July 19th - Elida gets her Mic-Key button.

Being that Elida was born with a "weak swallow" she needs to avoid feeding orally until it is safe for her to swallow. This is why she currently has a feeding tube, and why she will be getting a Mic-Key button next week. The Mic-Key button will work along with the G-Tube as a port into her stomach, which is how she will be feed until she gets stronger.

Elida has been big enough for this surgery for the past few weeks (she is now 10 weeks old and 8lbs 11 oz) but we decided to hold off a bit longer as the bigger she is, the less risky the surgery becomes. Though putting in her G-Tube is a "routine" procedure, we are told that things go better post surgery for larger babies.

We have set the date of surgery for this coming Tuesday, July 19th. While we are looking forward to having this procedure behind us, we expect that her recovery will only be a few days as we are told she will only need to stay in the hospital for two nights - and this time she will have her own room so we can stay with her - what a plus!

Please pray for our sweet little one - this procedure will make all our lives quite a bit easier, but is scary none the less.  Also, because we continue to observe a lack of appropriate muscle movement, we are also going to have a muscle biopsy done at this time. We would also appreciate good energy sent our way for this procedure as well. It could provide some answers about Elida and why she was born as she was - but test results are always unnerving to anticipate.

Thank you dear friends and family.