Saturday, September 29, 2007 - Update

After speaking with Jodi today she shared with me that Olivia had a good day. Ryan and Jodi were able to read a story (1 chapter) to Olivia. Olivia seemed to be content and resting peacefully during their visit.

While visiting Olivia, Ryan and Jodi were given a memory box for Logan. Jodi told me it had his personal effects from his time spent in the hospital. This is something that Ryan and Jodi treasure.

Please cover Ryan and Jodi with your prayers. While their faith in the Lord is strong, their hearts are weary. They are saddened and confused. Please pray that God's comfort will be felt and that they will receive peace in their hearts.

Olivia is their bright ray of sunshine. I know the hope and prayer of many is that she will continue to grow stronger and healthier with each passing day. Ryan and Jodi are longing for the day they can welcome her home. She is fighter - but still needs our prayers.

Ryan and Jodi appreciate all the the well-wishes, words of encouragement, and prayers being posted on this board. Please continue posting. You mean so much to them at this time.

Ryan and Jodi

Ryan and Jodi respectfully ask that you give them this time to be with each other and their family. They will not be taking any phone calls or answering emails.

Please leave your well wishes and prayers for them on this message board.

Please be in prayer for Ryan and Jodi today. At 2pm they will meet with the funeral director. No parent should ever have to plan their child's funeral. And, so with that I ask that you lift their entire family in prayer.

Jodi asks that you please continue to honor Logan's life by remembering not only him, but also what he did for you. For many they now have closer walk with God because of this blog and Ryan and Jodi's testament of faith. Never forget that Logan mattered. His life was beautiful and it was worth something. Logan was only here for a short time - but in that time he taught much to so many.

Wrap them in your prayers today. Pray Olivia will continue to grow stronger each day.

Matthew 5:4 - Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

He is God.

He Is God~

He is the First and Last, The Beginning and the End! He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all! He is the Architect of the universe and the Manager of all times. He always was, He always is, and He always will be ...unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone

He was bruised and brought healing! He was pierced and eased pain!He was persecuted and brought freedom! He was dead and brought life! He is risen and brings power! He reigns and brings Peace!

He is light, love, longevity, and Lord. He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God. He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.

His ways are right,His word is eternal, His will is unchanging, and His mind is on me. He is my Savior,He is my guide, and He is my peace! He is my Joy, He is my comfort, He is my Lord, and He rules my life!

When I fall, He lifts me up! When I fail, He forgives! When I am weak, He is strong! When I am lost, He is the way! When I am afraid, He is my courage! When I stumble, He steadies me! When I am hurt, He heals me! When I am broken, He mends me! When I am blind, He leads me! When I am hungry, He feeds me! When I face trials, He is with me! When I face persecution, He shields me! When I face problems, He comforts me! When I face loss, He provides for me! When I face Death, He carries me Home!

He is everything for everybody everywhere, every time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful. I am His, and He is mine!

I received this in an email this morning - It's words touched me. And it's a gentle reminder of God's love for us. I pray Ryan and Jodi feel God's love and His gentle hand upon them.

Logan

I just got off the phone with Jodi's dad. He shared with me that precious Logan has gone to be with the Lord tonight. He is now in heaven, looking down upon his family, his parents, and his sister. He will always be with them - always.

Please take this time to pray for Ryan and Jodi and their families.

Please surround them with your love, your support, and your encouragement.

Please continue praying for precious Olivia. While she is making great strides still needs our prayers so that she may continue to grow stronger and healthier.

Update - Logan

I just got off the phone with Jodi's dad. As I type this they are all up at the hospital in a family room.

Tonight Logan had to be resusciated 3 different times - each time it was harder on Logan's little body to recover.

Jodi and Ryan (with their family) are gathered tonight holding Logan in their arms. Dr. Hsaio said that sweet baby Logan would not be able to recover from this terrible incident. They unhooked him from his ventilator, IVs, etc and placed him in Jodi's arms because there was nothing else they could do for him.

