January 22, 2010 to January 28, 2010 – Two Years Old Today

Dearest Katelynn & Daria,

It almost does not seem possible you are both two years old today!  Not only have you beaten the odds, since you hovered dangerously near the limit of viability (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viability_(fetal)) when you were born, but you have both blossomed into my vibrant and beautiful girls.  Many people have been touched by the story of your lives and, to this day, the prayers for you to thrive and grow continue to pour in.  There is not one day that passes that I do not take a moment to tell God how thankful I am to have you in my life. 

Katelynn, your Mommy and I worry quite a bit about you.  You have this amazing ability to melt the hearts of everyone you meet with your sweet and loving personality, and we have seen you skillfully use this to your advantage.  Still, I know my Katelynn and that stubborn fighting spirit that brought you where you are today.  Just ask Mommy how many times you have thrown a left cross to effectively transfer your food from the spoon in my hand to my perfectly clean shirt.  It really seems you are getting stronger each day and we are thrilled to see you pulling yourself up to your feet.  We do know that the road to reaching the full potential of your mobility will be long and tough, as you are affected with excessive pronation (http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/pronation-supination.php) of your feet.  As I took you in to see the Certified Orthotist today to be fitted for DAFO 4 braces, I was grateful to hear that your pronation was not terribly severe.  The brace, which is also known as a supramalleolar orthotic, is a custom fitted support device that will help you strengthen your muscles as you learn to stand with proper alignment in your ankles and feet.  Our prayers have also been answered, as insurance has agreed to cover the full cost of the braces.  So in roughly two weeks when the DAFO 4 is ready, we will begin working on getting you up on your feet.

As much as we want to get you up and walking, you are perfectly content as you immerse yourself in a pile of books.  Lately, you have also been very vocal in your speech and your repertoire seems to have expanded significantly to include words like bush, gosh, much, batch and bench.  Now if we can only get you past the challenges you have chewing and swallowing food, we would be ecstatic.  There have been some definite improvements in your gag reflex, but I think Mommy and I are just worried that pushing you too hard with tougher textures will only cause you to throw up all the calories we work so hard to get into your system.

Daria, your Mommy and I worry about you even more so than your sister.  The only fear you seem to have is when a stranger picks you up, which, in reality, is a fantastic safety mechanism.  Even when we found you up on the second floor the other day when we had accidentally left the gate on the stairs unlatched, you seemed a little more comfortable that you probably should have been.  Your fun and bubbly nature perfectly compliment the adorable way you say “hi” to anyone that walks through the door.  I will need to make sure to have the video camera standing by more often so we do not miss these fleeting moments that may never come back the same way again.  We also noticed recently that you have been standing in the cutest posture, with both of your hands behind your back, when you are trying to make an observation or peer into a sack of groceries.  I just do not know how I can grab my camera quick enough to capture this, as you are literally up and running in a flash.

Like your sister, you also have not been shy in communicating.  What Katelynn has in terms of the breadth of her vocalizations, you seem to make up in volume and inflection.  Your favorite phrase is “Here you go,” which either means you want to share an item in your hand or you want someone else to share an item with you.  Of course, you also happen to do combination phrases such as “Here you go,” immediately followed by “Uh oh,” when you decide to take the newly acquired item and purposely drop it to the ground.  This is only funny and cute until it happens while you have a face of food while you are seated in your high chair during a meal.  We still fight with a resistant bout of indigestion that is causing you pain, especially during your afternoon nap.  With the feeding clinic coming up in the not so distant future, hopefully we will figure out what needs to be done to make things more comfortable.

There is still so much more to talk about when it comes to the two of you, but I wanted to let you know that we actually celebrated your birthday a little early this year on Saturday, January 23. Your Auntie Christina was able to come back from the Bay Area with your soon-to-be-Uncle Ryan to celebrate your birthday at a family dinner we planned.  Unlike last year, we wanted to keep it small and decided to throw it at the newest California Pizza Kitchen downtown.  The funny thing is that the location was actually a last minute decision because your Mommy and I went there the night before for a date and enjoyed it so much that we thought it would be great for a celebration.  The highlight of the evening was when the waiter came over to refill water glasses.  Grandpa Owyang decided to reach over for Grandma’s glass, and somehow she thought he was going to drink out of it.  Normally this is fine, but Grandma had a cold, so she nearly tackled Grandpa to keep him from catching her illness.  The waiter jumped aside and Grandpa only scared the poor guy by explaining that Grandma had the flu.  Of course, he said this as the waiter already had her glass in his hand.  You should have seen how quickly Grandma moved that night and also the expression on the waiter’s face.  I ended up trying to reassure the waiter that Grandma might only have a cold, so I think we can safely return there without much embarrassment.

