Today is a big day in Sayla Grace's little life. At 1:50a this morning, they did an ultra sound of her brain. This is to check for swelling and hemorrhaging, and to be sure her brain is functioning and growing as it should.

In a baby, there are extra blood vessels in the brain. As the brain grows, these blood vessels naturally hemorrhage, and sort of dissolve on their own. But in preemies, when the blood vessels hemorrhage, there is a greater risk that they will not dissolve, and that will cause bleeding in the brain and swelling. It simply happens because their little brains are not mature enough to make this process happen the way it should.

We won't have the results back until this afternoon, and it's agonizing to wait. But we've put her life in God's hands, and he will determine the outcome. We just pray that it is a positive outcome, and that this is an easy hurdle to jump.

In other news, her weight is down to 1lb 6.5oz. This is still ok, but it's going in the wrong direction. Please pray that she is able to put on some weight this week.

Her Billirubin levels are up to 3, (from 3.1) so this is a step in the right direction! Praise the Lord!!

Her cardiac ultra sound went well, and we got a positive result! Her heart and blood flow is functioning normally and looks good according to the doc! This was such happy news!

She is still on the Nasal Cannula, but last night and this morning she had a few Bradycardia episodes. "Brady" episodes are when her heart rate slows because she's not breathing at regular intervals. There are also Apnea episodes, where she stops breathing. These are referred to as "A&B" episodes.

Basically she stops breathing ("Apnea" episode) and her heart rate drops as a result ("Brady" episode). Since she's having the Brady episodes pretty frequently, they are going to put her back on the CPAP for 2 hours at a time. They say this is happening because she's simply getting tired. Her little body is too small to be able to support breathing on its own for long periods of time. This is a normal step, and the doctors kind of expected it. We were warned that this might happen. Please pray that she is able to grow so she can support herself in breathing on her own.

She's not had a bowel movement since the 30th, but they say this is normal because she's not being fed my milk anymore. Her tummy couldn't handle it yet, so they went back to the Pedialyte and Lipids, which really won't produce much of a bowel movement. We need her tummy to develop so she can start eating my milk again.

During our visit last night she opened her eyes for me and Mimi. She was very active and alert, and super cute!! She did have a Brady episode while we were there, and it was very scary. The nurse just patted her on the butt and I gave her pretty stern instructions to start breathing again!! She listened, and in just a few seconds (that seemed like years), she started back to her regular breathing. The little rascal is bound and determined to keep me on my toes!

We will visit this afternoon, and I'll be sure and update as soon as we have the brain scan results. Here's a quick list of specific prayers for Sayla Grace:

• Positive brain scan results
• Weight gain
• Billirubin levels to decrease
• Tummy to develop so she can start having my milk again
• No more Apnea and Brady episodes!!
• Peace and patience for Owen and me, and our families

Thank you for all of your prayers thus far. They are working, but we need not give up!!! Sayla Grace is a strong fighter, but she needs the Lord's help for her tiny little life to continue to succeed. We know everything is in God's hands, and he has a plan for her, so we have put all of our trust in Him, and are comforted by His grace.