Logan will no longer be suffering but instead will be welcomed home by the angels.

Please pray for Logan tonight.

Please be praying for Ryan and Jodi - they need our prayers now - more than ever. No parent should ever have to travel the road they must now walk. We must walk along side them giving them a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, and a source of hope, love, and encouragment. Pray for God's comfort and peace to surround them. May they feel His grace, His mercy, and His love.

We must not forget precious Olivia who still needs our prayers. She is fighting each day to grow stronger and stronger. Cover her with your prayers!

Through our tears and saddened hearts we must continue to pray. We need to pray for His understanding and seek His wisdom because we cannot begin to understand.

I will contact Jodi's dad in the morning. I will post what details I receive.


"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. And I will give you rest" - Matthew 11:28

URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED!!!!

I just got off the phone with Jodi.

Jodi and Ryan received from the NICU just a short while ago asking that they quickly come to the hospital to be with Logan.

She tells me that Logan's heart is not keeping up with him. She said they have had to bag him several times and are doing chest compressions.

Jodi and Ryan are obviously very concerned and scared. Through the tears she spoke of her love for her son.

Please be in prayer for Logan tonight. Please ask that God's hand comfort him. Pray for the physicians and nurses who are attending to Logan. Please pray for Jodi and Ryan's peace of mind.

We serve a mighty God and through Him all things are possible!!!

We have been in daily prayer for the Glunt's and we must continue. Logan's life has just begun and we pray that he has much life to live.

Dear God,

Please be with Jodi and Ryan as they drive up to the hospital. Please comfort them. Give them peace that only you can give. Give them strength dear God. Give them wisdom. Give them understanding.

Please place your hands of love, compassion, and healing upon Logan tonight. Please heal his body God. Please give him strength. Please give him peace. Guide the hearts and minds of the physicans and nurses as they work to help him.

Please continue to be with Olivia. She is a miracle just as Logan is. Jodi and Ryan prayed for these babies and through your mercy they were blessed. Please be with them tonight God. Please hold them. Take care of them. Love them.

Amen

Friday, September 28, 2007 - Update and Praise!

I am happy to tell all of you that Logan has urinated about 223 cc since midnight. His vent settings were turned down and his oxygen is down to around 36%. He is doing great today. I don’t know if it was the hydrocortisone, the dopamine or a combination of everything, but his body is getting rid of the excess fluids. Praise God!! Abraham Lincoln once said,” I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.” I have prayed out of such desperation over the past month. Our prayers are being answered and Logan is finally having a good day!

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!

Olivia 9.27.07

Thursday, September 27, 2007 - Update

Happy one month birthday to my precious babies. I wish I could say it was a great day, but Logan has not been doing well today. I could barely pull myself out of bed. In fact, I don’t believe I got up until around 4 pm and that was just because of my desire to go spend time with them. I pray and pray and pray and it seems Logan keeps getting worse and worse. He is retaining so much fluid that we hardly even recognize him. He did not have any urine output all day long. They increased his dopamine to 18 mics which is higher than it’s ever been and it still didn’t help. Now, the doctors are targeting his adrenal system and he was started on some hydrocortisone. Finally, tonight at about 8 pm, he had about 4 cc of urine so we are hoping that this means his kidneys will continue to make urine. Please pray and pray and pray for my little boy. Please pray that the doctors find the root of his problem and know how to help him. Please pray that Logan gets rid of all of the excess fluids that he has retained. Logan really needs all of our prayers right now.

