Suburban STILL for sale (or a bad country song)

Today we took the oldest four kids with us to Dallas for Rachel's labwork and to see the babies (or for 3 of them, the waiting room). We stopped in Rockwall to eat lunch at El Chico and we had the best time. I laughed more than I have laughed in the past 3 months! My kids are pretty amazing (at least I think so) and funny. I'm sure the folks around us weren't too happy that we laughed and giggled all through lunch, but that's okay. I couldn't help but just study them and thank God for the blessing of each one of them and for the stage that they are at right now. I know too well how quickly it will go by. Anyway, by the time we did Rachel's bloodwork at Scottish Rite and got over to Baylor, we didn't have a lot of time, but I did get to hold Josiah for a few minutes. He is on the canula. Yea!!! I can see his whole face and head. He smiled at me too:-) Sweet baby boy! He weighs 3 lbs 3 ozs. They are beginning to talk about feeding him with a bottle and once he masters that, we will talk about bringing him home. WOW! Gideon is still on the mask. He is doing much better. His oxygen levels were staying between 30-35%. Much better! He still weighs 2 lbs 12 ozs. Both eye exams were fine for now and will be repeated in 2 weeks. On the way back to town, we swung by the house to pick up the suburban because Rob wanted to get the alternator replaced. He was getting warning signs that it might be about to go out. He and Rebekah hopped in the suburban and I headed to town to take Aaron to his basketball game and pick up Isaac. I got almost into town before Rob called and said they were on the side of Hwy 11:-) Really??? Three strikes and you're gone, suburban!! This is 2! Even though, it always manages to get us off the road and to a safe place. Thank you, Lord! Our guardian angels are earning some overtime! All we could do is laugh when I told Rob it's like a country song: my babies are in the hospital, my dog's got a broke leg and my car left me on the side of the road! Laughter is like a medicine;-)

So far, so good

Well, I did not get to hold Gideon yet. He is still off the vent, but he is having to work very hard and his settings are at the max they can be. The doctor is trying to keep him off the vent so he tweaked the settings a little. SO for now we are off. Our prayer is that he will be able to stay off...we shall see. They will let me hold him when he is more stable. Just talked to the nurse and she said he is doing okay. It's still a possibility that he might have to go back on the vent, but he's holding his own right now. They did a chest Xray this morning and it looked good. Josiah is up to 28 cc's with his feeds and his nurse for tonight is not happy with him AT ALL.  He has pulled out his feeding tube 3 times since 6:00 pm. I think once was when the feed was taking place and made a mess in his bed:-) She said she can't keep his hands away from everything. That boy is going to wear us out! I can already picture the trouble that he and Isaac will get into! Good news for Josiah: the nurse said he might get to move to an oxygen canula (prongs in his nose) tomorrow! He has done so good on the mask. Both boys have eye exams tomorrow and Gideon will have a brain scan Wednesday. Please continue to pray for Gideon that his lungs get stronger and he can stay off the vent and that the brain scan goes well and shows improvement. I go back to the doctor tomorrow to be released to go back to work :-( and Rachel has blood work at Scottish Rite. Busy day and we'll swing by to see the boys too!

Off the vent...

Great answer to prayer: Gideon is off the vent!! However, please continue to pray for him that he can stay off of it. He is currently having to have 56% oxygen whereas Josiah is at room air which is 21%. The nurses have prepared us to have the vent put back on, just in case. Hopefully I can hold him tomorrow, no matter what happens. If they put him back on the vent it will be a different one and I should still get to hold him. He will have another brain scan on Wednesday. Josiah is doing great. He hit 3 lbs 1 oz today!!! He is doing great on his oxygen levels. Hopefully we will get to go see them tomorrow after Samuel's basketball game. The suburban is fixed and back at home. Yea!!! The dog is hobbling around in his cast and his "cone of shame." This is what Rebekah called the thing around his head - from the movie "Up". I thought she made it up and cracked up! So of course that is what we call it now. Poor Snoopy! He is very smart. If he can't reach his food bowl, he will pick it up and move it closer to his mouth inside the "cone of shame."