Well, my sweet daughters, you are now officially two years old.  You have come such a long way from your long and intense stay in the hospital for the first three and a half months after your births.  The past year has been full of answered prayers and accomplishments, and there is so much to remind me to take a moment to just quiet my heart and be thankful.  I look forward so much to the day when I can sit each of you on my lap and tell you the stories of your precious lives.  Happy Birthday to my sweet angels, Katelynn and Daria.

January 7, 2010 to January 21, 2010 – A New Diet for the Girls and a MRI Completed

This month sure has flown by in a heartbeat.  It is hard to believe that we are wrapping up the third full week of January already, and it is even more mind-blowing to think that my girls are turning two in one week.  Since my last post, things certainly became quite busy in a hurry. 

On Saturday, January 9th, we were excited to part of the long-awaited grand opening of the $17.3 million North Natomas Library.  Of particular note was the special privilege and honor Adam enjoyed as his Cub Scout pack was invited to perform the flag ceremony to mark the momentous occasion.  After a number of speeches from several esteemed state and local government dignitaries, the Scouts were invited back out at the ribbon-cutting to officially open up the library to the public.  This invitation put Adam and me in a very favorable position to literally be the second and third patrons to enter the library.  The most hilarious part was when Jenn-Jen logged onto the library’s website later that day to find me in a photo, strategically placed in the background between Congresswoman Doris Matsui and City Council Member Ray Tretheway, apparently posing as either a lost tourist or a Secret Service agent (see for yourself and play “Where’s Gordon” at http://www.saclibrary.org/?pageId=607). 

As fun as it was to partake in welcoming our new library, the following week was marked with adjustments and appointments.  Adam returned to school on the 11th, after enjoying a long three-week winter break.  A day later on the 12th, Jenn-Jen brought Daria in to see her Pediatriac Gastroenterologist to assess her seemingly stubborn bout with acid reflux.  The doctor raised some concerns, as reflux is usually outgrown by age two, and wanted to see if we could eventually wean Daria off Prevacid, the acid blocking medication.  Apparently, the ideal course of action will be to transition Daria over to Zantac, which blocks a smaller percentage of acid.  Another issue came to light as we learned that Daria weighed in only a hair over twenty pounds, which means she is significantly underweight, even for her adjusted age.  The doctor asked for us to bring Daria back in about six weeks and brought in the staff Dietician for consultation regarding our daughter’s weight.  To my surprise, Jenn-Jen came back home with a whole new game plan.

Probably the most surprising part of the visit was when we learned that the Enfamil Enfacare formula we had been giving Katelynn and Daria is not providing a sufficient amount of calories to help with weight gain. Enfacare is a higher calorie formula designed for premature and underweight babies (22 calories per liquid ounce), and we add extra calories by mixing in whole grain cereal (60 calories per quarter cup), this is still not enough.  So as of the 12th, we have officially taken the girls off formula.  In its place, we are now combining the cereal with the nutrition drink, PediaSure (which is 30 calories per liquid ounce), twice a day.  We are also replacing the third formula/cereal feeding with a mixture of whole milk and cereal.  The two snack feedings in the late morning and afternoon have also received a boost, as we are aiming to incorporate higher calorie foods such as sweet potatoes, corn, certain fruits and yogurt into the girls’ diets.  The Dietician is encouraging us to aim for the goal of getting one thousand calories into each of the girls each day.  It still astonishes me to hear that figure, as my family physician had asked me to try to reduce my intake to sixteen hundred calories a day back when I was pushing myself to reduce my cholesterol and blood sugar levels.  Back then, I weighed more than nine times where Daria is today!

On the very next day, Daria went in for an early appointment to conduct a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri) , or MRI, scan of her brain.  Our pediatric neurologist had seen earlier head ultrasound images of Daria shortly after she was born, but wanted a more thorough image provided by the MRI to make sure all is well from a structural perspective.  While the procedure is routine and not usual, anesthesia had to be given to Daria to keep her motionless as the images were being taken.  Unfortunately, anytime Jenn-Jen and I think about Daria going under, we are immediately brought back to the horrifying experience back on March 30th when our daughter had to undergo laser eye surgery for her retinopathy of prematurity (http://owyang.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/march-30-2008-a-surprising-reaction/).  During that unforgettable and wrenching experience, Daria had an adverse reaction to the sedative, Fentanyl, slowing her vital signs down to a very dangerous level.  The medical team had to quickly reverse the sedation with Narcan, which is typically given to patients that are experiencing an overdose of heroin.  Daria’s reaction to the Narcan was as alarming as her experience with Fentanyl, so Jenn-Jen and I still experience quite a bit of anxiety whenever we know that our sweet girl is going to have to be put under.

