It’s been 4 months since the liver transplant

Today, we continue to celebrate Ethan’s new life with you! God continues to astound us as he watches over Ethan. His weight is now normal for his age, his yellowish-dark skin is much fairer, his eyes now white and no longer yellow, and his tummy no longer has fluid.

We also celebrate God’s goodness as Ethan continues to catch up on his milestones. He not only crawls but sits up, stands, identifies words and objects (like clock, light, rubber duckie,Tigger), sings and dances (while trying to snap his fingers and even claps), blinks his eyes when we say “beautiful eyes” and was able to say his first word, which was “car.” He also had a successful first time experience in making poop while sitting on his potty! Every night before going to sleep, we would tell him to pray first and he would sit up, put his hands together (sometimes he does it like clapping) and listens to Daddy pray. When we say “In Jesus’ name...”, he would agree by smiling and saying “uh-uh!”

But like any other growing baby, he’s experiencing mild discomfort from his sprouting teeth (now 6 in all) and cries from bumps and bruises when he gets so active. One thing has not changed though, he never fails to have a joyful spirit, always throwing us smiles, giggles and laughter. Best of all, Ethan is such a sweet baby that he always smothers us with kisses! What more could a parent ask for?

We’ve seen countless miracles of healing, & sustenance. We saw how God sustained Ethan for the past 3 weeks since coming back last June 5. He had his blood tests at 6:30 am every Wednesday at the St. Lukes Medical Center and he endured the waiting, wearing mask and even crying and trying to bear through the mistakes that pediatric doctors make as they try to extract blood from his small veins.

Ethan’s body or liver adjusted to the new environment, too. His liver enzymes became unstable and its numbers fluctuated based from the weekly blood tests. This is expected since generally, his liver needs about 6 months to a year to be stable, but the environment contributes to his condition. He is still very susceptible to viral & bacterial infections, and so we are not able to bring him to crowded places.

Ethan’s life has been and always is God’s way of telling us that He is with us, that He IS God and that He is alive. By God’s sufficient grace, we’ve learned to bask in his strength and sovereignty, and to take one day at a time with joy and faith knowing that He owns and loves us. We’ve learned to embrace every trial and circumstance and consider them as gifts and blessings which come our way, and that he truly honors our faith and obedience.