1/18/02 11:00 AM
Clara is resting well right now. After getting her first immunizations yesterday she was a little cranky. Last night she had a little temperature and her legs were slightly bruised. This was all due to the shots. Clara is still trying to nurse a little bit. She is still getting fed through a feeding tube in her mouth. She is not old enough to know how to suck, swallow, and breath at the same time. They just want her to try nursing to get familiar with it. We usually try it when she is getting fed so she recognizes her stomach getting full with the nursing. Today they decided to go up on her feedings to 27cc every three hours. She gets this in a 30 minute time period. Clara is still on the CPAP and doing rather well. She is requiring about 50% oxygen. They would like this to be more in the 30's before taking her off of the CPAP. During the night they gave her a blood transfusion because her red blood cell count was low. So now she is pretty and pink! Thank you all for keeping up with us and remembering us in your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Diana

1/17/02 10:15 AM
Clara continues to improve. Her weight last night was 1131 grams or about 2 lb. 8 oz.  She is still breathing on her own with the CPAP.  They are discussing trying her later this week without the CPAP!  Today or tomorrow Clara will start receiving her first immunization shots.  Last night they asked Diana to attempt to breast feed Clara.  Even though Clara has a feeding tube down her throat, she did start nursing!  They will try it again this evening.  God is continuing to perform miracles in Clara's life.

1/15/02 12:00 Noon
Clara continues to do well today.  She is still breathing on her own with the CPAP.  Her chest x-ray this morning was clear and showed no atelectasis (incomplete expansion of the lungs).  The blood cultures are now not showing any signs of infection but Clara will remain on antibiotics for a few more days.  Clara is tolerating the bolus feeding very well and they have increased it to 26 cc every 3 hours.  Last night Clara weighed 1101 grams or about 2 lb. 7 oz.  Clara is doing so well that she may be moved out of her private room she has been in for the past nine weeks.  We all are very thankful for Clara’s progress and thank God for His blessings.

1/14/02 9:45 PM
Clara is doing great this evening.  Today they changed her feeding from the continuous drip at the rate of 7.5 cc per hour to "bolus" feeding where she gets 22 cc in one hour or less.  They were planning also to try taking Clara off of the ventilator later this week.  However, Clara didn't want to wait.  About 7:00 PM, Clara pulled her breathing tube out and she started breathing all by herself.  The doctor decided to go ahead and put Clara on a "CPAP", continuous positive airway passage.  This uses tubes in both nostrils that supply a small amount of constant air pressure, but Clara has to do all the breathing on her own.  Diana and Jacob are very excited and happy.  Clara may get tired of breathing on her own and they may have to go back to the ventilator, but is a very good sign right now.  She is a fighter!

1/14/02 2:15 PM
Clara is doing pretty well today. The doctors are not making many changes.  Her weight last night was 1076 grams (2lbs 6oz). This morning the doctors discussed trying to take her off of the ventilator later this week. We will just wait and see. She still has some infection and will keep receiving the antibiotics for awhile. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. They are really helping Clara grow and get stronger!
Love,
Diana

1/13/02 3:45 PM
Clara is doing well today.  Her weight last night was 1042 grams or about 2 lb. 4.75 oz.  She is continuing to gain and is now receiving 7.5 cc of milk per hour.  Her ventilator pressure is set on 18 today.  The IV was taken off of her head and a “pic’ line was put through her left hand yesterday.  She does have an infection growing on the blood cultures taken a few days ago but it is one treatable with the antibiotic she is now on.  They will likely not do a spinal tap but just continue with the antibiotic.  Clara will get her first shot later today (as soon as nurse Mary gets up the courage).  The injection will be Epogen, which will help Clara to produce red blood cells.  Clara was two months old yesterday.  If she continues to improve, she should be able to go home in about eight weeks.  God continues to bless.

1/11/02 3:45 PM
Clara's weight last night was 1000.3 grams or about 2 lbs. 3.3 oz.  The ultrasound report came back normal.  They started another blood culture one and a half days ago and so far no bacteria is growing.  The spinal tap will continue to be put off unless new signs appear.  Clara's IV line in her head will be replaced with a "pic" line sometime today.  The ventilator pressure has been turned down to 19 but the oxygen level is about 40%.  Clara is currently receiving 7.0 cc of milk per hour and that will probably be increased because she has gained more weight.  Clara has a couple of new pictures on her web page and a new movie clip.  She continues to do well thanks to everyone's prayers.