Fortunately, both the administration of the anesthesia and the MRI itself went smoothly without a hitch.  Jenn-Jen informed me Daria came to almost in a drunken-like state, fumbling and flailing around while yelling out gibberish.  I could not help but chuckle to myself and wished I could have been there with my video camera to capture the moment, not just for the comedic value, but in celebration that the days of life-threatening complications and issues are well behind us.  Thank God for answering our prayers.

So now we wait to see the girls’ neurologist to go over the results of Daria’s MRI, as well as the electro encephalograms (EEG) both girls experienced a while back.  In the meantime, we are working to get both Katelynn and Daria adjusted to this increase in calories.  With their sensitive stomachs, it has been a bit of a challenge, but we certainly have been through much worse.

January 3, 2010 to January 6, 2010 – Big Brother’s Birthday

In the blink of an eye my son turned seven and my girls are about three weeks from reaching their second birthday.  Not three feet away, secured onto the side of my tall file cabinet is a photo of me holding my newborn son.  You cannot see the worry on my face, but I still remember feeling so frightened that Adam was born nearly two months early at thirty two weeks gestation.  He merely weighed four and a quarter pounds, which if you can believe is still almost a pound and a half more than Katelynn and Daria’s weights combined when they were born.  Still, as a first time father, I was trying so hard to fight off my anxiety by reminding myself that Adam’s Apgar Score (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apgar_score) was at a near-perfect nine.  Honestly, it did not matter.  All I kept thinking about was how unnatural it seemed to watch my son sleep inside a clear plastic incubator bed while I watched from the outside like a child at the zoo eagerly anticipating a baby bird to finally break out of its shell.  If you have not spent time inside a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), then what I am talking about will sound completely foreign, but I tell you, all of my memories of the sights, sounds and even smells of the Special Care Nursery at Sutter Memorial Hospital remain as fresh as the day Adam surprised us with his early arrival.  Three and a half weeks later, we were given the go ahead to take Adam home and little would I know that God had planned for me to repeat the whole process in significantly more dramatic terms in five years with Katelynn and Daria.

Look where we are now.  Adam is bright and gifted seven year old big brother to two very special twin sisters.  It was almost as if he knew that he had some catching up to do when he was a baby and he set a goal to make sure he would not be left behind.  As Jenn-Jen and I watched him grow, not just physically, to keep pace with his peers, we also found ourselves amused at how much Adam seemed to enjoy learning.  We still fondly recall and reminisce on how I so foolishly allowed myself to be sucked into one of those book-a-month clubs that sent a small selection of overpriced children’s board book like clockwork every thirty days.  With all of the things keeping us busy, cancelling the subscription seemed to always be the last thing I would be able to get to each day.  So after several months, I finally wrote to the club with my final payment and discontinued the shipments.  The books sat there for months and I vowed not to ever let this happen again.  Then out of the blue, we caught our young son, who was probably not much older than a year, mosey himself over to the stack of books and sit there thumbing through each one with full concentration and enthusiasm.  Adam would be surrounded by no less than half a dozen of these books and literally keep himself immersed for fifteen minutes or more.  We began to wonder about him when he repeated this behavior again and again.

The love of learning for Adam did not burn itself out over time.  After he entered preschool and kindergarten, we noticed how he seemed to absorb every aspect of school.  It really was not until the beginning of the first grade last fall when it dawned upon us that Adam just may not be in the right environment.  When we asked his teacher how she felt he was doing, she expressed concerns that he may be better off if he were promoted to the second grade.  Jenn-Jen and I never doubted Adam’s intellectual capability to tackle the academic requirements, but were so very hesitant if our son would be ready from a social perspective.  We were, and still are, so thankful that the school administration decided to put together a “study team” to essentially shadow and evaluate Adam’s readiness for promotion.  After the analysis was complete, we met up with the team, which included Adam’s teacher, Principal and Vice Principal.  In a meeting that felt more like a group job interview, we talked about what our son’s home environment is like, as well as any concerns we had.  It felt like a breath of fresh air to hear the Principal tell us that he fully believed that if Adam were not moved up, he would probably begin to lower his standards just to fit in with his peers.  At the same time, it alarmed us to hear that this behavior was already observed by the Vice Principal and Adam’s teacher, who reported that Adam would not raise his hand to answer questions to avoid building the reputation as a know-it-all.  So, it only took a few seconds of thought before Jenn-Jen and I agreed to let Adam transition to the next grade.  The part that still brings a smile to our faces is when we broke the news to Adam after our meeting that, after a month in the first grade, it was time for him to move on up.  As we were walking out to our car, our son turned to us and said and said to us quite seriously “I didn’t know that first grade would be that short.”

