January 2nd, 2026
Ruth is doing well! She’s got a bunch of labs tonight to see what the various antibiotics are doing as well as to determine how she’s processing the ibuprofen. Her stomach circumference grew by 1cm, so the doctors are going to monitor while we squeeze in the last dose of ibuprofen tomorrow at 11am. Then on the 5th she’ll have an ultrasound to see how her heart valve PDA is coming along. Today the doctor could hear through her stethoscope that it was still fairly wide open.
Our two main concerns at the moment are her stomach and her heart valve. Of course there are an innumerable host of other things which aren’t developed yet as well. Given the complexity of the human body, it’s amazing to me that any baby even a little short of full term has a chance of survival. Truly we have been granted many miracles.
Just as I was about to leave Ruth’s heart rate dropped enough to call in all the nurses and doctors on the floor. She recovered in about a minute, but the episode brought the swollen gut to the immediate attention of the doctor, who just got off the phone with the surgeon. The worry is that there could be a section of intestine that is so inflamed that it has ruptured and is venting gas into her stomach. It’s risky to snip out and patch intestine with these sizes, so at the moment the consensus is to watch her very carefully.
The doctor told me that her gut is very sick. It is quite possible that she might not make it. We are well aware of this, as we are aware that this is all in God’s hands, that He is righteous in all His ways, and that He does whatever He pleases. And, that He is fully capable of continuing to spare Ruth’s life. We are grateful for your prayers.