1/10/02 1:15 PM
The ultrasound on Clara's kidneys and bladder was not performed until this morning.  The official results will not be back until later this afternoon, but the tech commented that it looked okay.  Dr. Hillman has decided not to do the spinal tap today.  They are going to continue watching her closely.  Her oxygen level is now down to 21% (about the same as natural air).  Her weight is about the same.  Diana and Jacob now get to hold Clara every day.  Thanks to all for your support.

1/9/02 10:15 PM
Clara is still doing well tonight but the doctors are taking additional precautions with the infection.  They will be doing an ultrasound of the kidneys and bladder tonight.  Tomorrow they will do a spinal tap to check if there is any infection in the fluid.  Although spinal taps in adults are often painful, it is not as painful for infants according to the doctors.  They emphasized that there are no signs of infection in the spinal fluid but they want to catch it early if there is any.  Clara has been put on a second antibiotic also.  This is another hurdle for Clara where she needs our prayers.

1/9/02 2:30 PM
Diana just called to report on Clara after the doctors made rounds. Her blood cultures did grow something. It is the same infection as the one in her trachea. So they will continue to give her the antibiotics. They are keeping her feedings and ventilator pressures the same.  Dr. Hillman says she will probably do another round of steroids after this infection is cleared up. Her oxygen is around 45%. Clara has been resting well all day.

1/8/02 10:15 PM
Clara is doing well today.  Her CO2 levels did go up some today and they turned the ventilator pressure up to 20.  A pediatric eye specialist checked Clara’s eyes today.  The blood vessel that forms around the retina is about two-thirds complete which is normal for her age.  They will check it again in about two weeks.  They are increasing Clara’s milk intake to 6.7 cc per hour and are adding some iron to it also.  The cultures have still not shown any growth of bacteria.  We are thankful for another good day.

1/7/02 10:30 PM
Clara was 8 weeks old this morning and tonight she weighed 2 lbs.!  She tipped the scales at 947 grams, which is slightly over two pounds.  Jacob & Diana both were able to hold Clara this evening.  They were able for the first time to hold Clara in a more conventional style where they could look down at Clara more easily.  Grandma said that Clara was looking all around while her daddy was holding her.  Dr. Hillman said Clara is doing very well and the cloudiness in the chest x-ray is probably the lung disease (basically immature lungs) and not pneumonia.  Clara is still on antibiotics today, but so far the cultures are not growing any bacteria.  If the cultures remain clear the next day or two, they will take her off of the antibiotics again.  We pray for God’s continued blessings.

1/6/02 8:00 PM
Clara is still doing okay but she may now have some infection.  The nurses are removing a lot of secretions.  This may be a sign of some pneumonia.  However, Clara’s white blood count is okay.  The doctor has started her on some antibiotics.  The ventilator pressure has been increased from 17 to 19.  The chest x-ray shows a little cloudiness.  Her oxygen level is about 50 and the CO2 level is in the mid-fifties.  This may be a small setback, but overall Clara is still doing well.  Thanks for your continued prayers.

1/5/02 1:30 PM
Clara is resting well today. The doctors went down on her ventilator pressure to 18. They would like to get this down to 14 or 15. When she gets to that point and stays there for a day or so, they would try taking her off of the ventilator. They decided to not increase her feeds today. She is getting enough calories for her weight and they don't want to push her. The chest xray this morning showed a very small part of her right lung was still collapsed, but it is getting better. The sample of secretions that they got from her trachea tube yesterday is growing some type of infection. However, the doctors say they think that it is only on the tube and not actually in her body. She is showing no signs of infection and her white blood cell count is fine. Her weight has not changed much the past few days. I will get to hold her this afternoon!
Love,
Diana

1/4/02 3:00 PM
Clara is having a good day today. They went up on her feeds to 6.2 cc an hour.  Her ventilator pressure has been turned down to 19. The doctors have removed her pic line. So she only has a tube in her mouth for the ventilator and a tube in her nose for the feedings. Right now she is not receiving any medications. The nurse usually suctions out her trachea tube every 4 hours for secretions. However, today they have had to do it every hour. They are getting quite a bit of white mucus. They sent a sample of this to the lab to look for any infections. We will not know anything for a couple of days.  Last night Clara weighed 871 grams (1 lb 14.7oz). We are getting closer to the 2 lb mark! Please keep praying for Clara's progress.
Love,
Diana

1/3/02 4:30 PM
Jacob just got done holding Clara for 2 hours. She definitely has Daddy wrapped around her finger. They had to increase her ventilator pressure from 23 to 25 today. Her chest xray showed a small part of her right lung was collapsed.  The doctors were able to replace her trachea tube with a larger one. They hope that this will help her lungs. They will watch her closely and may be able to go down on her ventilator pressure later this evening. Thank you for keeping all of us in your thoughts and prayers!
Love,
Diana