Olivia seemed to have a wonderful day today. For the first time since she was born, she seemed content to me. Her oxygen was around 26% and she had her eyes wide open. Daddy got to hold her again in the isolette and she was just watching him. She was making the cutest faces and doing the funniest things. Her feedings got increased to 17cc and she now weighs 1 lb 13 ½ oz. Logan has not been weighed lately due to his condition. A few days ago, he was about 2 lb 3 oz and he is more than that now. Of course, a lot of this is due to his fluid retention. Both Logan and Olivia got to hear a story tonight and we sang happy birthday to Olivia. . . she seems just fine with singing. Also, they received a birthday present today from some little angel. It was a wooden, carved giraffe left on our doorstep that we now have in their room. Thank you so very much. Please continue all of the prayers for both of them.

Happy Birthday Olivia and Logan!

Mr. Giraffe

Mr. Giraffe can’t wait until Logan and Olivia are home.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - Evening Update

The sonogram today showed no fluid in Logan’s chest cavity. We are not sure what was seen on the X-ray last night. Although we hate that he had to go through another procedure last night, we are grateful that there is no fluid. They believe he was having difficulty breathing due to seizure activity. He has been given an additional anticonvulsant along with the phenobarb to help with that. He is still extremely puffy, but the nurses confirmed that they have seen worse. His urine output has drastically decreased this afternoon, but he urinated a lot overnight and this morning. Hopefully that will pick back up again. His blood pressure has been a little on the low side, which could be because of the morphine given last night. Because of that, he must remain on the dopamine and unable to begin feedings any time in the near future. We were able to spend quite a bit of time with him this afternoon and he got to catch up on his story. He still prefers, however, that we do not sing.

Olivia seemed to be requiring a little less oxygen today and she was sleeping soundly while we were there. Her diaper rash is improving and her vent settings were turned down a bit. She also was having some seizures last night and was given some medication. Her feedings were stopped last night for a bit because her abdomen looked a little swollen. She just had to pass a large stool and then the feedings resumed. (Logan and Olivia will love to find out when they get older that everybody was told of their urine output and stools.) I also have an interesting story for you. . .when we were planning the nursery, we knew we wanted an animal theme. Well, it kind of turned into a giraffe theme because everything we started buying had a giraffe on it. We also bought a large 4 – 5 ft stuffed giraffe. We kind of joked about the kids not being able to get away from giraffes. Shortly after they were born, Olivia was put on the blue lights that had a giraffe on it. She was then moved to her isolette that is the Giraffe brand. Then, they gave her an isolette cover that had, you guessed it, giraffes all over it. So, we have this weird connection to giraffes and today we learned that there was a baby giraffe born at the Sedgwick County Zoo. They named this baby giraffe. . . Olivia. I don’t know what all of it means, but it is all very intriguing.

Ryan and I were also talking today about how some of our parenting expectations have changed. We have had a lot of time to discuss how we feel about certain aspects of parenting since our road to parenthood was longer than most. We didn’t want to spoil our children. We didn’t have everything that we wanted as a child and felt that they shouldn’t either. . .it builds character. After all they have been through so far, we feel a little differently. An enormous playhouse in the backyard? Done. A trip to Disneyworld? You bet. Some things don’t change, however. We will always love them with all of our hearts and I know that they have found their way into the hearts of many. Please continue the prayers for my precious Logan and sweet Olivia.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - Update

This is an update that Jodi sent to me late last night about Logan. Please pray for the doctors who are tending to Logan and Olivia. Please continue to pray for precious Logan who is struggling right now. Please pray that both Olivia and Logan may feel God's hand of healing and love upon them and that Ryan and Jodi are being comforted by His peace and comfort.

We got a call tonight around 10:30 pm from the NICU. Logan’s abdominal girth has increased even more than it has been within the past few days. He also seemed to be more swollen on the left side of his chest. Because of this, they did an x-ray. They saw what seemed to be fluid pushing down on his lung making it even more difficult for him to breathe. So, tonight they did a procedure where they insert a needle into his chest to try to drain the fluid. Logan was given a local anesthetic along with morphine and they attempted twice to remove the fluid, but didn’t get any. It is unknown whether or not the pocket of fluid was missed or if it is even fluid at all. It has been a long night and we’re going to attempt to go to sleep without the answers that we need. Tomorrow morning the neonatologists are going to put their heads together to try to figure out what is going on. Please pray that they find the answers that they need to help Logan. Please please pray for my little boy. I just really want him to feel loved. After all he has been through. . .he probably doesn’t understand why all of these things are being done to him. To him, life must not feel very enjoyable. Please just pray that God makes sure that he feels loved. He has such a wonderful life waiting for him!!

