2 - Her echocardiogram showed that her heart was in great shape. She has a heart murmur, but it's considered a "normal" one for babies.
3 - She received a blood transfusion today. We're hoping this helps her feel better and get some of her strength back. We want to thank everyone for offering to donate or donating in her name.
4 - Tomorrow, as of this second, Sawyer will be going in for an endoscopy, a colonoscopy, and a bone marrow biopsy. The endoscopy and colonoscopy will be checking for ulcers, gi issues, internal bleeds, etc. The bone marrow biopsy is to rule out leukemia, which they do not think it is. Since she will already be sedated, they want to do as much as possible and this will be a good time for the biopsy.
Whew, lots of information. The staff is great and they are trouble shooting continuously. We love having all of the different medical fields working on Sawyer's case. Keep up the positive vibes, baby Sawyer is fighting hard!
God must have something very special and wonderful in store for her. Apparently that will not be heaven just yet.
Some of my old South Boston Irish ancestors, like their ancestors in the old country before them, used to weep at childbirth because a beautiful and beloved child had entered the world aka "this veil of tears." They used to celebrate before funerals because Paddy or Bridget had gone to a far, far better place than this (they hoped!).
Many decades (and many Irish) have passed since these practices have gone out of style but there is an underlying wisdom in the old ways.
From the old Baltimore Catechism of my youth and the youth of many older Catholics here:
Q. Who made you? A. God made me.
Q. Why did God make you? A. He made me to know Him, to love Him and serve Him in this world and to be happy forever with Him in the next.
If Sawyer Anne or any other innocent little child passes away in infancy, can we have any doubt that the God Who lovingly formed her in her mother's womb and nurtured her through childbirth and beyond will bring her home to heaven? That, after all, is the destination we all hope for. That was what the late Fr. Norman Weslin used to teach his associates of all faiths in laying siege to abortion mills. I heard the late Congressman Henry Hyde tell a conference in Boston that, despite his acknowledged, confessed and forgiven sins, he hoped to be admitted to heaven and hoped that the souls of tens of millions of aborted babies (aborted in spite of his efforts) would remember him upon his arrival.
We become so attached to the things of this world and to our loved ones and these are all that most have experienced and we do not imagine and cannot imagine what God has stored up for us in the eternal life to come. All we can do is know Him, love Him and serve Him while we are here and trust Him and His promises as to what is to come.
Enough crepe hanging from the old curmudgeon! We have prayers to say, interior conversation to engage in and spiritual warfare to wage (all from Thomas a' Kempis' Imitation of Christ) on behalf of Sawyer Anne.
May God, our heavenly Father, take Sawyer Anne in His healing Hands, restore her to vigorous health, survive these physical troubles, have a long and fruitful life of service to God and her family and her fellow humans. May she live to taste a full measure of the sweetness of life which God has laid before her here and may she experience fully the presence of God in her life and His infinite love now and forever. We also ask that God bless you, her and all her family now and forever. We dare ask all of this in Jesus' Holy Name.
And Verga and Salvation: God bless you and yours for bringing this prayer opportunity to our attention.