Back to the Grind

Vacation (or Staycation) is over and we are back to the grind. So much so that there isn't a moment to stop and breath. Between homeschooling, feeding and clothing 7 people, medicating 4 of them, and trying to keep up with all my other responsibilities, life is CRAZY just now.

I have so many pictures to post, so hopefully I'll get the chance. Here we are on the last night of our vacation, eating a picnic dinner on the Circle downtown.

And then, as a big treat to end the vacation, we all went on a carriage ride!! It was so much fun, and hopefully will be very memorable. Thirty minutes of riding slowly over the streets of downtown imagining times gone by.

We all loved it!!!
Tomorrow begins our homeschool group and Laura's physical therapy. I have this feeling that I need to cram my entire fall into one month since September was taken up with vacation and November will be taken up with hospital stays. Oh the joys of a busy family!!! :)

Laura's Hospital Stay

I am so behind on posting. This is our vacation so we've been doing various things and I've been taking pictures and just haven't posted yet. Oh well. At least we are having fun and taking pictures. :)

Here are some photos from Laura's hospital stay. The rooms were very nice, and Laura had a hospital crib instead of a bed.

The hospital brought in toys for her to use (and even gave her several free toys). She LOVED this fisher price toy (and I think Michael wants to get her one).

She had to be monitored the whole time, so there were lots of wires, a red light, and a small unit we could take on a walk:

The kids came for a visit:

Look who is happy to be going home!!!

Laura's been doing well with her meds. She takes 3 meds each day (some twice a day) and hates them. She gets most of it down though. The next checkup with our pediatrician will be in two weeks and with the cardiologist in 3 weeks. At that time we'll get another echo and we'll see how the meds are working.

I've been reflecting on how perfect Laura's name is for her. Laura means "victorious" and Elizabeth means "consecrated to God." We do pray that she will come through these troubles victorious, but more than that, victorious in spirit. And, as her parents, we have committed her to the Lord's hand to do with as He pleases.

One of our pastor friends, who visited us in the hospital, shared some verses from Isaiah 49: Can a nursing mother forget her child? No. But more than that, God will not forget you. He has inscribed you on the palm of his hands. This is a special reminder that God does not forget us but sees exactly what is happening in our lives right now and is orchestrating it for His glory and our good.

In the mean time I'm very behind on my email and other such things. I'm not even really supposed to be doing much on the internet on vacation, but our plans have pretty much gone to the wind. We made it over to Dayton on Monday last week to see the Air Force Museum -- so awesome!!! Then, we had a lovely picnic at the Art Museum gardens on Sunday afternoon. Today we enjoyed Conner Prairie all to ourselves!!! I think there were only 15 other people there the whole time we were!!

We're Home!!!

We made it home at 10 p.m. tonight!! I think Laura will be very happy to be in her own bed and away from all the hospital sounds and interruptions.

Surgery will be November 8th to repair the large VSD (hole) in her heart. Lots of tests and checkups in the mean time. We still don't know the cause: genetics, virus, etc. Nor do we know if she has another underlying syndrome, disease, etc. That all scares me and it is hard to wait to know the answers. Laura is small and has weak muscles, which all can be explained by the heart trouble, but could also be explained by added problems.

Thank you for your prayers and notes, and comments, and practical help. We can't imagine going through this on our own.

Update

Laura is doing very well here in the hospital. She's here for a bunch of tests and is enduring blood tests, hearing tests, eye tests, and visits from the doctors. We are so thankful for such amazing health care and such great doctors! The cardiac team of 8 was in to see her earlier and we are confident of their good care.

At this point, we are looking at heart surgery in October or November. The doctor doesn't want her going through a winter with possible infection from things like RSV with such a big hole in her heart. Surgery and recovery will be a 7-10 day stay back here at Riley. Surgery should fix the holes and allow Laura to start growing much faster.

