Before and after

Wow!!!I just had to put some pictures side by side. Here is December of 2007 and July 2008.

Praise has been on her new medication for her digestive problems since June 25th, it is helping her. She has gained over 2 lbs, and continues to gain.She has much less stomach pain and is very happy.She is walking everywhere now, no more crawling, she is almost running. It is amasing to see how far she has come. She goes back to the Dr. Sept 9th to start on her HIV drugs.
She had some recent blood work come back with high white blood cells, they are trying to find an infection to explian this, we have not gotten any results yet.
Thanks to all those that faithfully pray for little Praise.

more health issues

Praise was diagosed with pancreatic insufficency, which means that her body does not make the enzymes to digest proteins and fats. She is going to be on a special medication that she takes before meals to help her. Hopefully this will stop the diarrhea and help her to gain some more weight.Please pray that this works for her and that she is able to put on some more weight. Thanks!

Walking!

Praise is starting to walk! It started with standing alone, then walking pushing her cart, now she has walked about 12 steps! She has made some amazing progress in just 6months.

Milestones

I promised a while back when I posted about Praise sleeping in her own room that I would post pictures. she has been doing great, sleeping 1-2 hr nap and 10 -11 hrs at night!

Dr. visit

We went for Praise's checkup. We always test her viral load, (the amount of HIV in her blood ) and her CD4 count(the amount of good immune cells) Her viral load was 16,000 down from 48,000! This without any drugs. Her immune system is still testing in the normal range.
She has not gained that much weight, she was 18lbs 1 ounce.She is having chronic diarrhea so we think that is why she is not putting on the weight. We are going to get an appointment with a GI specialist, please pray we will find out what is wrong.

I will post some more pictures soon!

This was Easter

She was not happy with her Easter dress I guess!

Mcdonalds with a friend

Here she is enjoying her nuggets and fries with a friend! What could be more American than that. She loves it! She knows all about the drive through also. That should put some weight on her, it works for me!

We love spring

Praise loves this warm weather. She loves to be out in the stroller. This is more like the weather she is used to! We welcome it as well, it is good to get out of the house more often.
Overall Praise is thriving. We have some issues to work on with her medicines and her diet, but she is growing and adjusting well.She contiues to humm her favorite tunes, is it so cute.
She also spent her first night in her own room, everyone was happy about that.I will post a picture as soon as I take one of her in her own room. Sorry I have not updated, things have been busy!

What a cutie!

...little Praise that is...not the big guy!

So much talk about health issues I haven't said much about adjustment. Praise is doing so well, and seems so happy in our family. Much easier than I thought. There is still anger there, but it is less. She was tested yesterday by a developmental specialist and she did very well. Of course she is behind in gross motor skills, she doesn't walk! But in fine motor skills and cognitive development she tested at 2yrs old. She surprised me with some of the things she could do like simple puzzles and putting pegs in a wood block with holes. She followed the woman's instructions and tried to do everything she was shown. I was proud of her. She is such a blessing to us.

Home again!

We were able to bring Praise home from the hospital yesterday, she is doing much better now. The change in how she's been feeling over the last couple of weeks and how she looks and feels now is so drastic. The congestion in her lungs and sinuses is completely gone. Thanks for your prayers. It is good to be home, we pray that she will stay better for a while.

The Doctors at the hospital that saw her in December said she looks like a different child, we take for granted how she has grown. Here are before and after pictures. The first picture was taken when she was in the hospital in early December when she first got home. The second picture was taken at the end of January.

Back to the hospital

Yesterday I took Praise to the ER with a fever of 104.6, she was admitted so they could find the source of her infection. She is on IV antbiotics and seems to be improving. She may be home tomorrow. The good news is her immune sytem seems to be holding it's own. Her CD4 counts were up to 2139 which is normal! Please pray for her full recovery.

Health Update

The HIV numbers are in. Her CD4 counts are up, which is her good immune cells. The HIV numbers are up from 35,000 to 48,000 but the Dr says that is not a significant increase. She is not even being treated for HIV right now so the immprovement in her immune system is from good food and love (via God's grace).

She has had a cold and runny nose since Jan 28th and she also has a rash on her face. She is happy and singing and playing. We will be having her evaluated developmentally in the next few weeks and then she will be getting some therapy to help her catch up with things like walking and speech.

Praise has been a blessing to our family, she is such a joy to have around. If we had to do it all over again we would. I wish other families would consider adopting HIV+ children. It is not all that hard and people shouldn't be scared of it. These kids just need a chance. If anyone is even thinking about it, they should be encouraged to go for it! In a few years I am sure this will be like any other special needs adoption and it will become more popular, especially when people see how well the children do.