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 18:1-2 "I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

We have definitely been looking to the Lord for strength and refuge over the last couple of weeks. We have been very busy and also occupied with dealing with some new issues regarding Timothy.

He is now weighing in at over 19 pounds! We found out last week he had an ear infection so he was on a course of antibiotics. It looks like it may be inflamed again. We have a doctor's appointment on Monday so until then we are just trying to keep him comfortable, which is very tiring and challenging at times.

We got the results from the kidney test and it has been determined that he has both kidneys but only the right one is functioning and it is only functioning at about 50% of normal kidney function. This decreased function affects many areas of his health, particularly his parathyroid function. The parathyroid is a gland in the neck which regulates calcium and phosphorus in the body, which in turn can affect the bones. His parathyroid function is extremely elevated which indicates that it is compensating for the decreased kidney function. All this info is obtained through blood labwork. The doctor will continue to monitor his levels through bloodwork and will attempt to keep all his levels as balanced as possible. The goal now is to help preserve the remaining kidney function as this is a condition which cannot be reversed (at least as far as humans are concerned). This has been some very difficult news to deal with but we know that God is in control of this situation as well and it is our prayer that just as He has sustained Timothy up to this point, He will continue to sustain him and help all the parts of his body to function as they were intended to.

Please continue to pray for Timothy's overall health and well-being. Mommy & Daddy would also appreciate your prayers for us - we are going through a lot, physically and emotionally, right now and we really need your prayer support. Thank you!

1 John 5:14 reminds us that "This is the confidence which we have before Him [God], that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." and James 5:16b says "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."