Right now Laura is on several meds that help the heart work better and take fluid away that may be causing problems. She will continue on meds after her surgery to help with the myopathy. There is a possibility that she could completely recover from the myopathy. This is what we are praying for. In any case, the most likely prognosis is that she will be able to do well on meds that help to manage the problem.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern and help. God is definitely upholding us with His peace and we are thankful for no more complications thus far. Going through trials is part of life, and this is the next trial God has seen fit to put in our path. We believe that God is sovereignly in control of everything and works all things for the good of those who love Him.

Providentially, the two sermons last Sunday from Galatians first and then Judges focused on 1) the fact that we can know God as "Abba Father" (Abba being the Aramaic term for something akin to "Daddy"). That is a comfort in these kinds of situations, knowing that God is personally involved in every detail and loves us more than we can imagine. 2) Walking in complete trust of God in difficult situations rather than doubting God (Gideon doubted God in the face of enemy armies and asked for two signs to "prove" God would give victory). I'm thinking of these sermons this week and the lessons they teach.

I'm hoping we might be able to go home tomorrow. If not, then Saturday. I'm going to be more nervous than normal of Laura, but must try to live life normally. I am very nervous about open heart surgery on a tiny baby, but everyone here thinks the surgeons are amazing and that things usually go just fine. We can keep all this in prayer.

Our World Upsidedown

I never thought we'd be spending part of our vacation with Laura in the hospital. She was diagnosed with a murmur on Friday and had an echo yesterday. Today we're at Riley and after another echo and visit with the doctor, she's been admitted for a few days with several serious heart issues.

1) She has 2 VSD's (holes in her heart). One is minor, the other quite large. The large one will require heart surgery in a few weeks or months. This condition is putting pressure on her lungs and so she's receiving meds to help with this.

2) She has cardiac myopathy which means her left ventricle is enlarged and not formed the way it should be. She is in the hospital partly to try to figure out what caused it (genetic testing and metabolic testing).

Fortunately, although these are very serious issues, we are still expecting that she might be able to live a fairly normal life. We are SO thankful for that news.

However, there are still far too many unknowns. I know it's going to be hard to live life normally when I'll be waiting for the next test, the next appointment.

Anyway, we are here at the hospital for the next two or three days. Everyone is helping with the kids and meals at home and we are thankful for everyone's prayers.

There is much to be thankful for: being in a city with such an amazing children's hospital and cardiac pediatricians, lots of family and friends to help, and time of off work for Michael.

Gotcha

All summer long I've been looking for tomato worms on my tomato plants. It is clearly evident that they have been there -- stalks are stripped bare. Despite looking and looking, I've never found them until this week. Then, there they were! All five of them together. Three of them carrying the next generation on their back.

But, now I've got them, and unlike last year, there is going to be no lenience in getting rid of them. The biggest one was at least the size of one of my fingers. UGH!

And now for nicer subjects: we went raspberry picking today! A little late in the season -- I only came home with 10 1/2 pounds. But, we also got apples and squash, peaches and tomatoes.

Oh, yes, the best news of all: Emily is home!! We celebrated with a waffle breakfast (gluten-free buckwheat waffles!!!).

Tomorrow is Friday and then Monday begins our two week vacation here at home!!

UPDATE: Candice alerted me to the fact that those are cocoons of a predatory wasp that are attached to those tomato hornworms!! Can you imagine!! Those worms were doomed to death anyway I guess. The wasp larvae are sustained by the hornworm and the worm eventually dies because of it.

The Crazy Life

Here is the little frog I knitted for my nephew John for his first birthday. It is one of Susan Anderson's free patterns on the Spud and Chloe blog. It was a fast little knit, with not too much sewing.

Life has been crazy around here. Laura is nearing 4 months, and right on cue with the other babies, she is getting up more frequently at night, and then often wants to stay awake at 6 a.m. Real food here we come.....So, that leaves me with little sleep, and therefore tired. Ugh.

School is going well. We are all excited about our states studies. It's definitely more busy this year with four of them doing things. It just means no flower sewing during school just now.

The weather is cooler this week!! What a relief. Still hardly any rain, so I must get out and water. I'm just too sluggish.

Emily arrives home from Arizona soon!!! We're so excited. It will be great to have her around again. She's been gone for half of Laura's life!

And now it's time to sign off and organize my clutter a bit.