PRAISE THE LORD, ISAIAH POOPED!

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!! I know this may be funny to many, but those who are in the medical field and any parent that has had a child go through abdominal/bowel surgery knows how important this first step is! On Mon. night, March 2nd, Isaiah had 2 poopy diapers. I/We were so excited, because this was the first important step to his recovery and coming home.

On Tues., the surgical team decided to put Isaiah's NG tube to gravity instead of suction, (naso-gastric tube that went from his nose to stomach to drain the contents from his stomach), to see how he would tolerate making his own bowel move the secretions through. They wanted to see if he would throw up, become bloated, have increased pain, or would he pass everything through. Huge praise---he tolerated the NGT being to gravity and his stomach output decreased from 160 ml to only 10 ml in a 12 hour period. The docs and nurses had never seen such a significant decrease in such a short period of time. I told Isaiah's nurse, Dara, that it was God intervening because we had thousands of people all over the world praying for him.

On Wed., the surgical team removed Isaiah's NGT. Then, ISAIAH WAS ABLE TO EAT FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!!! I was able to feed him his first bottle of 5 ml of breast milk. He took it with minimal difficulty, and then with great precision, he burped all on his own. It was just so wonderful to be able to do something for my little fighter. By the evening, the surgical team increased his feedings to 10 ml every 3 hours. He has been tolerating his feedings without any problem. He is actually waking up hungry. The next step is to make sure he moves his bowels again and is able to gain weight without the help of the IV nutrition he has been getting.

Today, Thurs, they are doing the scan of his kidneys to see if he has any urine backing up into them. They were unable to do this scan earlier. Hopefully, he will pass with flying colors.

Our main requests right now are:
1. Chris and Josiah both have strep throat, and Josiah has diarrhea. Pray for quick healing and that I don't become sick (I tested negative for strep)
2. For safety as my mom goes home Friday---she's been a huge help.
3. That Isaiah stays healthy and can come home soon.

A BIG THANK YOU to our church family for your generosity! We cannot thank you enough for helping us out. Also, to my immediate family for all your gifts, travelling down here, taking care of Josiah, and keeping up with our house. Thanks to our amazing neighbors for cleaing our house and keeping an eye on it. You all are meeting our needs before we even make them known---that is GOD!!!!!

We love you all very much!

P.S. Clarification: The first picture of Isaiah in the last posting was of him after surgery (he's sleeping). The 2 after that were the day before surgery. Sorry if there was any confusion.