Olivia 9.25.07

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - Update

When I received Jodi's update for today I immediately thought of Jeremy Camp's song Walk By Faith.

Would I believe you when you would say

Your hand will guide my every way

Will I receive the words You say

Every moment of every day

(chorus)

Well I will walk by faith

Even when I cannot see

Well because this broken road

Prepares Your will for me

Help me to win my endless fears

You've been so faithful for all my years

With one breath

You make me new

Your grace covers all I do

Ryan and I have been trying really hard not to worry as much and to put our trust in God. By placing Logan and Olivia in God’s care (and He loves them even more than we do) why should we worry? Isn’t that what faith is all about? Of course, we are human and it’s only natural for us to feel emotions like anger and worry and fear. Sometimes I don’t know if my body and mind could be any more exhausted. I’ve never felt such emotional fatigue in all of my life. But, the more I learn to trust in Him, the less weary I become. That is the only way that Ryan and I are able to keep putting one foot in front of the other and to get through each day.

My dear Olivia has been having it a little rougher the last couple of days. Her vent settings and oxygen have been a little higher. They stopped her caffeine today as well because she has also been losing some weight. She is still on 16 cc of milk, but they have added some formula to it. At first I questioned whether they thought that my milk wasn’t good enough. I guess she needs more calories and because she is premature, they are unable to just keep increasing the amount of milk given. So, they want more calories per cc instead. She also has her first vaccination tomorrow (Hepatitis B) so be thinking of her. She still hasn’t wanted to be bothered much, but she allowed us to hand hug her and read her a story. She only wants to hear one chapter at a time (of the Adventures of Johnny Chuck) and gets squirmy if we read more than that. It’s kind of funny because we always read one chapter each night when I was pregnant. Please pray that she becomes more stable and that her body becomes stronger each day.

Well, they think they might have learned more about what is going on with Logan. The culprit may be his thyroid and they have started him on some thyroid medication. We do not know if it will be a long term problem for him or if it’s just due to his immaturity. It seems to be helping him urinate better, but he still has a lot of fluids to get rid of. Also, his liver and kidneys have taken some damage. These organs are able to regenerate, so hopefully there won’t be any long term damage. The liver isn’t producing the proteins that the body needs to properly dispose of fluids. The best thing for the liver is time and feeding. When fed, the gut promotes the best response from the liver. They are going to try to start his feedings up again tomorrow. His vent settings and oxygen are still higher, but his blood pressure seems to be fine. Please pray for continual healing of his little body. Sorry that we don’t have any updated pictures of him. He looks so uncomfortable and his body is so swollen that taking pictures is the last thing on my mind.

Monday, September 24, 2007 - Evening Update

Ryan and I were talking last night and came to a similar conclusion. We remember hearing stories in the Bible where Jesus performed miracles right in front of others. Those same people who witnessed the miracles still lacked faith. It made you want to say, “How can you not trust God when you’ve seen what he can do?” Now, I find that I’m asking myself that same question. As you know, both of their head sonograms were clear. From what we’ve heard, it is a rarity for a 23 weeker to not have any bleeding in their brain or sign of PVL. For BOTH Logan and Olivia to not have any bleeding or sign of PVL is nothing short of a miracle. Ryan and I were so relieved when we heard the news. Today, however, Logan is struggling quite a bit. Just looking at his swollen body would be enough to make anyone cry. He had an abdomen sonogram done this afternoon to try to figure out what is going on with his kidneys. The results are still inconclusive. It is believed that he may have a yeast plug that is blocking the ureter and preventing the urine from passing through. They have done some cultures and started him on antibiotics. We should know something in a couple of days. There is a slight chance that it could also be a kidney stone. I’m sure there are many more things that it could be. They did rule out an abscess or cyst. Also, his kidneys are still very immature and that could be causing some of the problem as well. For now, they have him on dopamine, but they may have to increase his dosage to get him to release more of that fluid. I’m so worried about my little boy and pray that he gets over this hurdle. At the same time, I ask myself, “How can you not trust God when you’ve seen what he can do?” God is taking care of them and has gotten them through so much in the past 4 weeks. There is nothing that He can’t do.