Adam’s promotion actually caused some confusion in other areas that were unexpected.  Last fall, we thought we would give Adam the opportunity to try Cub Scouts (http://scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts.aspx), since he was at the requisite age of six.  What became unclear was which pack he would be placed in, since they use a boy’s grade to determine where he belongs.  We were right in the middle of the study team’s evaluation when the first “roundup” or kickoff for the year began.  Once the results came in, it was decided that Adam would be in the Wolf pack, which is for boys that are eight or in the second grade.  Since he joined, he has really enjoyed the opportunity to earn achievement awards, or belt loops, to mark his progress in scouting.  He was quite proud to show off his coin collection and, with my assistance, eagerly built a simple weather station consisting of a homemade barometer and rain gauge.  Over Christmas break, we have also been out to the tennis courts twice so he can earn his belt loop for that sport.  Scouting has been great for Adam’s goal-oriented nature, and it is a commitment of time and energy that Jenn-Jen and I fully support.

Speaking of commitments, Adam has also taken up martial arts training in Tae Kwon Do.  He has been going to class twice a week and is hoping to be ready to test for his progression from white to yellow belt in a month or so.  It is no surprise that Adam has the academic portion of the promotion requirements down solid, as he can count from one to ten in Korean.  Of course, it helps that Jenn-Jen has been able to help Adam with his pronunciation.  I personally find it funny when Adam tries to argue that his master says Korean numbers a certain way that does not sound the same as how mom (who happened to have emigrated from South Korea) says it.  As for the form, or poomsae, which Adam will be tested, we are still working hard at getting the transition between steps smoother so he will pass.  Making time for practice has truthfully been more challenging than expected, but I am hoping Adam will be committed to doing his best.

Outside of school, scouting and Tae Kwon Do, Adam is completely addicted to Lego Star Wars.  I am both grateful and worried, as members of my extended family have come to our door like drug suppliers, often bearing new sets for him to build.  This time of year is when the flash flood of gifts come bearing down upon us like a torrential downpour.  With Christmas and Adam’s birthday separated by less than two weeks, it seems like anything that meets the simultaneous qualification of being Lego and Star Wars will brighten my son’s eyes like nothing else.  Admittedly, I enjoy watching Adam beam with excitement as his collection grows, but I also look for opportunities to teach him to be thankful and not take these relatively expensive gifts for granted.  With a young seven year old, sometimes I feel that the lesson does not stick as much as it should.  My goal is to use each of our father-son building times not only to bond, but to see if we can agree on a way to give back.  Like many of our Lego projects, it is definitely a work in progress.

So, as I celebrate seven years with my son, I pray that God will give me and Jenn-Jen the wisdom to be the best parents we can be.  It really feels as if the years have come upon us quickly and I hope we have made a positive impact that will help him grow up to be a confident, compassionate and successful young man.  There is truly nothing more challenging and rewarding than being parents.  Please enjoy these pictures of me with my newborn son and where is today.

January 2, 2010 – Playing in the Snow

Sacramento’s close proximity to the Sierra Nevada mountain range provides great options for wintertime fun I admittedly take for granted.  As Adam has been on winter break from school since December 21st, we had discussed the possibility of taking the hour-long drive up Interstate 80 to spend a morning together as a family up in the mountains.  Of course, the logistics involved in hauling the five of us, snow gear and all, is always a little more involved than anticipated.  Nonetheless, Jenn-Jen and I decided that it would be worth the effort to have Katelynn and Daria play in the snow for the very first time, and also allow Adam to bring back what I would hope would be a memorable family experience before I return to work on Monday. 