Answers

Answer to prayer!!! Gideon's brain scan was slightly improved. This is good news! Thank you Lord! Now the doctor will keep track of his head circumference to decide when to do the next scan. If his head size remains normal, he will wait 2 weeks. This is all to determine that the fluid in his brain is draining as it should. Josiah's scan was fine. They will continue to move Gideon towards coming off the vent and are moving Josiah towards getting off his mask. The doctor is very pleased with their progress and once again they went up on their feeds. Gideon is at 24 cc's and Josiah is at 25 cc's. Today was the last day for Gideon to receive antibiotic and the nurse said he has had very little secretions when she suctions him. So he got his IV out (again). Hopefully we will get to go see them tomorrow night!

Another answered prayer: The suburban is fixed! Yea!

A third answered prayer: The dog's leg can be saved! I was really surprised when the vet said he could set it and splint it and he should regain use of it. Wow! Normally we wouldn't have taken it to the vet, but I wanted to see what they would tell me. I really thought they would have to amputate it, but it wasn't as bad as it looked. Snoopy was hard to get in the car but once I did he rode to town well because he had his buddy Isaac. Isaac (my 3 year old) insisted on sitting beside Snoopy and petting him all the way to town. Snoopy just laid his head in Isaac's lap. At one point I looked back and they were nose to nose. I'm sure there was some deep conversation taking place:-)

So a better end to a week that started pretty bad! Just a reminder that God takes care of us through everything from babies to vehicles to pets. He is an awesome God!

Waiting....

We are waiting to hear from the doctor about the brain scans for both boys. I will pass that along as soon as we do. I went to see them yesterday. They are getting bigger. Gideon weighs 2 lbs 9 ozs and Josiah weighs 2 lbs 15 ozs! Josiah cried pretty loud yesterday (for him). It still wasn't really loud. He was having another one of his tantrums! Josiah's platelet count was elevated yesterday too. So we will wait to see what comes of that. The suburban is fixed! Yea! It was the fuel pump. I'm taking the dog to the vet this afternoon for them to tell me if they can do anything for his leg. Fun, Fun! Never a dull moment around here!

Suburban for Sale

A couple of songs have really ministered to me during this journey we are on. One of them is "Praise His Name" by Jeff and Sheri Easter:

When everything falls apart, Praise His Name

When you have a broken heart, raise your hands and say

Lord you're all I need, you're everything to me

And He'll take the pain away.

When it seems you're all alone, Praise His Name

When you feel you can't go on, just raise your hands and say

Greater is He, that is within me

And you can praise the hurt away.

Another one is "Blessings" by Laura Story:

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise.

So it was this first song that I was thinking of when we sat in the parking lot of a mobile home dealership off I30 where our suburban so kindly left us stranded. While traveling to Dallas to see the babies, we got to Caddo Mills and it began to spit and sputter. We began to slow down and were almost joined at the bumper by a bright orange 18-wheeler:-) It died just before we got to the exit, but we managed to coast DOWN the exit ramp (thank you Lord that it went downhill) and turn into a parking lot. My wonderful mother-in-law made the 40 minute trip to come and get us and we made it back home without getting to see the boys. While we were disappointed to not be able to get to see them, we were praising God that we were not on the side of I30 or in the middle of Dallas.

This was after I ran over our 7-month old border collie, Snoopy, while he was chasing me down the driveway. He is alive, but his back leg is broken.

Another song comes to mind, "Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said."

Anyway, I just called to check on the boys and they are both doing well. They both like to play a game with their nurses called: she tucks me in, I kick everything off:-) Josiah not only likes to pull out his feeding tube, he has learned how to reach up and mess up his oxygen mask, setting off the alarms. Gonna be a fun time when these boys come home!!!

Gaining weight

Just a quick update: We went to see the boys last night and Gideon looks so much better! His color was much better and he was more alert and active. The nurse today said he has had a good day and starting at midnight they will begin to wean him off the vent. They will check his blood gases and see how he has done, so, MAYBE he could be off the vent by the end of this week. He weighed 2 lbs 6 ozs!!! We could tell he had put on weight since early in the week. He will have another brain scan on Wed.  Josiah is doing very good. He weighed 2 lbs 13 ozs. and his oxygen level is at room air. I finally got to hear him cry! Yes, he was mad, but the pacifier took care of it (as long as I held it in his mouth). When I let go of it was when he got irritated:-) Yes, I did let go of it on purpose!! I wanted to hear his sweet little cry.....someone remind me of this in 6 months.