Visit to the A&E

Dear friends,

So far we've been weaning Lizzie on to solid foods for about a month now, and she seems to take to pretty much anything (pureed carrots, pumpkins, banana, pear, peach etc). Though she’s eating well – still no sign of teeth! But we think it may be quite soon, because shes biting everything she can get her hands on, and her chin is constantly wet with dribble.

We had a bit of a scare about two weeks ago, when the docs suspected her shunt got blocked. We had to bring Lizzie in for scanning, and the doctor that scanned her heart said the shunt appeared narrower at one end, although the blood flow through the shunt was very good.
We prayed that the shunt would not be blocked or even narrowed, and we were to told to continue monitoring her oxygen. Should the saturations lower to the 60s, Lizzie would have to be admitted to hospital for heparin (a much stronger blood thinning medicine) to be administered. Although in the hospital the dosage would be controlled, thinning the blood would prevent clotting, in babies, the way they wriggle and flail their arms and legs around would put them in possible risk of internal and external bleeding. So we’ve been praying for good oxygen saturations, and that Lizzie would not have to spend any time in hospital.

Lizzie and her piyo-piyo teether

Lizzie's first hairclip

That is, until the thing we worried about least, became a problem.
Last week she had very bad constipation.
Now I know this is supposed to be normal for babies, but she was straining so hard and bleed into her nappy, we got pretty anxious and worried.
We tried exercises, like bicycling her legs. We tried feeding her papaya, banana and prune juice. We gave her loads of water, and added extra water to her formula, still it did not budge.
Over two days she strained with blood, and towards the end, it must have been quite painful - she cried. Our girl is usually pretty strong, so it was a sign from her, that it was getting bad. So on Friday night I bought the liquid glycerine, and tried to administer it myself, but she was crying so hard, I was scared that I would make it worse, and there was more and more bleeding.

Finally we decided to take her to the NUH Children's A&E that night, and she was given a suppository, and oral lactulose. The bleeding was because of a tear, but the doc said she would be ok. She managed to ‘clear the blockage’ in the middle of the night – there we were, at 4am, Simon was holding her hands and legs, I was applying anaesthetic gel to her bum (as the doctor instructed) to ease the pain, and Lizzie strained till she was red in the face, with tears streaming down.

Lizzie still made it to church on Saturday -

here's Daddy making sure she drinks her water!

Ironically, next day she suffered a few rounds of diarrhoea with bleeding, but we were told this was to be expected. I guess it was the effects of the laxative.
The main concern right now, is that she is not dehydrated by the whole episode, as this could cause clogging of her shunt.
We are closely monitoring her – and current oxygen saturations are back up again at 78-82% Praise the Lord!

So in the meantime, we did some research as to what caused the ‘problem’ and found out that it could have something to do with her formula, Dumex, which contains palm oil. So we switched to Similac, which is supposedly makes it easier for babies to relieve themselves...... and we’re still waiting for the results.

Thanks everyone! especially our beloved ELIM CG for praying!
God Bless,
Elaine

Lizzie is 8 months old!

Dear friends,

We just brought Lizzie to see her doctor and physiotherapist yesterday, in terms of development, she is about equivalent to a 6 month old, which they say is okay, because of the 2 months spent in hospital, is her corrected age. The physiotherapist made her do "push-ups" and other belly exercises that Lizzie did not like! She cried so hard, tears were rolling down, but we knew it was for her own good - to help strengthen her muscles, heart and lungs. She did not like that "naughty-uncle". She was so 'man-ja' and kept raising up her arms to ask us to cuddle her after that. She's also mastered her 'pitiful-look' - pouting her lips and blinking her eyes, accompanied by soft whimpering, which we fall for everytime :)

Check up with her genetic/paediatrician confirmed that she is doing well.
Weight-wise she is within the 10th percentile, and height-wise, she is between the 10th to 25th percentile range. Lizzie-girl is taking after her mummy and daddy in terms of height.

Lizzie likes to play the piano with Kong-kong

We put her on the oxygen monitor last night, and the reading was really quite low, much to our dismay. It was around the low 70s, which was a sudden drop.
We've been praying that this does not reflect any changes to her heart condition, but that the low reading is just a temporary fluctuation in her O2 levels. We ask that you please include Lizzie in your prayers.

Despite what we see in test results and monitor readings, we continue to commit Lizzie to the Lord, and trust that His will is perfect and will be for the good of all those who love Him.
We take comfort that Lizzie still appears pink and healthy, as you can see from the pictures above (Thanks for the colourful caterpillar and my 'blingage' Uncle Tim & Aunty Jen!), she is active and growing well.

