Update on Joseph

I have been meaning to update the blog for a long time, I'm sorry it's taken so long. In the meantime we have been trying to contact all our English-speaking friends directly by "snail mail".

The news about Joseph is both marvellous and uncertain...Marvellous because his personality is becoming more apparent, and I thank God that he brings a smile to everyone's face, and is interested in people and the world around him. I also thank God that he loves being cuddled by our friends and I always say "he must know that you've prayed for him" as he seems so delighted to look into friends' eyes and give them his cute little crooked smile!

The news is uncertain, because we are becoming gradually aware of his physical difficulties, as his brain is supposed to start taking more control of his limbs but it isn't doing everything it should. Joseph sometimes gets frustrated because his little hands form a fist instead of opening up to grab a toy, so we have been told to coax his hands open as often as possible. His hips and legs are very stiff and won't let him roll over, although he is trying hard. Again, we have been told to try to relax his legs. He will soon be fitted with a special seat to support his back as he can't control his backbone properly yet, and the seat will help him to do more things, like sit with us in a high chair at the dinner table, otherwise he would slouch and this would be bad for him.

I thank God for the wonderful team of doctors, physiotherapists and pediatricians who are visiting us and seeing us regularly. They seem to have real affection for Joseph and want him to develop well. My prayer is that God rewires Joseph's brain, so that he overcomes the problems mentioned above. We pray that God allows him to develop as much as possible, and even beyond all expectations. The doctors can't be sure of how much control Joseph will eventually have of his limbs, as every child is so different. But we believe that God allowed Joseph to live and we also believe that He has a plan for his life. And His will is good, acceptable and perfect.

Thank you for your prayers for Joseph. I will update the blog the next time we have some significant news. We are awaiting a diagnosis regarding his hearing, as the last test was not good, but we have been told that his brain needs to mature, so they will retest on May 30.

God bless all of you, dear Christian friends.

Joseph is home and doing well, praise God!

We arrived home in France on 19 November - the date Joseph had been due to be born! Since then he has been thriving, and now weighs 3.300 kg, about average for a newborn baby. According to the pediatrician who examined him last week he has normal muscle tone and eye control - we just thank God for His grace and encouragement; our hearts are filled with hope, no matter what the future holds we know that God is GOOD and is in total control of Joseph's life. We are delighted to have him home - he is so full of life, and I just love looking at him and thank God for all He has done to save our little Joseph.
We are so grateful to all our brothers and sisters for their prayers and christian love. I believe that the Lord continues to fight for him and I thank you all so much for your support from many miles away. God bless you all and Merry Christmas to all of you!

To watch a video which summarizes the early days and shows Joseph leaving the hospital on 7 November, click here.

November 4 2007 - Joseph will soon be home

Dear friends in Christ,

During the last few weeks Joseph has steadily gained weight (he now weighs 5 pounds 13 ounces) and improved his breathing abilities and the doctors are now ready to let him go out into the big wide world!
He had an MRI scan this week, but we will be told the results after we leave the hospital, as it would seem that it is extremely complicated to analyze a brain scan of a premature baby, and it will take a while to prepare the report.
We prefer, however, not to dwell on what is happening inside Joseph's brain, we are just overwhelmingly happy that we have our little baby son and can enjoy cuddling him and feeding him. The prospect of taking him home is almost unbelievable and I can only say 'Thank God' for bringing us to this happy point after the trauma of the early days. When I look at Joseph as he was in August he seems like a different baby compared to the chubby one I see today. It is clear that God has intervened in his life and I pray He will continue to lead him, and us, on a daily basis.
And, we will never forget the immense support we have been given from our brothers and sisters in the States and elsewhere and we will never tire of thanking God for your faithful prayers. Praise God for what He has done and for what we hope He will do in Joseph's life! And many many thanks to all of you for your continued prayers for Joseph and his development.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness" 2 corinthians 12:9

Tuesday, October 23

Dear faithful friends,
I have just returned from a long, happy day at the hospital, feeding Joseph, on demand and cuddling him. He no longer has the tube in his nose and the nurses are coaxing him to take all his nourishment orally. He is a bit weak still and had to have a blood transfusion today, but I managed to cuddle and breastfeed him while he had the blood dripping in via the intravenous line in his little arm!
Despite all he has been through he is a responsive baby and seems completely aware of everyone, and I am convinced that his progress is thanks to God's intervention after hearing so many prayers from you all and our brothers and sisters in France and elsewhere.
We are starting to make serious plans to go home - we haven't been told a date yet, but we think it might be in a couple of weeks!!!
So, praise the Lord, and thank you all for your prayers for Joseph, we will post a photo or film of him next time!!

Every day we hear the doctors and nurses say "Joseph is doing really well".
He is learning to take more milk from the breast and the bottle without tiring, and his monitoring is now reduced to an apnea monitor and occasional use of the monitor on his foot to measure oxygen saturation and heart beat. He loves his cuddles as much as we do, and we are starting to think about the very real possibility of taking him home, one day in a few weeks' time...
We thank God for his progress and we have committed Joseph's future into the Lord's gentle, loving hands.

Here is Joseph having a little look round and a smile!
Click here: Joseph 10 October

Thank you and God bless you for your continued prayers. God hears them all.

October 7 - Joseph leaves his incubator

Joseph is 7 weeks old today, and to celebrate the nurses moved him out of his incubator and into a little cot, still connected to his monitor and still with his nasogastric tube, but now out in the warm air of the room !!! The reason for the move is mainly because he has put on enough weight - he now weighs 4 pounds and 4 ounces - the extra body fat will allow him to regulate his body temperature.
We are delighted and joyful and I thank God for the care He is taking of Joseph and for all the prayers from our brothers and sisters. We are truly privileged to have such prayer support for our son and I am sure that he would not be sleeping in a cot tonight if it had not been that God has had mercy on him and has lent His ear to all your prayers in favor of Joseph. So, a big thank you to you and please continue to ask the Lord for healing for Joseph in his head.

The photo on the right of the screen was taken today.

With love in Christ

Michelle

1 0ctober

Joseph has been putting on weight steadily over the last few days and now weighs just over 1.700 kgs (about 3 pounds 11 ounces I think). It is wonderful to see him developing some chubbiness where before he was so thin.

His general health is improving hand in hand with his weight gain and a couple of days ago he was moved into the ward next door !! This is a sure sign that his health is improving and we were pleasantly taken aback by the move ! The healthier the babies are the further up they move until one day Joseph will go right out of the door and straight home !!!

All the nurses know that christians are praying for Joseph around the world and my hope is that they will associate God's invisible hand with his progress. He hasn't had the MRI scan yet and we continue to entrust the repair of his brain to God in prayer. In the meantime, he is acting like a normal little baby boy who lets us know when it's time for his next feed and likes nothing more than to fall asleep snuggled up in the arms of his mum or dad.

We thank God for Joseph and for all who have prayed for him so far. I will try to upload a recent picture sometime this week.

God bless you all for your faithfulness and prayers.