Feb 23rd

I want to thank you so much for all your wonderful prayers and emails... I am so sorry to those whom I still have not personally replied or called back. My emails are down to 77 instead of 188 but I still have a few messages on my home phone and cell phone but I will do my best to get back to each and everyone of you. I am so grateful for you and all your support.

My hubby has been such a rock and I love him more every day for his love and strength. Thank you to Amy & Kurt Varricchio and Kelly & Jonathan Petke for painting Kyana's room and moving her in... Taylor is next and then is Amber, thank you for being here last Friday and taking care of this for me. Thank you to Sherry Toole, Toni Long, and Charlie Thivierge for picking up and dropping off Kyana. Thank you to Kim Verhoef for taking care of Taylor as I run late from visiting Amber to pick her up from Preschool. A huge thank you to my mom who has driven me, feed me (and the room helpers), put up with me and done everything that needs to be done at home. And of course to all of you whom have called, emailed, offered to help, and prayed for us... thank you, thank you, thank you.

I can't tell you all the technical or "medical" terms, I get a little mixed up but I know the bottom line so I am ok. She is doing so much better. She needs help with feeding, I guess babies learn to suck and swallow during the last month of pregnancy and since she didn't have that she is need of that. So, she is feed through a tube that goes in her nose and to her stomach. She is off all extra medications, she is breathing on her own, and drinking breastmilk. She is currently 4 lbs 11 oz but they want her to gain weight so they are going to add a powder/calorie supplement to my milk. They are having development team help her with the sucking and swallowing so she can take a bottle. Her PDA which an opening in the heart that all babies have from the connection to mom that closes within three days of birth has finally closed on Amber (13 days later). This was one of the things they were thinking of going in to close surgically. Her billyrubin (jaundice) has gone up and down, which makes her be under lights to help it go down. It was down yesterday and it was slightly up today, however, they feel it's on the rebound from being high. They expect for it to bounce up and down but finally settling down low, they will continue to monitor that. She is on Lasix to help with the excess fluids but instead of having it hooked on her in an IV, it's now being given twice a day orally (tube in nose). This is something that she will go home with until the surgery to repair her heart is done.

It was a good day :-) Thanks to God, to you, the doctors and nurses taking care and watching over her physically or through prayer... thank you.

Love,
The Brubakers