Not Sure What to Title This One

Dear Family and Friends,

Before I get into the details of Zoe's life, I am requesting some prayers for another family who recently had 25 week old twins. I don't know the family personally, but I was emailed earlier this week regarding the family from a close friend because of our recent experiences. Please pray with us that the Lord guide the hands of the doctors and nurses and comfort the family as he so graciously did for us.

Life here in the Casmer household has been, well how could one put it, interesting. After our trip to Michigan and the struggle with Zoe's eating we returned home to find a girl that had an appetite. (Now when I say appetite I mean she is not fighting the bottle and eating more than an ounce at a time.) We were pretty ecstatic and surely thought the trip was overwhelming and being home back in her routine was what she wanted. We should have learned that Zoe lives to prove her parents wrong. Friday was a pretty icky day but with patience and prayers, the evening was better and apart from extra congestion and a cough, Zoe's appetite seems to be improving.

We did find out the GI doctor still wants to perform the endoscopy for the biopsy despite not having any allergies. EE is still a concern so we will be doing that towards the end of the month. We also had an eye check up for Zoe, you may remember one of our concerns with Zoe is the loss of peripheral vision due to the damage in her brain. The ophthalmologist currently sees no signs of this and was very happy with how alert Zoe was. We will still be going in for check ups because of Zoe's prematurity, preemies are at a higher risk for being cross eyed or having a lazy eye. Finally, we had our monthly visit with the physical therapist. She was very happy to see how well Zoe has come along in her sitting, 3 minutes unassisted, and the reduced tightness in her arms. There are some definite areas where we are lagging behind, falling reflex (using your hands to stop the fall) and some weak rolls on her left side. So we are armed with more exercises and we will continue to work on them.

On a side note for those who live near us, now that we are in the autumn/school season, we will be more cautious with Zoe with the increased sickness that tends to happen this time of year. We ask that you help us with that by avoiding her if you even feel an inkling of a cold, please resist the need to touch her, even on her foot (she loves chewing on it now) and for everyone's health wash your hands often. We were happy to not be home bound this fall and winter but Zoe's immune system is still not where it should be and would like to avoid her getting sick. Thank you for your understanding.

God's blessings to you all,

Casmers