Sophie Kate’s Journal

Sophie Kate has been admitted to Children’s Hospital (Tues. Jan 29).  When we got all the tests results back today, there were several things going on.  First, she has a kidney stone in her left kidney (diagnosed by ultrasound).  Second, she has some liver abnormalities (determined by ultrasound).  For all my nurses out there reading this, her liver enzymes are all normal.  We don’t know to what degree the abnormalities are at this point.  Third, she does have reflux, we just don’t know to what degree right now. 

Tomorrow (Wed.) she will be having a CAT scan of her abdominal region.  This will give us more information on the kidney stone and liver.  She will also be seen by a urologist who will talk to us about what we are going to do about this kidney stone.  Thursday (Jan. 31), Sophie will have a ph probe done, which will actually take 24 hours to complete, which will tell us the severity of the reflux. 

Please pray for us while we are here and for Sophie while she is undergoing all these tests.  Pray for conclusive results and wisdom for the doctors, nurses, and mama and daddy.  Pray for Sophie’s comfort during all of this.  Pray for the boys, this is going to be very hard on them.  Pray that we will say the right words to them and that God will give them an understanding and that they will feel very loved and very special through all of this. 

God has been faithful to our family through everything we have been through with Sophie Kate and we know that He is here with us now.  While this has taken us by surprise and we certainly were not expecting this to happpen today, it has not taken our Savior by surprise, He has certainly not been caught off guard by any of this.  While we wonder and speculate about what tomorrow will bring, He holds the universe in His hands and yet at the same time is so real and so personal to us as His children.  I can’t believe we are back in the hospital with our precious baby girl, words cannot describe what it has been like to watch her hurt and to feel so helpless.  Our family once again is separated and it just kills me to be away from my boys not knowing what they are thinking and what they are doing at this very moment.  But as much as I love and hurt over my family, my heavenly Father loves and hurts over us more.  God loves Cooper, Jacob, Grey and Sophie Kate more than her mama and daddy do.  “Amazing Love how can it be that You my King would die for me.”  

“I lift my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1 

We got Sophie’s tests rescheduled for tomorrow, Jan. 29.  Her ultrasound will be at 9:30 and the upper GI series will be at 10:00.  We will then go over to the doctor’s office to discuss the results of the tests. So we will know something tomorrow.  Please be in prayer and we will give an update with results as soon as we can.  We know God is in control!

We will be taking Sophie to Children’s Hospital Thurs. (Jan. 31) for an upper GI series, an ultrasound, a some lab work.  Her feedings are half of what she used to be taking and I’m sure she is starting to drop weight by now.  Please pray for these upcoming tests, pray that they are conclusive and can tell us exactly what is going on so that we can get her to feeling better.  Pray for her and us during this time leading up to these tests that she can be comforted and not be in pain.  It hurts me so much to see her hurt, it is really wearing on us.  We will be seeing her gastroenterologist as soon as we are done with her tests at Children’s, so at least we know we will not have to wait on results.  We will know something Thursday. 

Thanks so much to Chad’s parents, Grandma and Grandpa McManic for giving us a break today and taking care of Sophie Kate.  There is definitely a strain both emotionally and physically in caring for her and we appreciate their willingness to step in there and do that for us.  We know she was in good hands. 

How’s this for the power of prayer?  I took Sophie to see her pediatrician this morning.  She hasn’t been taking her bottle well over the past 4 days and has become very irritable and agitated during the feedings and just in general as well.  I just felt like something was up and she was definitely not acting like herself.  Well, in an effort to make a long story short, which by the way I am not very good at, I will just say that our pediatrician told me that Sophie needed to see a pediatric gastroenterologist (wow I will never know if I spelled that right) for pretty severe reflux problems and that they would make the appointment and call me later.  Our feedings with her are just excruciating.  She is obviously hurting and it is breaking my heart to have to make her eat.  I prayed right then that we would be able to see this specialist tomorrow and do you know that when the nurse called me back that is excatly what she said.  Our appointment is tomorrow!  Wow, what an amazing God we serve! 

Please pray for our appointment tomorrow, that we can get the ball rolling on finding out specifically what is going on so that she can receive the treatment she needs.  Also, please pray for her pain, she hurts so bad when she eats.  Pray that we will have some answers tomorrow for pain relief at least to get us through the weekend until all the tests and test results can be completed.  Thanks so much for your diligence in praying for Sophie.

