August 18 - God's timing

Sarah and I were reminded today that Porter is going to go home on God's timing
and not ours. As her creatinine level kept dropping, we knew we were getting
closer to bringing her home. Unfortunately, her creatinine level did not drop
today. It did not go up, which is good, and at this time, it is still too early
to tell what impact this has on her kidney recovery. We have come so far and
one day at the same level is no reason to be discouraged. This does, however,
bring us back to the reality that we can only keep praying for her kidney
recovery and continue to bond with her the hours we are at the hospital.


The levels of the past three days have been more of what the nephrologist had
expected with tiny .1 drops with a stall mixed in. Right now her level is at
1.7. The "normal" level for a newborn is 0.4, and we need it to drop below 1.0
and stay there for multiple days before we start discussing options beyond
dialysis.


Other than the kidneys, she is doing great. She is eating a ton, and beginning
to gain weight after loosing all of that fluid weight due to her kidneys not
working. At the 9PM feedings Sarah and I have been playing PK music through the
magic of the iPod. No surprise PK loves James Taylor but is unexpectedly a huge
Lionel Ritchie fan. The other night, our nurse grabbed some of her colleagues
and gathered outside of our door to find out which songs the DJ was spinning.
Note: Sarah has nixed all gangsta rap.


The Prayers:
1. Pray that creatinine level drops to the normal level of .4.
2. Pray that Porter's kidneys kick into full gear so that the dialysis is
temporary.

3. Pray that the seizures were an isolated incident and do not return.
4. Pray for strength for Sarah. We are in our third week of going to the NICU
every day and, now that she is nursing, Sarah has been spending a lot of time up
there. It is beginning to be a grind and we still have weeks to go.

5. Pray that Porter has the strength and determination only God can give to keep
fighting.


Thank you all for your continued support,
James