Sleepy Lizzie drinking milk

We're once again attending at Lighthouse Evangelism, at the Miracle Service every Saturday. Thanks to the loving and caring gospelighters who regularly interceed for us - we are grateful for all of you (especially Aunty Jane, Joanna and Tracy).
Last week, we received prayer from senior Pastor Rony, and we were touched by his care and compassion.
We want to give God the Glory and thank all of you for your prayers and support.

God Bless,
Elaine

Lizzie's Testimony

Dear friends,

We are in the process of sharing Lizzie's written testimony, and also preparing to share to our church congregation our story. PLMC is releasing a book of testimonies of its church members, so Simon and I submitted Lizzie's story to be included.

We made a promise to God, that we would testify for Him, both in Lighthouse and in PLMC, and we decided it was time. We believe it is an act of faith to do so, even before we see the healing take place, but our little Lizzie has been growing and developing so well, that the life we see in her is a miracle in itself, and a testament to God's faithfulness.

We will be transferring the whole contents of the yahoo group website to this new location, so all future postings will be at this blog. We realised having a blog would be easier for our friends and family to access, see pictures and post comments, and we will also try to post more often! Do subscribe to receive updates through email. Pictures can be accessed through the link- Lizzie's photo archive.

Again, we thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.

God bless you!

Elaine, Simon & Lizzie

Milestones @7.5 months

Dearest friends, it has been a while since we've updated the website, and since the last posting, Lizzie has been making great progress. Last visit to the paediatrician and cardiologist confirm that Lizzie is on par with normal children in terms of growth and development. Her reflexes and developmental milestones are normal as well, and we thank God for that.

Last Saturday (17th March) was my Dad's birthday, Lizzie suprised us by sitting up, unsupported (for a good few minutes) the first time. As you can see on pic, she's got her arms raised up, and balancing very well with strong back muscles. Everytime Lizzie goes to the hospital for her vaccinations, she is a brave baby, and doesn't cry very long after she's given a jab. Also despite the doctors' expectations that she would turn blue, Lizzie has been able to maintain her colour and oxygen saturation well, even after a long crying episode. The recent echocardio scan shows that the PDA is still open, and the shunt is still functioning well. The cardiologist informed us that we may be looking at the next operation when she is about 20kg, or later, depending on the blood flow to the heart. The shunt may have to be replaced earlier, in another op, and a cardiac catheterization procedure will be conducted after age 1, in order to determine when it is necessary.

Lizzie is quickly developing her own personality, and is becoming a very cheeky, playful baby. She's quickly outgrowing her cot mobile - she's learnt to catch the animals with her feet, pass them to her hands and yanks the whole entire mobile down with a couple of hard pulls. Lizzie's favourite toy is a rattling balloon - which serves as a great distraction during those times when nothing seems to pacify her. Like all babies, she loves to pull anything and everything within her reach and put it in her mouth. We are still praying fervently for God's intervention, and though Lizzie seems to be growing and developing well, with good oxygen saturations, we know that more challenges and trials lie ahead. We thank you all for your continued prayers, support and friendship,and most of all we want to give thanks to our Father in heaven for giving us Lizzie, and joy we experience in the little things each day.

With Love, Elaine

Lizzie's First Christmas

Dear friends, Lizzie is now 4.5 months old, and has been growing and developing well, despite all that she's gone through. She's reached many milestones which are normal for babies her age, and we thank God for that. Lizzie is learning how to grab toys (her favourites are butterflies and red objects), and especially loves to play on her musical 'piano' gym which hangs over her - she's able to reach out and 'play piano' much to mummy and daddy's amusement. Lizzie's also quite an expressive little girl, she likes to smile, giggle and squeal real loud, and will often demand to be carried. We've also noticed that she's not only a very gentle girl, but also a very happy girl. This is one aspect of her character that Simon and I committed to prayer before and during my pregnancy, and we know that God has answered our prayers with a joyful child :) Recently Simon and my mum-in-law brought Lizzie in for her usual hospital reviews, and they happened to scan her kidneys. We were told that one of her kidneys had calcium deposits or stones. This was cause for concern, as Lizzie is on calcium supplements due to low calcium levels. We were told to return the next day for amore detailed scan of the kidneys, so that night we prayed hard, that God would spare Lizzie the need for any more medical procedures or medications. The next day I brought her in, together with my mum-in-law, they scanned Lizzie again - she cried so hard during the scan, but shewas a good girl and kept still for the doctors. We were so thankful and relieved - for detailed scan showed that the stones had indeed disappeared. We continue to pray and ask for total and complete healing for our Lizzie, and that she will not have to undergo anymore procedures. We know that nothing is impossible with our Lord Jesus Christ, and continue to trust and lean on Him. We thank you all for supporting us and Lizzie through your prayers, encouragement, friendship, and most of all for being a part of our testimony.
God Bless, Elaine