to the Lord. You see, we had been in this place before - there were numerous times in the hospital for the 7 months after Timothy was first born that he was in a place where the doctors didn't know what else to do to help him. Each of those times we laid him before the Lord in prayer asking for God to work miraculously. Each of those times God came through when people didn't know what to do. So we prayed again, this time with faith in God's divine intervention because of how we had seen Him work in the past, and God came through once again! Wednesday afternoon, with no change in his care by the doctors, Timothy took a sudden turn for the better and we were able to wean him down on his oxygen requirement to meet the doctor's goal for sending him home (now that's what I call divine intervention!). Friday night she released him and since we've been home, he's pretty much back to normal and we give God all the praise and glory for his recovery!

While we were in the hospital some of the tests he underwent revealed some new and important information:
- His tracheostomy tube is too close to the opening of his lungs and could potentially cause harm so he will be getting a customized tracheostomy tube made according to measurements taken by the doctor.
- The area of his trachea (windpipe) around the tracheostomy tube is actually kind of collapsed, so the tube is holding his airway open right now. This condition can improve with time as the airway strengthens.
- An ultrasound confirmed that he only has one kidney and it is functioning at about 50%. (We had suspicions regarding the absence of his left kidney based on previous ultrasounds.) This condition is going to require more extensive testing to see exactly how the kidney is functioning and to see if there is any treatment that can be done to improve its function. This is a serious condition with lots of complications. Right now his bone growth and hormone levels are being affected. Please pray that these will be restored to normal.

We are so grateful for all of you who have been keeping up on our life with Timothy and thinking of us. We are especially grateful for those of you who continue to lift us up in prayer on a regular basis. God hears your prayers and responds through His provision of grace, comfort, strength, peace, and encouragement to us. Thank you and praise be to God "who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place."