1/3/02 12:30 PM
Clara is still a little restless today. It usually helps to calm her down if Jacob or I cup our hands around her. They are going to increase her feeding to 5.6 cc an hour today. Later this afternoon they are going to try to replace her
trachea tube with a larger one. Since her body is growing she is needing a  larger tube. If they are unsuccessful they will just insert the same size tube as she has now. Her weight has not changed much the past few days. She is at
855 grams (about 1 lb 14.2 oz). She still shows us everyday that she is a true fighter!
Love,
Diana

1/2/02 1:30 PM
Clara is doing ok today. She had a restless night, but has calmed down today. They went up on her feedings to 5.3 cc an hour. They were also able to godown on her ventilator settings a little bit. She continues to improve but still has a long road ahead of her. Thanks for keeping all of us in your prayers.
Love,
Diana

1/1/02 7:00 PM
Clara continues to do very well.  Her ventilator pressure has been turned down to 23 and her milk intake has been increased to 5 cc per hour.  Yesterday they did a head ultrasound and it was good.  Her latest chest x-ray shows more improvement even though she still has a touch of pneumonia.  New pictures are now posted on Clara’s web page showing Diana holding Clara for the first time.  Diana held Clara again today for one and one-half hours.  They can only hold her every other day now.  Jacob will hold Clara on Thursday.  The Lord continues to bless Clara and her family.

12/30/01 10:00 PM
Jacob and Diana held Clara for the first time today!  Diana held her for about one hour and then Jacob held her for about thirty minutes.  Diana said she could feel Clara’s heartbeat.  While Jacob was holding Clara, she opened her eyes.  Clara is doing very well.  She weighed 1 lb. 15 oz. last night.  The only nutrient she is receiving now is breast milk.  All sedatives have been discontinued.  She remains on the regular ventilator and the pressure has been turned down to 25.  Diana said they took a whole roll of film while they were holding Clara so we should have a picture soon to share with everyone.  Clara is doing well but she still remains in the Intensive Care Unit and still needs all of our prayers.

12/29/01 9:30 PM
Clara was weighed again last night and weighed 780 grams, or about 1 lb. 11.5 oz.  They have increased her milk to 4.5 cc per hour.  She has a new "pick line" on her head and they removed the UAC, the unbiblical line, this afternoon.  Diana should be able to hold Clara on Sunday!  She remains on the regular ventilator and her oxygen and CO2 levels are still good.  Clara is also being weaned off of the versed and should be completely off of it on Sunday.  We are all thankful for the progress she has made and continue to lean upon the Lord for strength and healing.

12/28/01 3:30 PM
Clara is doing well.  Her weight last night was 749 grams or about 1 lb. 11 oz.  She still has some pneumonia but is getting antibiotics for it.  She is now up to 4 cc of milk per hour.  She also is getting some red blood cells today.  They plan on inserting a new "pick line" today and then removing the umbilical line.  If this all goes well, Diana And Jacob may get to hold Clara for the first time on Sunday.  Clara is still on the regular ventilator.

12/27/01 9:30 AM
Diana called late Wednesday night to let us know that Clara was weighed again and now weighs 1 lb. 11 oz.  She has a touch of pneumonia and some infection on her trachea tube but they are giving her antibiotics which should control both.  She has been moved back into an isolette (a positive move) and remains on the regular ventilator.  Her CO2 and oxygen levels are good.  We continue to trust in the Lord.

12/26/01 4:00 PM
Clara continues to do well today.  She is still on the regular ventilator at a pressure setting of 26.  Her oxygen level is about 35 and her CO2 level is in the forties.  Clara remains off of the paralytic and is moving around a little.  She is up to 2.6 cc of milk per hour.  Clara was weighed on Monday, Dec. 24, and weighed 1 lb. 7.7 oz.  She is gaining slowly.  We hope everyone
had a wonderful Christmas.  Thank you for your gift of prayer.

12/25/01 4:00 PM
We wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. This is a special Christmas for us because of our own little angel. Although she is not home to celebrate with us, she is doing well. Thanks for your many thoughts and prayers over the past six weeks. Last night they switched Clara over to the regular ventilator but on rather high settings. She was also back up to 100% oxygen. By today they were able to go down on her ventilator settings and she was down to 30% on oxygen. Since she is on the regular ventilator they were able to take her off the paralytic. So she was moving around and opened her eyes to tell us "Merry Christmas" this morning. She is now receiving 2.2 cc an hour of milk. They are trying to fatten her up! The doctor this week is trying a more aggressive approach. He says she has a severe case of lung disease which most premature babies have. However, they are able to grow out of this when they gain weight and more muscle. Please continue to pray for all of us. Your prayers have carried us through all of this. We wish you a very blessed Holiday Season!

