Sophie Pictures!

Sophie and her chubby cheeks made it home!!!

ALMOST THERE!!!

Well we are almost there! They took her off oxygen and the clock has officially started... if she can make it these next 48 hours without her levels dipping too low (below mid to upper 90s) than we are in the clear and can take her home. If she fails this test than we take her home with oxygen. Which isn't ideal but we will be so glad to have her home.

Please pray that she can do this on her own! We know that prayer works... and this is the last stretch! We can't wait for all of you to meet her and for her to be home.

The days seem like months...

Sophie turned 1 week yesterday!!! We are so grateful for her little life and all that she has taught us so far. We are even more anxious to get her home! Her antibiotics will be done at the end of the day Sunday... we were planning on bringing her home Monday morning but today we found out that she needs to be off oxygen for 48 hours before we can, so it is looking like Tuesday at the earliest.

At first we were told 24 hrs, and we were also told that they would release her with an oxygen tank... but now the Dr.'s orders are 48 hrs... breathing on her own.

This has been quite the roller coaster ride. We can't wait to bring her home.

Pray that Sophie can breathe on her own! SHE CAN DO IT!!!

Happy St. Patricks Day! (from Sophie in the NICU)

Well Ash tried and tried to convince the nurses that our little girl would only be wearing PINK bows... but we decided it would be best for her to have a little "luck" today and so Ash caved in and let them put on a shamrock bow. She is cute regardless of what she is wearing...

Just a little update. She is still in the NICU and will be until Monday. She is responding really well to everything. She is off oxygen and is nursing like a champ! They are now just making sure that she runs her course with the antibiotics.

It breaks our heart to leave her at the hospital every night. But we are grateful that she is doing better and will be able to come home with us soon!

NO MORE OXYGEN TUBES!!

Well today has been another good day for our little Sophie. She is done with her Oxygen tubes and is breathing on her own. They are taking the last cord out of her belly button tonight and will finally be able to dress her in clothes! She is responding to everything and doing well. We are just anxious to get her nursing... Ash is especially... but tomorrow should be a good day for that!

Again, we are so grateful for all of you that have called to check up on us and have prayed for Sophie and our little family. We believe whole heartedly that there is power in prayer and that it is working! Thank you so much.

Yesterday in our "Sunday School Lesson" that Ash and I had together we studied the Ensign article entitled "Learning Through Life's Trials." What a wonderful article and so timely for our little family. I don't want to be all preachy but did want to share just two little highlights that touched our hearts....

Orson F Whitney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helped us understand the purpose of adversity. He said, " No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God... and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire. "

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught us how we can benefit from adversity by relying on Christ. He said, " the Lord is intent on our personal growth and development... Progress is accelerated when we willingly allow Him to lead us through every growth experience we encounter... If we question every unpleasant challenge... we make it harder for the lord to bless us. But if we center our hearts and minds on the Lord's will, we will gain more happiness in the journey and more fulfillment in life."

We are so grateful for the knowledge that we have, and for the comfort that it gives us through life's trials.

Guess who got to hold Sophie???

Sophie Update

(CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR IT TO ENLARGE)

Thank you so much for your continued prayers. We love you all for your love and support. Here is the update from this morning:

She is off of the big oxygen and Ash and I were finally able to see her cute little face. She doesn't look anything like Lily so far :) We are so happy to see that her respiratory health is improving. She has started taking some of Ashleys milk that she has been pumping through a tube which we are very excited about.

On the flip side, there are still a lot of unknowns. They found group b strep in her placenta and are worried that that is what has caused all of this. Her red blood cell counts are decreasing and may need a blood transfusion. They may need to up the antibiotics...

We are trying our best to focus on the positive and look for the little miracles because we know there are many. We continue to focus on our family scripture found in D&C 123:17 "Therefore, dearly beloved...let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power, and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed"

We have been fasting and praying and know that many of you have as well. Thank you so much. We are so grateful for you! We will keep you posted and hopefully continue to get some good photos of our precious baby girl.

All our love,

Jon, Ashley, Lily and Sophie

Baby Sophie Update

Dear family and friends:

Well, Sophie came into the world with a bang and is now having to be a bit of a fighter. She was born with a punctured lung and has an infection. She is also running a fever and because of all of this she will be in the NICU for at least 10 days. We are trying to keep our spirits up. Ash is doing well. We just really want to snuggle on our little Sophie.

Please keep Sophie in your prayers that she will be able to get off her oxygen and that she will be able to battle this infection and come home.

Love,

Jon

Our 100th post!!!!!

Wow. This is our 100th post... we have been trying to pick up the slack lately with our countdowns... but I am sure we will be back blogging again with the addition of our little girl Sophie sometime this month! Hurray! Poor Ash is in horrible pain right now... she has a pinched nerve and is struggling to do just about everything right now. She is a trooper. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and women everywhere for their hard work in bringing these little kids here to earth. Mad props.

Here is a commercial we were just in for Ivory Homes to celebrate our 100th post! It goes by quick... see if you can see us (don't mind me... jon... I am more awkward than anything)!

Love,

The Lefrandt Family