From the Bottom

Micah had her first bath today. We have some pictures, but they are on Olivia's phone so we may try to upload them later. Frankly, some of them are hard to see, which brings me (quickly) to the point of this post.

Micah still needs prayer.

Almost two weeks ago the doctors changed Micah's nutrition. The hospital policy is that at a certain point babies have to change from human-based breast milk fortifier to cow-based breast milk fortifier. Of course, it is apparently pretty common knowledge that newborns do not digest bovine dairy products well, if at all. Unfortunately, Micah needed certain mineral supplements in addition to extra calories, and this seemed to be the only answer. Micah has not reacted well.

The fortifier has not agreed with her, and she has had diarrhea for over a week (they say it is normal), leading to a bad diaper rash, which has caused skin ruptures on both of her butt cheeks and lesser sores over the majority of her rear end. Add this to the swelling caused by the CPAP and the volume of her feeds, and our little girl is having a rough time.

As normal, we feel helpless to improve the situation. There are just so many options (in this case none) for Micah's treatment. We were very blessed to have the human-based fortifier for as long as we did. 97% of preemie's are not treated with it because it is very expensive and quantities are limited. Still, it would have been nice to spare Micah this trial.

Micah is regularly uncomfortable, and has been forced onto her belly more than they want her to be so her butt can air out. If it weren't so painful looking, ti would be really cute. We are going to try again tomorrow to force a change in her treatment, but the options are limited.

Please pray that Micah will not get an infection in these open sores on her bottom.

Please pray for favor with the doctors.

Please pray for a better solution for Micah's treatment.

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