Olivia seemed to be having a little rougher day today. They did have to turn her vent settings up a little bit today and her oxygen has been a little higher. She does have a pretty bad rash on her bottom that they are treating. She was busy getting her beauty sleep today and didn’t want to be bothered (so, sorry no pictures today of either one of them.) Please continue to keep them in your prayers. Please pray specifically for Logan’s condition to improve. Thank you for witnessing all of these miracles with us.

Monday, September 24, 2007- Update

I just received this update and PRAISE from Jodi. God is at work in the lives of these two babies. It reaffirms to all of us of His goodness, His mercies, and His blessings!! Praise God!

The LORD is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1

I wanted to let all of you know that Logan and Olivia had their head sonograms this morning. Neither of them have any signs of PVL!!!! Also, Olivia still shows no bleeding in her brain. As you know, Logan had a grade I-II bleed previously that has now resolved itself. There are no signs of bleeding or PVL with either of them. Praise God!!! He is answering our prayers. Now, this does not mean that they are in the clear. I believe it does, however, drastically reduce their chances of having a major handicap like cerebral palsy or severe mental retardation. They are still at risk for blindness, deafness and other disabilities. But, God is taking care of them and I feel so blessed to watch God performing these miracles.

Sunday, September 23, 2007 - Update

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul ... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and staff comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" - Psalm 23

We were able to talk to Dr Hsiao a little bit about Logan today. His urine output is considerably lower again. They had stopped the dopamine and he was re-started on his feedings today at 1.5cc. The feedings will have to stop if they have to start the dopamine again. It is not good for him to have the dopamine along with his feedings. The doctors do not yet know the cause of his low urine output / edema. The dopamine helps him urinate, but does not tell them why he’s not urinating. His kidneys seem to be working fine when they work. We understand it like this (and we may not be entirely accurate): His kidneys can be compared to a car engine. The engine is fine, but if it’s not given gas. . it won’t work. They are trying to determine what is keeping his kidneys from “getting the gas” that they should be getting. Logan’s oxygen requirement was down to about 40% earlier today which we were very happy about. Again, nobody is sure why it was back up to 80% tonight. Please pray that the doctors will find the answers that they are looking for. Logan continues to need all of our prayers.

It’s amazing the differences between Logan and Olivia. This is a prime example of how you cannot compare any child to another. Logan and Olivia were conceived at the same time, in the same environment and born at the same time and the differences between them are like night and day. Please do not forget that Olivia has had her struggles as well and her little body is still trying to adjust to life outside of the womb. It is by God’s grace that she is doing so well. I’m so proud of both of them and my love for them is immeasurable. Although Logan seems to be struggling a little more right now, please remember that they both need our continuous prayers.

Olivia was started on her caffeine therapy today. Caffeine can stimulate the part of the brain which signals the lungs to inflate. This is just one step closer to getting off the ventilator someday. She is also up to 16cc of milk and is still tolerating it fine. Her oxygen requirements are still low at around 30-40%. We ask that you hold Olivia dear to your heart and continue the prayers.
Please also remember that they have their brain scans this week to test for PVL. This is a VERY important scan and we need to cover them in tons of prayers. I know God is listening and that he continues to take care of my babies.