Tuesday May 13th

All of Catherine's big brothers were able to visit with her today for a little while. Nicole was able to hold her while they removed the warmer and brought in her crib. We're excited about her moving to a crib. We can now bring blankets, clothes, etc., and believe me, they are coming in!! Her MRI was scheduled for this evening and we will have those results tomorrow. She now weighs in at a whopping 5lbs 7 oz - a full pound over her birth weight but it is still mostly fluid.

Thanks for the prayers and please keep them up. May God bless you all!

Another good day for little Catherine

Today they removed Catherine's ventilator tube since she is breathing on her own. She is still on some blood pressure medication. Hopefully, once she gets rid of more fluid via her stomach tube they will begin feeding her. She has been having dirty diapers which is a really good sign that all is working well for her.

They are also scheduling an MRI later this week to check her brain for any possible damage etc. It is a standard procedure.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Mother's Day Visit with Catherine

Nicole and I went to visit Catherine today. We were in for a big surprise. She was only on two meds and her oxygen was reduced to 20%. She look great, opened her eyes and kicked and squirmed.

Below: They took the IV's out of her head so now we can see her hair. You can also see the scar on her belly. No bikinis for this young lady - dad smiles.....

#1 colored a picture of St. Therese for Catherine and wrote her a note. The nurses hung it by her bed.

Catherine got a little crafty overnight and made Nicole a Mother's Day sign. Nicole was really surprised. I think the kids in the NICU had a craft night to make stuff for their mothers.

Today's visit

Nicole and her parents went to visit Catherine today. She continues to improve. Nicole was even able to hold her and did so without it bothering Catherine too much. As you can imagine this made mom sooo happy since this was the first time she has held her since last Friday - May 2nd!!

Her color continues to get better. She squirms, tries to open her eyes and all that great stuff. She has lost a lot of weight and we are happy for that since she had taken on so much fluid. She was born at 4lbs 7oz and ballooned up to 7+ pounds a few days later because of all the liquid.

What a cutie!

One Week

Catherine had a very good night and day today. She is out-breathing the ventilator. Her supplied oxygen was reduced to less than half of the previous day and blood pressure meds, along with other meds, are continually being reduced. Please continue to pray for her and us. Here's the promised pictures....

The value of suffering

Readings for Friday of the Seventh Weeek of Easter

In today's Gospel Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to make up for his three-fold denial that took place shortly before Our Lord's crucifixion. Jesus allows Peter a second chance to say, "I love you." Jesus also gives Peter a second chance to follow Him, a second chance to take up His cross, a second chance to suffer.

As Catholics we believe in the redemptive value of suffering. We believe that suffering need not be pointless or meaningless. Instead, we work to unite our suffering with the suffering of our Lord. We seek to mount our own cross and offer our sufferings to the Father in reparation for our own sins and for the sins of the whole world. We, like St. Paul, say, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church..."

Peter was given a second chance to suffer and we too are offered many opportunities to suffer. In fact, the opportunities to suffer are practically endless here in this valley of tears, in this pilgrimage through our own Garden of Gethsemane. The key to imitating Christ in this Garden is to constantly repeat His words, "not my will, but yours be done." Christ was fearful and we are fearful. Christ did not yearn for suffering nor do we. Christ did not rejoice in what was to happen but accepted it as His Father's Will. And so, we too must make His prayer ours, "thy will be done."

If we accept the suffering God offers to us patiently and with complete trust in His goodness we can trust in His reward as well. At the end of the Gospel reading Jesus says to Peter and to you and me, "follow me." "Follow me through the suffering, follow me to the cross, follow me to the grave, follow me to the resurrection, follow me into eternity." This is the path, this is the way. There is no other. Do you love Him? Follow Him.

Day 6

It is hard to believe that last Thursday I was getting ready to drive Nicole to the hospital for preparations for the delivery on Friday. It seems like two months ago not merely a week ago.

Today was a good day for me. I stayed at the house last night and slept in my bed for the first time since last Thursday night. This morning I took all four boys to a kids event in town - kidpalooza. It was sponsored by many of the civic organizations and business in town. They had a great time and got lots of stuff - stickers, books, a kite, etc.

Today was an especially good day for Catherine and for Nicole and me. Catherine was taken off the oscillating ventilator and placed on a regular ventilator and she likes it much better. She looks wonderful - color, skin tone, not nearly as bloated. She was moving a great deal when we were there and even trying to open her eyes.

They dropped her blood pressure medicine some more and she is doing well with that. They also moved her head a bit and she looks much better. She doesn't look as flat-headed or puffy now. She is so cute!

We also spoke with the genetic doctor today to discuss with her if there were any problems. One of our concerns was Trisomy 21 or Down's Syndrome which is often associated with duodenal atresia. Since the atresia was not there, there was no concern for Down's but they did the testing anyway. There is a slight variation in one of her genes and they are doing further testing to tell if it will be an issue. One doctor indicated that there are probably thousands of people walking around with this same genetic indicator and they don't even know it. Anyway, we are going to be waiting for those results to come back within the next week.

I am on watch tonight and will head over there in a little while to see Catherine, talk to her and stroke her little head of hair. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Please continue to pray as I know you will. Thanks for caring and for reading.

May God Bless you all!!!

Catherine Video

I just figured out how to do this. I hope it isn't too much for those of you without DSL. This video was taken about a half hour after her birth.

T-Ball Time

I came home this afternoon to spend the night with the boys. We're trying to keep some sense of normalcy here. The boys and I took #1 to his first T-Ball practice tonight. He loved it of course. Here are a few pictures.

Day 5

After Mass this morning I visited Catherine. She is still continuing a steady, slow track. They have cut her blood pressure medication almost in half. They have continued working on weaning her off the ventilator and hopefully will be able to switch her to a different, less intense machine. She looks much less bloated today. She weighs almost 7 lbs now but unfortunately that is mostly fluids. Her poor little head is so misshapen from lying on her back with her head turned to the left - it must be for the ventilator - another reason we want her off of that she can move her head. She's still a cutie though!

She was moving around this morning but I think it was more agitation than anything with the nurses moving her around. Well, I'm off to clean and do some laundry before Nicole comes back this afternoon. Keep us in your prayers! Thanks!!