New Jerusalem Baptist Church - Welsh, La

07/22/2018

03/04/2018

“Started from the bottom, now we’re here.”

Yesterday was March 3rd, 2018 the day that was Aries’ expected due date. My mighty micropreemie has fought long and hard to beat the odds and made it to full term (40 weeks adjusted). When I look back on all of the progress he’s made, the challenges he’s had to overcome, I can’t help but to feel an immense amount of pride in my heart.

Sometimes, I find myself wondering why God brought Aries to us so early, and after many late nights of prayer and meditation, I believe His reasoning was multifaceted: To lead me and others to rely heavily on our faith in Him. To allow a mass of people bear witness to an ongoing miracle. To bring awareness to prematurity and micropreematurity. To give others hope.

But perhaps most importantly, to give an origin story to someone I undoubtedly believe is going to grow into someone who will greatly impact the world. I cannot tell you how many individuals both known and unknown to me have approached me and said, “His words will impact many,” “He has a testimony to share,” and that “He will be a great speaker among men.” I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it in my spirit. I always have. All that I know for sure is that every great leader, innovator, and thinker had an origin story that was so unique it was almost unbelievable due to all of the miracles, chance encounters, and happenings.

Anyway, let me stop rambling about my little one on Facebook. Just know that today is also his day, and that God has greatness in store for Aries. Chapter 1 is almost complete.

02/26/2018

Today is the day Aries finally has his Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV) procedure under the leadership of Dr. Manish Shah. Coincidentally, today is also the birthday of Aries’ late grandfather, Doug Williams. As, Kourtney said yesterday, everything will be okay because he has God and a special guardian angel watching over him on this special day.

We ask that you please keep Aries and the gifted hands of Dr. Shah and the members of today’s pediatric neurosurgery team in your thoughts and prayers this morning.

02/11/2018

ARIES UPDATE: Aries in back on the CPAP, they feel that he may have an infection. Test have been taken waiting on results. Keep him in your prayers.. God has not brought Aries this far.. I HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR!!!! The Lord is my light and protector... ..

02/11/2018

Late update on baby Aries:

Today, my brother and sister in law met with Dr. Mannish Shah of the Pediatric Neurosurgery team and his assistant to discuss surgical treatment options for Aries’ hydrocephalus.

First, they got a look at Aries’ MRI results from this week. The new results showcase a drastic improvement in comparison to his initial scan back in November. The left hemisphere shows absolutely no presence of blood whatsoever, while the right hemisphere shows just a patch (Grade 1 brain bleed). This is great news because Aries made an amazing amount of progress from having Grade 3 and 4 bleeds!

That said, there is still a collection of spinal fluid that continues to collect, but isn’t draining as properly as it should.

Following the MRI review, Dr. Shah expressed to us that he believes Aries will be a great candidate for an Endroscopic Third Ventriculoscopy (also known as an ETV) – a procedure that involves the delicate drilling of a hole to allow proper flow. This solution is the ideal solution because it is the least invasive treatment in the long run. The only thing that could cause this to not work is if the clotting from the existing bleed in the right hemisphere isn’t cooperative enough for them to take the risk.

For those who have been following Aries’ progress closely, Dr. Shah is the same doctor who inserted Aries’ ventricular reservoir back in December. Talking to him about this procedure and knowing his track record, we are confident in his expertise and – more importantly – in God’s ability to work through his hands as well as the hands of his team.

Intervention will be put on hold for the next 1-2 weeks to give Aries more time to grow and for the final remnants of his bleed to dissipate. Please join us in prayer for Aries and the Pediatric Neurosurgery team at Children’s Memorial Hermann.

01/31/2018

When you receive a call from, your son and your heart starts pounding... The call was to tell me they were on their way to the hospital to check on Aries.... HE proceeded to tell me that Aries is breathing on his own.... Did anyone hear me screaming..Did I mentioned that there's a decrease in his brain bleed... Too God Be the Glory!!!! WON'T HE DO IT!!!! 5lbs 7oz....

01/28/2018

It’s Aries’ first day having a nasal feeding tube, and it looks like he is finally showing some interest in the proper usage of a pacifier. The introduction of bottle feeding is the next goal for him next week.

01/15/2018

We started a journey, on November 11, at a 1lb 11oz when I tell you the prayers of the righteous avail much... BELIEVE IT!!!!! Whe I tell you God is still healing and performing miracles... BELIEVE IT!!!! UPDATE: 4lbs and 1 ounce tonight! The evening nurse said that basically all Aries has left to do is gain some more weight, maintain his own body temperature and ween off of the high-flow Cannula to a regular cannula and he should be able to move up to the 8th floor where he will have his own room! Look at my God!!!!! WON'T HE DO!!!!!! Our Baby Aries.... I have a SHOUT in my spirit....THANK YOU JESUS!!!

01/07/2018

Last post:
My brother Aaron and his beautiful wife Aisha beautiful wedding!!!

12/13/2017

UPDATE: Baby Aries is officially being extubated today. Should happen before 3pm.

Neurology looked at his scans, and no intervention will be done this week, but there is going to come a time when they will have to put in the shunt. Just don’t know when. For now, they will be monitoring his head measurements and continuing the weekly ultrasounds. Kidney and liver numbers decreased which is good. They think the PDA was what was causing them to rise.

11/26/2017

For my 29th Birthday, God blessed me with the gift of being able to hold my son for the very first time. In one hour of what they call “kangaroo care,” the NICU team was able to drop his ventilator support an astonishing FOUR times.

11/26/2017

Friday my future sister in law got to hold her son Aries for first time since he has been the born!! The nurses had to turn the ventilator down 4 times while she holding him!! Thank you Jesus!! I got a picture of him with his eyes open!!