August 7 - Update

Everyone,

Sorry for the late update, we came home last night and we are still trying to
get adjusted to being parents of a three year old and a baby in the NICU. We
are deeply grateful for our parents, as they have been an unbelievable help with
Luke during this transition. We did get a good night sleep and our doctor even
commented that we looked better today.

I am pleased to say that the MRI came back completely normal and the EEG results
were the same as the first. There are always caveats with the cooling and with
various medicines on the EEG results but no seizure activity is good and we will
take it. We are now over 24 hours and there have been no more seizures. We are
praying that this was an isolated incident. Before and since the seizure
activity, we received so much positive news and I think this brought us back to
understand that 1) she is still really sick and has a long way to go and 2) God
is very much in control of this situation.

Your prayers for her kidneys are working, so keep them going. Her urine
production is way up, pretty much 4 times larger than 48 hours ago, so they have
taken her off of one medicine for her kidneys and lowered the dose on the other
two.

Some exciting news is that she got about 5ml of breast milk for the first time
at noon today. (She is still getting her nutrients from an IV in her umbilical
cord). In a few minutes they will check to see if she was able to digest it.
When I got to the hospital this morning she had been sucking on a pacifier for
about an hour so I know she is ready to eat. And the doctor told us that if she
keeps up her progress we may get to hold her in a couple of days.

I have included a picture of her with her monkey lovey, which is already always
close to her. This way you can see who your are praying for and how beautiful
she is.

Below are the specific prayer requests. This is email has a lot of positive
information and she looks very healthy, but she is still very very sick and your
prayers are still very much in need. Sarah and I have looked at each other with
tears in our eyes so many times asking "how are we going to thank all of these
people?", and I am not sure of the answer. For now, know that each of you are
special to us and we thank you so very much for the prayers and support.

1. Pray that the seizures we saw on Friday were an isolated incident and do not
return.
2. Pray that her kidneys continue to improve and her urine output continues to
rise.
3. Pray that her blood levels - and all levels - improve and return to normal.
4. Pray that Porter has the strength and determination only God can give to keep
fighting.

James