I have been thinking and praying over the things that transpired here over the weekend.  For the other two people who may be reading this who are not blessed to live here in the Birmingham area, I will briefly explain.   The 2 year old son of a popular morning show radio host drowned in the family swimming pool Sat. night (Jan 19).  This morning (Jan. 22) I heard a friend of their family talking about the tragic accident (on Fox News) and referred to the world we live in as a fallen world.  Well, I really perked up then because I to have heard that said to us on more than one occasion since Sophie has been born and it is so true.  God did not cause that precious child to drown no more than He caused or willed what happened to our precious Sophie Kate.  We live in a fallen world, a sinful world, a world where satan and his legion are alive and unfortunately very active and tragic things and tragic accidents are going to occur.  Our God is bigger and more powerful than any of these things and only He can bring goodness out of circumstances like these and in doing so bring glory and honor to His Name.  I do not know the Burgess family and they do not know me (although I kinda feel like I know them from the show, but I don’t really), but I pray for them because we are all part of the body of Christ.  I have heard from family friends of theirs some of the same things that I have also thought concerning Sophie.  If satan thinks we are going to be filled with bitterness, anger and hatred towards our merciful God, he is severly mistaken, if satan thinks I am going to doubt my salvation and the love that God has for me and my family, he is severly mistaken and if he thinks that we are going to sink into a hole of despair and he is going to silence our witness and our testimony to the power and love of our Savior Jesus Christ well then he has seriously misjudged the situation, because we will not curse Jehovah and we will not cease in telling of His mercy and His miracles and His love for a fallen world. 

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”  Most gladlly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10

We had a blessed Sunday together at church this past week.  I don’t know how we did it, but somehow we all managed to make it out the door.  God was moving some huge mountains that morning.  It was a joy to be there all together as a family, no longer some of us having to stay home and some of us getting to go to church and feeling torn that way every week.  Thanks to Traci and Lynn for taking care of Sophie Kate and allowing Chad and I to be in worship together.  We needed that, it had been a while since we were there together.  It meant alot to us.  We are getting out more and more as a family, it was fitting that one of the first times out was worshipping together in the House of the Lord.  ” I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1.

For those of you who are on pins and needles wondering what ensemble Sophie chose for her first day at church, we won’t keep you in suspense any longer…

We had some excitement this morning(Sat. Jan. 19) it snowed here!  No major accumulation just enough to cover the ground and send the children into frenzied craziness.  For Grey and Sophie Kate, it was their first snowfall, so of course we all had to get out in it.  Grey wasn’t too sure about it at first, but once he got into it he had a ball.  Cooper and Jacob started a snowball fight with the people across the street.  Sophie decided after a few pictures that she had had enough and that it was just too cold out there for her.  I have posted more pictures of the blizzard of 2008 in the photo gallery.

Sophie’s weight is now up to 9 pounds 3 ounces.  I hope to report in the next 2 -3 weeks that we will be in the double digits, the big 1-0, that will be exciting.  Her head circumference is still at 35 cm which is the same as last week, but that has been going very well lately and we know that it will continue.  We are still doing all of Sophie’s exercises at home with her and she continues to look at and follow the toys we place in front of her.  This week Sophie’s occupational therapist worked on flexibility and range of motion with her in her joints particularly in her shoulder joints where she is especially tight.  Sophie Kate is taking 3 1/2 ounces of formula now and continues to do this all by herself, Praise God!

Please pray for her physical development, particularly an overall strengthening of her entire body and more flexibility and range of motion in her joints.  Also, for an awareness of her environment and the world around her and her place in it and her ability to be at peace and to be comfortable in her environment.  Please continue to pray that Sophie will keep taking all of her formula and that she will continue to have increases in her head growth.  Also, please pray for Cooper, Jacob, and Grey as we are sill having some tough questions from them like, “Is Sophie Kate still sick?”   We know that they know that there are sill some things going on, pray that God will give us the right words to say when we talk to them about their sister and all the things that our God has already done for her.  Thank you for all your prayers and your diligence and commitment in praying for our Sophie Kate, God continues to work wonders in her life.

As Sophie starts to get out into the world more and more, I feel as though a couple of these outings are significant and therefore are worthy enough for the whole world to know or at least the two people that may be reading this.  The first which I have been remiss in not mentioning thus far is Sophie’s first party and subsequently her first social engagement which was a New Year’s Eve party at her friend Traci’s house.  It was a fun evening for all punctuated by eating and sleeping mostly for Sophie although she did manage to be awake at midnight, which by the way has become a fun game for her that she has been perfecting now for about 4 weeks (thanks Sophie, your parents really appreciate that).  Sophie was debuted in a darling pink outfit with chocolate polka dots along with matching bib and burp cloth, a girl’s got to accessorize right?  She did manage to sleep until 7:30 the next morning, keep that up Sophie that was great.

Sophie’s next social outing was really more for her mama’s sanity, but don’t let Sophie know that.  Attending one’s first Beth Moore Bible Study is an exciting adventure for anyone, but when you are a 2 month old making your debut it takes it to a whole new level.  First of all, Sophie agonized over what she was going to wear (what am I going to do with her when she hits toddler-hood?  she’s going to be impossible).  We finally settled on a cute pink sweater jumper that we were both happy with.  However, in picking accessories to go with this outfit, we knew we had to pay particular attention to the shoes, since our friend Beth Moore has such an affinity for the perfect shoe.  We chose a little crocheted number with pink ribbons, they were too cute and so was my sweet Sophie Kate.  So off we went mother and daughter to our first Beth Moore Bible Study (Stepping Up-a journey through the Psalms of ascent).  A day I will always remember not because of what we wore, but because this was the first day of many I plan for us to share the Word of God together.  Praise Him, it is so fun to find joy in life’s everyday moments once again.

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!