Thank you for all your prayers

to everyone who prayed for Althea...

thank you all for your prayers. She successfully underwent (white) blood transfusion and after 9 days in the hospital, she is now already home.

Praise God.

Please pray for Althea

Baby Althea and my daughter Mica

This is my niece Althea, who is 9 months old now. I wrote a post about her when she is almost a month old. For those who want to read my previous post, here's the link.

We are happy that in the nine months that has passsed, though she has a few instances of having a hard time with her PDA case, she's still with us.

but tomorrow, she will undergo a blood transfusion.

So, I'm requesting everyone, if it's not asking too much, to please say a little pray for her.

She's an angel to our family. she brings joy to everyone, equally the same as my daughter Mica who, at 3 years old now has a lot of tricks and never fail to bring a smile in my lips whenever she says "love you, Nanay". But that's another story.

Althea is quite delayed in terms of locomotor development. but we perfectly understood why. The more important to us is that she's okay and never had a hard time catching her breath. And it is really a great pain to all of us whenever we see her in great physical pain.

Her need to undergo blood transfusion is still a mystery to me. She has a congenital heart disease and I am yet to ask the doctors if it is related to her heart condition. meanwhile, I am asking everyone to please pray for her.

As always, we believe in the power of prayer. It will do another miracle for her dear life.

Thank you very much.

My Niece ALTHEA

May 3, 2008, before one in the morning when Althea was born via cesarean section. our family were all excited. we patiently waited till that wee hour annd when we hear her cry, we all go to the nearest door to the OR where we luckily saw her wriggly and screaming while the nurse was bathing her.

During her first hours, she appeared well and healthy. But when Sunday came, she started to get violet especially when she cried. Her blood was tested and was first thought was she was having a hypoglycemia. Oxygen was also put on her to ease her breathing.

Monday when she was rushed to Jose Reyes Hospital in Manila because her condition was worsen. She was very critical and we couldn't do anything but to pray for her. The following day, after she underwent 2d echo, the pedia cardiologist said she has Pulmonary Valve Artresia, and that she was also critical that very moment. they even told us to pray harder.

It was heartbreaking. Imagine a four-day old baby with lots of IV's, heartbeat monitor, oxygen, respirator and other apparatus which I do not know the term for them.

Being an INC member, we asked for our minister to pray over her. And thank God, right after the prayer, Althea became stable and the color, from blue to pink!

Let me borrow the term to somebody who first said the rollercoster emotion but for the next two weeks, we had a ride in that.

May 18 when she was discharged, exactly 14 days in the ICU. We were told to bring her to the Philippine Heart Center after 3 days, which we obediently did.

It was another pressure for all of us. Whole day at the ICU made us weak emotionally and financially. Doctors there confirmed her condition and that she had to undergo stenting, a salvaging procedure and that when she get older, she would have an open-heart surgery. and what more, they even said, she has a fifty-fifty chance.

and when Althea's parents, my brother and my sis-in-law decided to take that chance, another doctor, the consultant, I guess, said it would be difficult for Althea to survive the stenting and that it would also do no good for her. The doctor said it would even make her condition worse.

and so, after another river of tears, we decided to leave the hospital.

we were left with nothing but faith and hope in God. before going home, we went to the nearest INC chapel and asked for a prayer.

it was the only strength we had after what the doctors said.

At home, when I finally had the chance to go online, i sent mail to my e-group asking for prayers for Althea's recovery. I am graciously happy that there are lots of people who said they are praying for Althea. Thank you to all of you!

Two days from now, Althea will be a-month old. We believed God healed her already.
Praise God.

***picture of Althea will be posted later...