Love,
Jacob, Diana, and Clara

12/24/01 10:10 AM
Clara is 6 weeks old today!  She continues to make progress but it seems like it is two steps forward and then one back.  This morning they had to replace her trachea tube again.  Her CO2 level was high and the placement of the tube was off a little.  Since replacing the tube about 5:30 AM she has now settled down and the oxygen and CO2 levels are good.  Clara is now up to 1.2 cc of milk per hour.  Last night they started adding a fortifier to increase the calories.  Mother's milk is about 0.66 calories per cc and with the fortifier it is increased to 0.84 calories per cc.  When Clara gets to 4.0 cc per hour they can discontinue her IV feedings of proteins and lipids. We continue to lean upon God and the prayer support of his people.

12/22/01 11:15 AM
Clara was 40 days old this morning.  Sorry about no email yesterday.  I just got distracted too much.  Clara continues to do well but still has some difficult moments.  Maintaining the correct oxygen and CO2 levels is often by trial and error.  Clara seems to have favorite positions in which to lay for the best oxygen and CO2 levels, but it's not good for her to stay in one positon all the time.  On Friday they started giving Clara milk on a continuous basis.  They started the drip at 0.5 cc per hour.  Today they increased the rate to 0.7 cc per hour.  At 0.5 cc an hour, it takes about ten hours for Clara to get one teaspoon full of milk!  Clara remains on the oscillating ventilator today.  They have turned the pressure and oxygen levels down this morning.  Thanks for everyone's continued prayers.

12/20/01 12:00 Noon
Clara caused some exci/tement last night.  Jacob and Diana were called at 2:00 AM because Clara's trachea tube became clogged with mucus.  The doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapist had to remove the clogged tube and replace it with a new one.  Last time this happ/ened, Nov. 16th, it caused Clara's oxygen and heart rate to fall and a Code Blue was issued. This  time however Clara started breathing on her own.  They were prepared to "bag" her but it wasn't necessary.  Her heart rate and oxygen levels remained normal. They replaced the tube and thought that since she was breathing on her own maybe she would be okay on just the regular ventilator.  They took a chest x-ray though and one lobe was collapsed so they put her back on the oscillating ventilator.  She is doing fine now.

12/19/01 10:45 PM
Clara did not have as good of day today as yesterday.  Yesterday we thought she might be ready to move off of the jet ventilator to the regular ventilator.  Instead, she was put on the oscillating ventilator.  This is because a lobe in each of her lungs collapsed.  The oscillating ventilator does a better job of reinflating these lobes.  Diana and Jacob are not discouraged.  The doctors and nurses said this is normal and Clara should recover soon and go back to at least the jet ventilator.  I read a quote a couple of days ago.  "Be kind to the person you meet.  They have had a hard day."  Meaning of course that we all face trials each day.  Clara, Jacob, and Diana need our prayers and we also need to pray for each other.

12/18/01 10:45 PM
Clara had a good day today.  She received two feedings of milk today.  Her chest tube was also removed today and they weighed her again.  She weighed 1 lb. 7 oz.  The last time she was weighed was on 12/7/01 when she weighed 1 lb. 8 oz.  The doctors are pleased with her weight.  She has not necessarily actually lost weight.  She may have still had some swelling on 12/7 and also it is difficult to get a really accurate measurement because of the ventilator and IV tubes connected to her.  Clara is still on the jet ventilator but the pressure has been turned as low as 17 or 18.  They still are adjusting the oxygen levels some.  Overall, Clara continues to improve.  Your prayers have made this possible.  Clara will continue to need your prayer support in the weeks ahead.  God asks us to do what we can and then leave the rest to Him.

12/17/01 4:00 PM
Clara is doing better today.  She is again breathing natural air and the jet ventilator pressure has been turned down to 20.  Her CO2 level as tested with a blood sample was 28!  Today she also got some milk - 1 cc. Diana is feeling better also. Thank you for your prayers.

12/16/01 10:00 PM
Clara has had another pretty good day.  The neotrend sensor she has had in her navel catheter failed and they decided not to replace it.  She has had the sensor in longer than any baby ever before.  Normally this sensor is only used about three weeks.  It is used to monitor the ph level and her CO2 level.  They also check these more accurately with a blood test.  Clara's oxygen level has been turned back up to about 50%.  She continues to have the condition where a lobe in one part of her lung will collapse and then reinflate and then another lobe in another part will do the same.  This condition should improve with more maturity.  Clara continues on the nimbex for sedation and this is causing some swelling again.  Dr. Hillman said they hope to start her on milk again in a couple of days.  They had discontinued it a few days after they last started it because of her lung problems.  These have improved now.  Diana's fever has gone down and she was able to go back into Clara's room today.  Please continue to pray for Clara and her family.

