A variant on the old Sesame Street tune: One of these things is just like the other! We have had some real encouragement over the last 24 hours. The visit with the hematologist yesterday went very well. Dr. Jamil has been watching Julia’s platelet condition over the past couple of weeks (you can read the backstory here and here), and we got the happy news that her count has tripled to well over 300k per microliter – well into the normal range! There will be a final follow up in a month, but this is a big win.

As the pic indicates, we have reached another milestone in her growth. Julia gained four ounces in the past four days and passed the five pound mark as of today! She has been eating well and the concern that we had about her growth has been allayed somewhat.

It’s amazing how these comparatively small, incremental improvements can really make my day! I even broke into a little victory dance when I got the news (a sight definitely not ready for prime time). There are going to be days where the news isn’t as encouraging; but today, it’s very, very good.

Okay – if you are the praying type of person, I have a couple of requests: Julia has a couple of appointments coming up. The cardiologist is tomorrow to continue monitoring her heart condition. We hope for continued comfort and ease of breathing and a delay of her symptoms.

The other is with the audiologist on Thursday. The NICU staff did a routine hearing test on Julia, and the findings were such that further testing is required. Granted, there are issues of her health that are far larger than this one, and the situation may be remediated in many ways. But I really, really want my kid to hear. I was listening to Vivaldi, Alison Krauss and David Gray as I was working today, and I prayed that God might someday grant my daughter the same enjoyment (okay, maybe different music). I’d really love it if you would join us in that prayer.