Making Progress

Jill has been making steady progress since Tuesday. Her surgeon told us last night that he hasn’t seen a baby with such limited lung development do as well as she has (no doubt due to the masses praying for her survival). Everyone in the NICU seems to be in agreement that Jill is doing much better than anyone had expected.



Jill is slowly being weaned off her blood pressure medication, oxygen and ventilator settings, nitric oxide, and other medications. The surgeon had originally told us that today (Saturday) would be the absolute earliest he would consider surgery. Then we were told it may be as long as 7 to 10 days from birth. Then we were told it may be as long as two weeks from her birth. Last night, Jill’s surgeon said that he would like her oxygen setting to be below 40 and for her to be completely off her blood pressure medications and nitric oxide for at least 24 hours before performing the four-hour long surgery. As of last night, she was close to 40 on her oxygen setting and had been weaned from one of three blood pressure medications, with the two remaining medications being at doses much lower than she had been on Tuesday. Her nitric oxide setting was at 20 last night. When the doctor tried lowering it yesterday, Jill didn’t respond well, so they had to bump it back to 20. With that information, the surgeon said that surgery could possibly happen this Monday, but it would be more likely to happen later in the week.


Earlier this afternoon, Judy and I visited Jill. Her oxygen level was at 38 (below the 40 threshold!), her blood pressure medications were at lower doses than they were last night, and the best news, her nitric oxide had been lowered from 20 to almost 4! The nurse said that Monday was still a possibility for surgery.


The surgeon will move Jill’s stomach, liver, and bowels from her chest cavity back to her abdomen. Then he will sew a Gore-Tex patch to her diaphragm to close the hole that allowed her organs to become misplaced. This surgery will allow her heart to move back to its normal position and create the space for her lungs to develop. Somehow, only a small incision will be required under her ribs to perform this complicated surgery.


Please continue to pray that Jill’s blood pressure, body temperature, and oxygen levels continue to stabilize without her medications and that surgery can happen soon. Please pray that she will have the strength to endure the four-hour long surgery. Also, please pray that the surgery will be a success and that her lungs will begin to develop and fill her chest cavity.


In the weeks and months leading up to Jill’s birth, we had a difficult time really believing that a miracle would happen. The Lord gave us encouragement along the way, first with a friend from Judy’s past having a baby diagnosed with the same somewhat rare condition and then finding out that her baby had been healed prior to her birth (something our doctors had never heard about being possible), then to a couple from Bellingham, Washington (where we lived for over two years before moving to Idaho), contacting us to let us know about their daughter who survived the same condition and to provide encouragement and hope in our situation. We really wanted to believe in the goodness of God during this time, but still had the fear that He would take her away. Just a couple of days before Jill’s birth, I (Bryan) was reading a book by a former pastor of ours. I was taken aback by a statement I read. It said:


“There are times when you are at the top of your game, so the enemy (Satan) waits. He watches your seasons and cycles, looking for the times when you are weak. When you are tired, when you’ve had a conflict with your spouse, when the economy drops and you suddenly see how much security you had placed in your retirement plan, when you’re in the ICU with one of your children and you wonder if he or she is going to make it – at any given moment of weakness, you can be tempted to think that God is not good.”


Wow! I knew this statement was meant for us. This whole experience from the moment of Jill’s birth has gone much better than we had anticipated. Jill let out a brief cry at birth, a sound that Judy describes as “the best sound I have ever heard.” At that moment, I (Bryan) suddenly became the optimist that I had never been before and always wanted to be. Whenever a negative thought comes to my mind, I dismiss it as not being from God himself.


Judy and I are going through one of the most trying times of our lives, but are staying strong and positive. We are absolutely sure that this strength is not coming from our own will, but from the God who loves us and listens to our prayers and your prayers. Thank you to all who have taken the time to pray for us or personally encourage us through this process. We still need you to pray as much as ever. Jill still has several obstacles to overcome.


Please keep checking in for updates. Feel free to pass this link on to others who would be willing to pray for some strangers.