Azariah: Yahweh has helped

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Azariah: Yahweh has helped

Azariah is diagnosed with multiple congenital heart diseases and in need of prayer

08/13/2026

Day 54 - Azariah continues to gain strength, surprising all of the doctors as he holds his head up and looks at them as they move around the room, very ahead of a baby who hasn’t hit 8 weeks yet.

Our team has allowed us to start taking Azzy outside. Though he has slept though both trips, and it takes longer to get ready for the trip than we actually spend out in the Texas heat, it’s a big win to us. Thank you to our resident Emily for making this happen!

All of the experts in the hospital have discussed the latest diagnosis of the silent aspiration, hernia, malrotation, and GERD. They have come to a consensus that a PH probe study is needed to figure out what type of feeding tube is best for Azzy.

This will be a tube down one of his nostrils to monitor the acid in his esophagus for 24 hours. Since his current feeding tube is taking up the one nostril already, his respiratory risk will be elevated, and require us to be back in the ICU for it. The ICU is currently full, and we will hopefully be able to proceed with that next week.

Once the study is done, it will take 1-2 weeks to determine what the surgical path is.

There is also a slight concern because he has lost weight over the past 4 days. It’s possible this is due to his frequent spit ups. We try to hold him upright for the majority of his feeds, and keep his bed elevated for the night feeds, but his spit ups were rather large today.

Thank you God for the wins and allowing the three of us to be together in this storm! Not sure if 12 weeks of paternity leave has ever been more of a blessing to a family, but I don’t know where we would be without it.

We pray that Azzy’s weight loss would reverse. We pray that all of the ICU babies would get well, allowing them to be discharged and make space for Azzy’s study. And we know that whatever the results, he will be healed one way or another. Amen

08/05/2026

Day 47 of hospital life - Another bump in the road

Azzy had an upper GI and a swallow study yesterday, where the team examined how he consumed liquids under x-ray. They found three issues with his digestive system.

1. When he swallows on his own, part of the liquid enters the lungs with no gagging - known as silent aspiration, which can lead to pneumonia if volume accumulates.

2. Once the liquid is in the stomach, a hernia in his diaphragm is creating an issue that is contributing to his reflux when feeding.

3. When the liquid passes the stomach and enters the intestines, the issue of malrotation occurs. His intestines are not attached to his body like someone with normal anatomy, so there is a risk of a kink or twist causing a blockage that will result in a future medical emergency.

He under went a sonogram for the head and vocal chords today to check for a neurological or anatomical causes for the silent aspiration, which both came back normal.

The medical team is weighing installing a G- tube that would be a port from near the bellybutton that would go directly into his stomach, as that would allow us to be discharged and keep him fed on our own without risk of him ripping it out, like his current NG tube. While he was open for this procedure, the other issues could be addressed at the same time.

As much as we would love to avoid another intervention, it is very frustrating knowing that feeding is the only thing keeping us in the hospital. This is common for heart babies, but was the last thing we thought would be keeping us from walks in the stroller.

We are very blessed that these issues are nothing new to our medical team here. Azzy continues to grow and is at 8lbs 14 oz, which has the Drs very happy.

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

07/29/2026

Azariah hit 1 month (9 days ago oops!)

The Drs were unable to find a cause for his temperature drop a few days ago, but the issue has not reoccurred. He is working on building up the stamina and strength to be self sufficient on feeds, but has a habit of being super sleepy when the therapist comes.

He has been much more lively since coming off morphine and loves looking around and giving mom and dad all of the facial expressions.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers and encouragement. It 40 days of hospital life and it looks like feeding is going to keep us here for a little while longer.

07/26/2026

Azariah has upped his feed volume from 40ml to 63ml every 3 hours since we arrived at the Cardiac Care Unit 9 days ago. He is up to 8lbs 4oz.

He also came completely off morphine, which meant a few sleepless nights for the three of us, but he seemed to finally settle out of the rage last night.

However, during his 1AM diaper change, his leg felt ridiculously cold. We got the nurse who did a re**al temperature check to find that he was 95.6.

The room has been busy with medical staff since then. His big crib was downgraded back to an incubator to help with his temp, labs and swaps taken to check for infection, and a new IV line place in his arm for a precautionary IV drip.

We are praying this bump in the road amounts to nothing, but they are planning to send us back to the ICU if he doesn’t hold his temperature better. Last one was 97.0.

07/18/2026

Today was a big day for this little heart warrior.

Yes, he made it to his full feed volume of 40 mL over one hour. He also recovered from the trauma of being pinned down three different times today while screaming at the top of his lungs for various procedures—something that has become almost routine for him.

But those were just steps that led to an even bigger milestone.

After 28 days in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Azariah has graduated and moved to a room in the Cardiac Care Unit.

We are so thankful for each of them and for everyone who has prayed for, encouraged, and supported our family. Especially for our families who came from Canada, PA, and CA to help us through.

We’re not home yet. We still have work ahead of us—learning to take all of his feeds by mouth instead of through a feeding tube and slowly weaning off several medications before he’s ready to leave the hospital. And a second procedure in 3-5 months that will have us back in the CICU for recovery again.

But today, we celebrate.
One less intensive care room. One step closer to home. ❤️

“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭59‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

07/13/2026

Azariah has graduated to breathing room air!!! They finished the weening of the nasal cannula on Saturday and have been doing great on breathing since then.

He did have a setback with feeds on Saturday, but had a break and is rebuilding volume every three hours today. Getting up to full feed volume is one of the last hurdles we have to getting out of the CICU.

We are on day 24 of the CICU and will be here as long as it takes.

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

07/07/2026

Praise report!! Azariah has been healing great since his procedure and has graduated from the CPAP! His sedation meds are very low now which gives him lots of energy. We are still in the ICU but will be transitioning to less intense care in the near future if he keeps up his positive progress.

It was such a blessing having Kelsey’s family visiting from Canada and helping us out in every possible way so that we could stay focused on Azzy.

“Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭34‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

07/03/2026

Yesterday, we woke up to at 8 medical staff rushing around the room to get an EKG set on Azariah’s heart firing away at 230 bpm, when he snapped out of it and returned to 130. The follow up x ray showed his lung collapsed again, his labs were terrible, and the doc gave him the label of ‘sickest kid in the heart unit’ during rounds, so everyone would be keeping an eye on him.

We have never been more scared. So we prayed, put on some worship music, and the doctors made some adjustments to his meds and CPAP settings.

He has improved on all fronts since then and no longer has the title of sickest kid. After 6 hours of skin to skin today, it feels like we may be through the worse of it.

Thank you for all of the prayers and please keep them coming.

“I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭91‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

06/27/2026

Azzy has hit one week today! His recovery from his stent has had a few bumps in the road, which means he is still on the ventilator and mostly intubated, though he will still fight through the medication and attempt to pull the breathing tube out from time to time.

The current hurdles are cortisol levels and his upper left lung, which was shown to be collapsed in the most recent x-ray. Neither are completely out of the ordinary given his age and the intervention he just underwent, but it’s been hard having to be patient as the team continues to make adjustments to get everything right.

The cardiac team gave us a special treat today by gathering four people to transfer him and all his lines to Kelsey’s arms for a two hour snuggle session - the first since Thursday.

We are praying that he continues to make progress and can leave the ventilator soon.

“Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭37‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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1907 Holcombe Boulevard #309
Houston, TX
77030

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