Eight Months Old

~Sweet, 8 Month Old Girl~

Noelle turned 8 months old today, and the days seem to be over before they have even begun sometimes.  What a delight this tiny treasure is to us, and we thank God for each and every day with her.  The past few weeks have been very busy with follow up doctor appointments and various other life happenings; but amidst it all, this little girl continues to make good progress in her growth and weighed 7lbs. 11oz. at her appointment on Monday.  Again, I was hoping to reach the 8lb. mark by the time we came to this day; but she is very close, and I believe she will pass the 9lb. mark before her 9 month birthday and finally obtain {and then exceed} the average of 1lb./month.

~First Sunday at church as a family~

This past weekend was very special to us as Noelle's pulmonologist allowed us to venture out a bit more in the form of attending church on Sunday morning.  What an incredible joy it was for me to be able to participate in the service and hear the preaching of the Word along with the rest of the body of believers.  Months have passed since I have been able to attend due to our circumstances; and while online services and messages help tremendously, they do not quite compare with taking part in the service for yourself.  Tom was always willing to trade off with me, but with his commitments and the things I personally had to do to care for Noelle, we just could not make it work before now.  My heart was full; and the music, preaching, and fellowship were an incredible encouragement to my heart.  It was not without strict rules for us as parents {including, but not limited to: no nursery and absolutely no touching from others}; but while I was a little nervous about it, we were more excited than anything else to be able to attend for the first time as a family.  It means even more to us since we will be put on "lockdown" again in October and not allowed to take Noelle into public places again as we tread through the winter and spring months, attempting to avoid colds, pertussis, RSV, and flu viruses that could land us back in the hospital with potentially serious issues and major setbacks in her health and growth, since most anything she might catch would probably elevate her to a critical condition very quickly.  If we can make it through this upcoming season, the pulmonologist is very optimistic for our activities next summer.  However, we still must also clear some other major things with our cardiologist and are looking forward to our first follow up visit with him next week and hope to gain a care plan for how her pulmonary hypertension {PPHN} will be managed long term, now that we are home.  It takes quite the effort to coordinate a plan of attack for this little girl, and we continue to be amazed and thankful at the communication among all of the physicians, therapists, and other medical personnel that follow her.   Specifically, we ask prayer for her lungs as they continue to grow and heal.  This is not just a concern through the winter; but even now we have been unable to wean her any further on her oxygen, demonstrating that there is still much damage to overcome with both the chronic lung disease and the pulmonary hypertension combined.  Otherwise, she is clinically doing very well, and we praise God for her progress.  To celebrate her 8 month birthday, I am posting a few pictures from an album I created {which some of you have already seen} entitled, "A Series of Smiles."  This little girl smiles all the time and consequently generates many extra smiles from her mommy and daddy throughout the day.  Thank you for your continued prayers for our little miracle!!

~My Favorite!  I LOVE this smile!!~

~Happy Girl~

~Bright Eyes~

~"Huh?"~

~Squeals of delight!~

~LOVES to talk!!!~