Samuel's 24th Update

Samuel has had a good week and is continuing to recover from when he got sick a few weeks ago. All symptoms have been gone for about two weeks, but the cold set him back in his progression on the vent. We hope to have him back to his previous six hours off the vent before long. Right now he is up to four hours at a time.

Over the last few weeks Samuel has begun to move his tongue backwards and forwards when stimulated with a pacifier being moved along his tongue. Speech has ordered an “ice finger” for Samuel that will work similarly to the pacifier we have been using. The difference will be that it is cold. The two biggest stimulants for swallowing are the use of something sour or cold. Because Samuel has so much secretion we don’t believe that something sour would be beneficial. Moving his tongue is the first step towards swallowing, and what a blessing that would be.

We are working on trying to figure out how to calculate Samuel’s calorie intake and balance that against the protein his body needs. Because Samuel is not very active he stores most of his calories and uses very little of those stores unless he is storming. Samuel’s weight has continued to increase normally, but his length has increased at a much slower rate, dropping him from the 90^th percentile at birth to the 10^th percentile at five months. This makes his otherwise normal weight excessive for the length of his body. We are now looking into possibly adding a whey protein to his milk which would give him the building structure for body development but will not add extra calories.

We continue to ask for prayer for Samuel’s appointment this Thursday, and that the Lord would give us discernment. May the Lord bless each of you as you go through your week. I encourage you to look about this week and not take the “ordinary” miracles that surround us for granted. When you see a sunset or the intricacy of a spider’s web remember that those things in and of themselves are miracles. The Lord surrounds us with testimony of His love and His mercies. How can we say there is no God? It is the God who created heaven and Earth that we look to for guidance and strength as we continue to pray for and love Samuel. What an amazing God who could make such an incredible little miracle like Samuel.

Kaitlyn Emery