8.04.2011

"Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

Today was a big day. Today, Pierce turned zero. In other words, today was Pierce's due date. And while I know that only 2% of babies are born on their due dates, it does give us a point of reference. Pierce's milestones will be measured from this date. In preemie world, they call this his "adjusted birthday." So, even though Pierce is almost 4 months old, today he turned zero. It's almost like going back in time. (I think I need this shirt for him!)And in some ways it's nice. It makes me feel like we haven't lost out on that much time with him. We really can't wait to bring him home and pretend that he's just been born. That may be some sort of denial (actually I'm pretty sure it is), but I'd really like to just spend one day with him at home and pretend like this NICU nightmare was just a dream. I'm sure reality would come crashing in quickly just as his apnea monitor started to ding, but it'd still be nice to have- a day of normalcy.

Today Nik and I rejoiced today as we reflected on Pierce's life. When you look at Pierce, it's hard to do anything but rejoice. After all, most everyone thought he wouldn't be born alive. But look what God has done. He is thriving and doing so well! And even though Pierce still has many hurdles to overcome, we can honestly say in our suffering, that our God is so good. He has worked so much good through our situation and for that we are SO thankful.

Tonight, Pierce is doing well. He seemed to be having trouble adjusting to the drop in oxygen flow (they switched him to .1 liters yesterday) and he wasn't taking his bottles as well as he usually does. He seemed more tired than usual. So tonight, they bumped him back up to .2 liters (this is likely the setting that he will come home on). Please pray that this slight change does the trick and that lil' man will go right back to eating (and not brady'ing) as well as he always does.

Also, please remember to pray for Pierce's ventricles. Pray that they will decrease in size and that Sunday's ultrasound will show improvement so that we can hold off on the shunt.

For those of you wondering, that BIG bump on his noggin' is his temporary shunt (VAD). One thing is for sure, this boy is going to have some battle scars to show off to his preschool friends.

We love you guys! Thank you for your continued support.

Lindsay, Nik and Pierce Franks

13 comments:

  1. Praise! Happy adjusted birthday, Pierce! And congrats to you and Nik again, Lindsay, you've got a fighter. :)

    Caitlin

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  2. He is so precious! You are so blessed, that is what I think every time I think of your family. God is good.

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  3. So glad that everything is going well...that the bottle are better and that he is gaining weight. Turning 0 is a BIG DEAL!!! You'll celebrate this day in the future again. :) I'm a bit confused on Pierces O2 flow, is he on 1 liter or .1 liter (aka, almost nothing.) Samuel came home on .25 liter flow (one fourth of a liter.) Still praying about Pierce's ventricles and that he will get to come home soon.

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  4. Happy 0 Birthday Pierce! Like Sarah said you will celebrate this day again. We celebrate our 24 week twins actual birthday, adjusted birthday, and on Aug. 14th we will celebrate the day they came home from the NICU one year ago. Nothing will be "normal" your first year home, but it will be so much better than being in the NICU and EVERYTHING will be so much more special because of the road you traveled. I love the verse at the top of your post. And I love the onesie! My 16 month old daughter who can still wear size 3-6 month clothes needs this too!

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  5. YAY YAY YAY! Been following your story for a long time now. So excited, you are getting so close to coming home.

    www.followtheknapps.com

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  6. It is very nice post...I like it so much... have a good day to you..

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  7. Praise the Lord and Happy Zero, Pierce! God is good :o)

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  8. I wanted to donate some to your fund but I don't see it on the side of the blog. Is it still active?

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  9. when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect.

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