It was no more than ten minutes into the trip, as we passed downtown Sacramento on the freeway, when the personalities of our girls began to show themselves.  Katelynn was quietly cooing her famous “ooooh-ooh” of joy and excitement from her car seat in the middle row of our Honda Odyssey, while Daria, not four feet away in her own seat, began to wriggle and whine as if to inform me that we should have arrived to our destination seven minutes ago.  Jenn-Jen and I had known from previous trips to my sister’s home on the other side of town that Daria was not one to enjoy the confines of a five point harness, no matter how fun and exciting the end point of the journey may be.  Still, we had seen some signs that Daria was beginning to realize the delayed gratification can outweigh the mild irritation of being semi-restrained for a relatively short duration.  Apparently, there would be less cooperation and more complaints today.  My wife immediately implemented what I will call “Operation Calm Down” and began singing to provide a distraction, and a fine one at that. 

Well, after many songs and Jenn-Jen’s contingency plan of handing Multigrain Cheerios one by one back to Daria, we arrived at the snow park at Yuba Gap (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23052).  Katelynn was still in great spirits and Adam, in the back row, informed us of how excited he was to see the snow blanketing the ground.  After paying five dollars for the day-use permit, which I find to be an outstanding value, we found a nice parking spot and bundled up everyone so the fun would begin.  Murphy’s Law made its unwelcome presence known as I was unable to locate Adam’s coat, which was in all likelihood, still hanging in the coat closet back home.  To make matters worse, the two plastic clips designed to secure Adam’s snow bib’s shoulder straps also decided to break off.  Jenn-Jen promptly came to the rescue and did some handy knot work to secure the straps, and thankfully the temperature was not too cold.  Adam would make due with a hooded sweatshirt as I grabbed our sled and we made our way to the hillside to join the others already engaged in the frosty fun.

It did not take long for us to learn that Katelynn is not quite comfortable sitting or crawling in the semi-packed snow.  We spent part of the morning carrying her around and the other part trying to convince her that snow is actually her friend.  Daria, on the other hand, will probably be competing in multiple events in the 2026 Winter Olympics.  Jenn-Jen and I were astonished at the sight of our rambunctious twenty-three month old daughter walking on the uneven snowy ground, shouting out in glee.  Even when she eventually tripped, she either came back upright or decided she would make her way about in 4×4 style.  Daria’s excitement and love of the snow definitely made the trip worth the time and effort involved.  I may not be as so bold to attempt another day at snow play without recruiting other able-bodied support, but I am glad to have returned back to Sacramento knowing Adam and Daria had a blast, and Katelynn really loves a good car ride.

As I spent some time yesterday briefly updating Katelynn’s developmental progress, today I wanted to focus on Daria.  She is in so many ways the exact opposite of her sister, and I thank the Lord each day for giving me two daughters that are so different in their personalities.  Daria is really a bubbly bundle of energy and a constant source of laughter in our home.  Usually you can find her running, sometimes uncontrollably, through the house in search of her next adventure.  Whether it is chasing down our elderly cat, Phoebe, or checking to see if she can share in another family member’s snack, Daria rarely stays still for more than a few seconds at any given time.  One of her favorite activities is to bring me my slippers whenever she learns they are not being filled by my feet.  She will literally hunt me down, with one or both slippers in hand, insist in her sweet voice “here you go,” and not leave until I have them on.  My heart just may break when the weather changes and my feet no longer need warming up.

In terms of Daria’s motor skills, she continues to work on catching up to her chronological age of twenty three months.  Daria still sees her physical therapist once a week to work on strengthening, since she walks around with her hands up in a guarded stance, which is atypical for a child her age.  Other than that, I would say that Daria is more physically active than practically anyone else in the house.  She has grown to be quite the climber and Jenn-Jen even found her on top of our dishwasher door, which was briefly left open after the clean dishes were being put away. 

Daria also continues to work with our wonderful speech and feeding specialist weekly.  A year ago, both of our girls had been struggling so much with the insidious acid reflux that made feedings so painful for the girls and us as the parents.  Today, the story is quite different, as our therapist is moving on to help Daria with her speech development.  In fact, Daria loves food so much that we feel that we need to limit her consumption so her digestive system can handle the volume and variety she almost seemingly inhales when given the chance.  Since I have caught a few recurring instances where she wakes up crying from her sleep only to eventually vomit, we have been wondering if she is just not quite ready to eat some of the foods we prepare for our meals.  We should know more once we have our appointment with the girls’ pediatric gastroenterologist in a couple of weeks.