12/15/01 8:45 PM
Clara has had a pretty good day.  Last night she did have problems again with her CO2 and oxygen levels.  Today has been better.  Right now her CO2 is about 35, ventilator pressure is 20, and she is breathing natural air (no added oxygen).  She remains on the nimbex to keep her calm.  Her red blood count was a little low today so they gave her a red blood cell transfusion.  Twice today her heart rate dropped for a few minutes.  This may have been due to the low blood count or possibly the chest tube "tickling" her heart.  She is still receiving the steroids for her lungs and the rate was cut in half today.  There are signs that it is working.  Diana & Jacob are doing well except Diana has had a slight fever today and was not able to go back into the room with Clara.  It is a little better tonight.  Please continue to pray for Clara, Diana, and Jacob.

12/14/01 4:20 PM
Clara is having a much better day today.  Her ventilator pressure has been turned down to 22 and the oxygen level is between 25 and 45%.  Also her CO2 levels have been good.  This is probably due to the fact that she is somewhat sedated with the nimbex.  Clara's platelet count today was 111,000, which is very good.  This is an indication that she does not have any infection now.  They did take another blood sample today to run cultures to check for infections.  This takes about five days to verify that there are no infections.

12/13/01 10:45 PM
I just got back from Columbia and Clara is doing okay but has had somewhat of a rougher day.  Her oxygen level has been increased as well as the ventilator pressure.  Yesterday they took her off the nimbex which induces temporary paralysis.  Today she started moving around a lot more and they believe this is causing her oxygen and CO2 levels to fluctuate.  Tonight they decided to put her back on the nimbex to calm her more.  Jacob & Diana were hoping that Clara had begun to get her lungs mature enough to overcome these problems, but evidently it is going to take more time.  The grandma’s will be staying up all night tonight with Clara.  Clara has come a long way with your prayers but there is still a long way to go.

12/12/01 8:00 PM
Clara celebrated her one month birthday today thanks to her great doctors and nurses and especially the Lord watching over her.  Today they took her off all morphine that she had been on since the surgery.  They also took her off the nimbex which induced temporary paralysis.  She is moving her arms and legs again now.  She continues on the steroid treatments.  She is also still on the jet ventilator and her oxygen and CO2 levels remain good.  Mom and Dad are doing fine.  Thank all of you for your prayers and support.

12/11/01 5:30 PM
Clara is still doing well.  However, today she did experience another "pneumo" in which air breaks through a small hole in her lung.  They tried twice to bleed this air off with a needle but were unsuccessful.  Therefore, they had to insert a chest tube which was successful.  Clara is now stable and doing well.  Actually, the development of the pneumo is a good sign that the steroids are working and Clara's lungs are developing.  The doctors have to reduce the ventilator pressure as the lungs develop and the lungs simply developed faster then they expected.  Clara's oxygen and CO2 levels are very good.  She was switched over to the jet ventilator today.  Grandpa errored the last couple updates.  Clara had been on the oscillating ventilator.  The move to the jet ventilator is a step forward.  She is continuing to receive the steroids but the rate will be cut in half tomorrow.  A new culture of the trachea tube is not showing any infection.  Please keep praying.

12/10/01 12:45 PM
Clara is four weeks old today.  She is doing well.  Her oxygen level is in the lower 30's and the CO2 is between 38 and 40.  They have also been able to lower the ventilator pressure.  She remains on the jet ventilator and is still paralyzed to keep her quiet.  This induced paralysis is causing her to retain more body fluids but it is not serious.  Clara is receiving steroids at the rate of 0.17 cc twice a day for three days.  Then they will cut the rate in half for another three days and then again cut the rate in half for the next three days.  Your prayer support is very much appreciated.

12/9/01 5:30 PM
Clara continues to do well today.  She was given another dose of nimbex to keep her from fighting the ventilator.  Her oxygen and CO2 levels are doing fine.  The infection specialist did review all of her cultures and reported that there is only a very small amount of bacteria remaining and it was under control.  He said it would be alright to go ahead and give Clara the steroids.  She received the first injection about 3:00 this afternoon.  She will receive the steroids over the next 12 days.  We should start seeing results after three days.  Although steroids have shown to be very effective, there is only about ten years of testing and the doctors said the longterm results are still unknown.  Thank you everyone for your support and prayers.