January 1, 2018

Happy New Year, Charlie! Today has been a pretty good day. He has had some improvements and some set backs but overall, he has been stable today. He has had quite a few visitors today, mostly different doctors to check on him and his progress. Charlie has been on several different medications since he’s been born and most of them are filtered through the kidneys. Due to Charlie’s young age and size, his kidneys are not fully developed and are fragile. He had a kidney ultrasound done today which did show some signs damage, however the kidney specialists ensured us that the kidneys do a great job of repairing themselves and that they can continue to give him the medications he needs; They will just be monitoring them more closely.

Charlie was also visited by a dermatologist because his skin is very sensitive and showing signs of some infection or rash, so they took samples and are developing a treatment plan. They also said his skin is “cornifying,” which means his outermost layer is growing. This is great news for Charlie! When he was born, his skin was very red and raw looking, extremely fragile, and weepy. Now his skin is a “normal” color, and it almost looks dry, which is how the doctors know that he is developing that epidermal layer of skin! This is really good news and could lead us one step closer to getting to hold our little boy. The big news today is that Charlie opened his eyes! It is amazing to get to see him look around at his world for the very first time! It’s moments like these that we thank God for blessing us with this gift of life and our little miracle.

As always, we thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family. God bless you all!