March 20, 2018

As of yesterday, Charlie is 3 months old! He can wear clothes now, too, which is so fun! We cannot believe how fast these months have gone by and it’s been amazing to witness our precious miracle grow and overcome so many obstacles. He is so tough and God has been taking good care of him!

Charlie has another obstacle that came on fast this week. He has what’s known as Retinopathy of Prematurity, or ROP, and it’s a disease that affects the blood vessel growth in his eyes. It is very common in preemies, especially micropreemies like Charlie, and fortunately, there are ways to treat it. The vessels in his eyes have started to grow abnormally very rapidly, so the ophthalmologists that have been checking him frequently decided he needed treatment. He got an injection today in each eye to stop the vessels from growing in the wrong direction and hopefully allow them to develop properly. They are going to monitor him very closely here on out and make sure he can have the best vision possible.

Charlie continues to grow and do well on cpap, (we can take his mask off for pictures)! He weighs 4lbs 7oz and is16 inches long. Typically, they say preemies have to stay in the nicu until their due date, give or take a few weeks (his would have been April 23rd). For Charlie, it looks like he will be here longer. He still has a few more hurdles to get over before we can even think about bringing him home. There hasn’t been a discussion of when that could happen, but we will be patient as long as he needs us to be. But we do anxiously await the day that he can finally come home with us!

Please pray for Charlie’s eyes and that they will heal and develop normally! He is so strong and nothing is impossible with God! Your prayers are powerful so we thank you! We feel so loved and appreciate every one of you. God bless!