Communicating with Daria has also been a huge source of joy and laughter around the Owyang home.  It was a number of months ago when we successfully taught both Daria and Katelynn sign language to ask for “more.”  Coupling that breakthrough with Daria’s steadily increasing appetite offered a deep sense of satisfaction, as we felt were able to meet her needs before any frustration set in.  Since then, Daria has also learned to say “here you go” (see the story about my slippers above) whenever she wanted to share an item with someone else.  We were beginning to get a “thank you” out of our daughter whenever we offered her something, but that phrase is not sticking quite yet.  Daria, however, does use “here you go” when she would like you to share whatever is in your hands with her, so sometimes it can get a little confusing.  I probably hear her saying “here you go” over a hundred times a day, and honestly, I find it adorable each time, even if she wants me to hand over the remote control to the television.

The following photo is a perfect representation of Daria’s personality and is one of my favorites.  It is good to note that there was no prompting whatsoever involved, as the moment was captured by our friend and photographer, Joelle.  Daria was just extremely curious about this strange black object that was standing in the way of a good game of peek-a-boo with the nice lady that came over to play.

"What are you doing?"

January 1, 2010 – Abundant Blessings

Dearest friends and family,

I can only begin by proclaiming that God has truly been good and faithful.  Despite my extended absence in providing an update as to the happenings and whereabouts of my family, I admit there has been a deep longing in my heart to share all that taken place in 2009.  As we begin another year, I look over my shoulder only to be amazed at the abundant blessings filling my life with peace and joy.

The Owyang family has experienced much change during the past year, and along with this change comes the inevitable challenge of adaptation.  Undoubtedly, this has kept me stretched with the hope that my time management and multi-tasking skills have been sharpened with repeated use.  I had been praying for life to shift gears back to what I would call “normal,” and have come to the conclusion that my definition and expectation of “normal” has forever been altered since the Lord brought us Katelynn and Daria.  Nonetheless, all is well indeed and I shall resume my posts with an update on Katelynn.

Katelynn has certainly blossomed into a sweet twenty-three month toddler that melts many hearts with her never-ending supply of hugs and kisses.  While she is definitely our cuddly daughter, I still see the strong fighting spirit in her that I saw almost two years ago when she was struggling in Sutter Memorial Hospital’s NICU to survive.  Just ask her sister when there is a toy in contention and you will see Katelynn’s strong will and iron grasp emerge. 

It is also this determination that helps spur Katelynn on as she works to pass her developmental milestones.  The severe brain injury she suffered through her Grade IV intra-ventricular hemorrhage shortly after birth has, unfortunately, manifested itself in weakness in her mobility.  Our pediatric neurologist has officially diagnosed Katelynn with cerebral palsy (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cerebral_palsy/cerebral_palsy.htm), but we are still uncertain as to the extent of the limitations she will face.  In the past year we have witnessed Katelynn slowly improve her movements, and now I am so thankful to see her gradually transition from a belly or army crawl to a full, regular crawl on her hands and knees.  She is also working very hard to get up on two feet and has recently been successful in pulling herself up, usually by using me or another family member for support.  I fully believe this progress has been accelerated because of a combination of the amazing work of Katelynn’s physical therapist and the will to be able to do everything Daria does.

Katelynn has greatly improved, but still struggles with a persistent gag reflex that prevents her from taking most solid foods that are not smooth or pureed.  We have been working with her speech and feeding specialist to break through this and I believe we will overcome this mountain slowly but surely.  She is able to take little snack puffs that melt in her mouth without too much trouble, but anything that requires more chewing almost certainly causes Katelynn to vomit.  Believe it or not, even throwing up does not deter our strong-willed Katelynn from immediately reaching for the next puff.  This will be a point of discussion with our pediatric gastroenterologist at our next appointment in a few weeks, along with the question if we still need to continue the use of Prevacid to combat the acid reflux that has been a persistent problem for both of my girls for well over a year now.

Despite the medical challenges Katelynn continues to face, I can truly say that she has made a remarkable journey from her early days.  Just reading through some of my entries shortly after the girls’ births, I find it amazing to revisit and recollect my mindset back then and see where my sweet, dear Katelynn is today.  I had been desperately praying to God to prepare me to be strong enough to weather any disability, no matter how severe, Katelynn would face and He has heard my cry.  As I mentioned, there is still much uncertainty ahead, but the Lord has given me hope and strength.  The following Psalm holds a special place in my heart as a reminder of how God has blessed me and my family with His goodness, love and faithfulness.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations

Psalm 100 (New International Version)

In closing, I would like to share one of my favorite pictures of Katelynn, taken a few months ago by our friend and gifted photographer, Joelle.  My next post will be an update on Daria and her recent adventures.

Katelynn at the Park 09.25.09