Swallow test results and the walls of Jericho will...Come...DOWN!

Greetings friends, family and all those reading along with our saga. I wish I could say the swallow test went as well as the MRI did but it just wouldn't be true. The results from this test were a little disheartening but we are still trusting God to take care of our little Brinley as she grows and develops so that she will one day be free of the need for any assistance with eating and breathing. The speech therapist/pathologist (not sure what exactly her title is) tried feeding her a variety of ways in different positions but just couldn't get a good amount of milk to go down her throat. She explained about an air gap at the back of a "normal" throat where 2 separate pieces of tissue come together to squeeze food and drink down the esophagus; in Brinley the tissues are already somewhat in contact so when they squeeze they are pushing the milk in both directions and it is going up into her nasal cavity, forward back into her mouth and in some cases down her trachea. The reflux question is still up in the air as the views they got were too brief to get this information.

What this means is that she will need to have the g-tube surgery done although we don't yet know when. They will not continue bottle feeding her but will start to do exercises and stimulation for her mouth, "training" her for eating someday. Some of this I am stating as planned and in place when, in fact, I'm probably going beyond what is actually decided and definite since this test was only just this morning but I wanted everyone to know how to pray for our little girl. We're disappointed that she'll need the g-tube, yes, but when it is a necessary thing for her to be able to grow to see how her mouth develops then we're all for it.

Continue to pray for resolution on the apnea question as this is still up in the air. It may still be a reflux issue or it may be something we don't know about yet.

Raise your hand if you know the story of Jericho. Ah, lovely, most of you do but for those of you who don't I will tell it very briefly:
After Moses died Joshua took over as the new prophet for the Israelites. God had promised the Israelites a land of their own and, after wandering in the desert for 40 years they were finally getting there. But the fortified city of Jericho was in their way. Instead of fighting the people of Jericho, God told the Israelites to march around the city walls 1 time each day for 6 days and 7 times on the 7th day. They obeyed and after that 7th trip around on the 7th day the walls of Jericho fell down and they won the day without any fighting.

I'm skipping quite a bit but the point I want to make is in this brief description. I was reading to my girls tonight this story from their Bible and trying to explain to Cailyn what it meant. God made a promise and when there was something in the way of that promise God was the one who did the fighting; all His people had to do was obey and trust (be still and know that He is God :) I told Cailyn that Brinley being "sick" was our Jericho right now and bringing her home well was our promised land. We both got very excited at that! We're praying that our walls will come tumbling down so that, like with Jericho, it is undeniable that God is the reason.

Thank you all so much for reading and praying. We truly are so blessed as I know how busy all our lives get and any time you offer our way is so appreciated.