Sophie Kate’s Journal

Sophie’s nurse came out Friday, Jan. 11.  Sophie now weighs 8 pounds 8 1/2 ounces and we have had our third consecutive week of head growth.  She is now up to 35cm up from 34.5cm last Friday.  Praise God!  What a miracle that is! 

We had another appt. today (wed. jan 9) with Sophie Kate’s occupational therapist.  It just keeps getting better and better.  Sophie’s eyesight has been in question for some time.  We knew that she could see light and dark because her eyes would respond and she would squint.  Now we haven’t had a official confirmation from an eye doctor, but today her therapist was working with her trying to get her to follow a toy that was placed in front of her and then moved from side to side and she did it!  Praise God there is something there for her besides just a response to light and dark, something where she could at least see the form of another object or possibly even the colors.  She also grabbed for it and pulled it into her body which is a great and encouraging response.  Sophie was then placed on her tummy and was able to raise her head and looked at toys from that position.  She has great control of her head and strong neck control.  Her therapist said several times that she never thought Sophie would have been doing these things right now if at all.  I said that these were all miracles of God.  We are witnessing a living breathing miracle of God.  He was with us in that place of darkness where everything had been taken away from us, where there was no hope but the hope we had in Him.  He has brought us out of that place of crushing blackness by His love, His comfort, His grace and His mercy and along the way has displayed His power and His might.  The Holy Sprit of God is alive in us and His presence can be felt in us and in our home. The Holy Spirit is alive and active and at work right before our eyes.  He is in control!

Please pray for Sophie and for us as we work at home on all of these areas to stimulate her development.  Please pray that she continues taking all of her formula from a bottle, she is doing great with this.  Please pray for continued head and brain growth.  Please pray that God will use this and we know that He will to touch the lives and hearts of those who don’t know Him, to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  We give Him all the praise, honor and glory for who He is and for all that He has done!  “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”  Psalm 126:3

Sophie was 2 months old on Jan. 3, but today(tues. jan 8) was actually the day of her checkup.  She is 8 pounds 5 ounces and is 21 inches long, so she has now reached what her big brother Cooper was when he was born.  Her doctor was thrilled with her progress, she has actually gained a little more than an ounce a day since he saw her last at the beginning of Dec at her 1 month checkup.  She is now getting those big chubby cheeks and double chins (sorry Sophie but you are) that are so cute on babies.  We are starting to get involved with the Early Intervention program of Alabama, they really seem like a great group of people and I think Sophie is going to benefit greatly from their services.  God has placed such great people around us for encouragement and support.  The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” has taken on a whole new meaning to me.  Wow, it is so true.  What a blessing you all are to us!    

The good news and good reports just keep coming in, I can hardly keep everyone and everything updated.  Sophie’s nurse came out today and her weight is up to 7 pounds 15 1/2 ounces up from 7 pounds 8 ounces last Friday.  She is also taking 3 ounces of formula consistently now with every feeding and sometimes even a little bit more.  The big news of the day though is her continued head growth (which we were told by her doctors would not happen) it is up to 34 1/2 cm up from 34 cm last Friday.  What a miracle this is!  I just look at her and can hardly take in all the miracles of God that make up her life.  We have been told by many that she should not even be here with us. It is amazing and humbling and overwhelming to visibly and physically see the power and might of our God.  He is an awesome, benevolent, and loving God and we praise Him and thank Him for the blessings and miracles He is pouring out on our family.

We had a very good visit today with Sophie’s Occupational Therapist.  Sophie’s therapist was extremely pleased with her progress over the past 2 weeks.  Her flexibility was very good and she was calm and relaxed during the whole visit.  I was very encouraged by this visit.  Sophie’s OT pointed out several things that she observed that were encouraging developments:  Sophie is beginning to move her legs independently of each other instead of both of them moving at the same time in the same direction, she is already doing this with her arms, she is also much more flexible and relaxed in her joints, especially in her hands they are open and relaxed and not drawn up into fists, her OT was also ecstatic over her head grow, that I had reported in the last post, this is just huge.  The power of prayer, it is so very active and alive!  We are seeing the proof and the power of that every day!  Praise God! 

A sincere “thank you” for all your prayers, please continue in your prayers for our baby girl.  We are seeing results every day and every week.  We praise God for each and every one of these blessings.  What an encouraging and uplifting day this was, it was so refreshing and it renewed in us the importance of what we are doing at home with her.  God is growing our baby girl strong and we Thank Him for what He is doing in our family.