Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was Lilly's first Thanksgiving! And that is what I was most thankful for today. :)

I started a new tradition for my children this year. I had each draw a turkey using their hand. I thought I'd save them each year into a notebook and that it would be fun to watch the size of their hands grow as they got older.


I helped Lilly with her drawing. I managed to get three of her fingers unclenched and down onto the paper. But her forefinger and thumb were just so tightly clenched that I traced them that way. I then decided she wouldn't mind if I colored her turkey for her. That was a fun, quick project on a very busy day.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:4-5

Happy Thanksgiving Eve

Weight check = 6 lbs. 12.5 oz.

In today's pictures, Lilly is wearing a sweater knitted by a co-worker of my husband and her mother. Lilly gets to wear so many things that talented people make. I feel like I need to make her something too! But there's just that pesky lack of time thing right now.


Lilly was so happy her daddy came home from the hospital tonight. She was fussing when he came in but stopped as soon as she heard his voice. He had the kidney stone removed this afternoon. He had a little trouble breathing on his own afterwards. (Lilly knows about that!) Then he wasn't able to urinate so they finally discharged him tonight with a catheter. (ouch!) He's supposed to call the doctor tomorrow. We'll see what happens next.

This has been a strange year for us! We're the types that are rarely sick. But 3 of the 5 of us have been in the hospital this year.

Please pray for my husband

It's the middle of the night and my husband just went back to the hospital for the kidney stone. (Thankfully my stepdad came to get him so that we didn't need to wake the children.) I have never seen anyone in so much pain and have an all new sympathy for people that have kidney stones. The heavy painkiller that he is on just suddenly stopped working and it didn't help to take another dose. He said he won't leave the hospital until the stone passes.

UPDATE: He just called to say that the hospital is getting ready to release him so he can see the urologist again this morning. They were not helpful yesterday - only told him how to prevent kidney stones. Please pray that they will do something today to break up the stone so it can pass.

UPDATE AGAIN: The urologist told him the stone would not break up on its own so he's scheduled to have a procedure to "blast it" this afternoonat 3:15. He should be able to come home after that. Praise God that he finally got good help today and that it can be taken care of before the Thanksgiving holiday.

It's like giving birth ...

We've had a busy last two days. My husband has a kidney stone. I have never seen him in so much pain. It reminded me of a woman in labor. My mother-in-law, who has had kidney stones, said it really is about as painful as giving birth. Last night my husband couldn't take it any more so he went to the emergency room. My stepdad was our knight in shining armor and took him, so I could stay home with the children. As they were leaving, Lilly was crying and her pump beeping because it was malfunctioning. Then when they walked out the door, my son burst into tears. A few seconds later my oldest daughter was hysterical. It was quite a scene. Thankfully the doctors gave my husband some good drugs and he was able to come home, pain free, later that night. Tomorrow he goes to the urologist as the stone may be too large to pass.

I was reminded what Job said: "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Job 2:10

Lilly felt like she needed to go to the hospital with her daddy, since he had stayed with her 24/7 when she was in the hospital for 23 days. But we convinced her she needed to stay home and cheer up mama. And she did. Today's picture is from last night. While waiting for my husband to call us with an update, I played the "boo" game with Lilly and she rewarded me with many smiles. (When I say "boo!" and touch my nose to her's, it really makes her smile for some reason. Sometimes she'll make a responsive noise too.)

Speaking of hospitals, I've had a lot of people ask when Lilly will be going back to the hospital for her open heart surgery. It will most likely be when the pulmonary artery band on her heart begins to get too small. (Her cardiologist is monitoring it. She has an appointment with him next Monday.) Or, it could be when she reaches at least 10 pounds. However, as slow as she gains, this seems pretty unrealistic to me. The doctor said that when a baby is at least 10 pounds, they have a much better chance of survival. Plus some under 10 lb. babies end up needing a pacemaker.

Lilly has really been moving her arms a lot more and putting her fist into her mouth. I think that's great. Though this afternoon she managed to hook her NG tube and yank it right out. Ugh. I had a hard time last time I put a new tube in. But thank God, it wasn't bad today.

Here's a tip for treating dry skin: put coconut oil on it. I did this with some horribly dry skin Lilly had over her eyebrows. Soon after putting the coconut oil on, I was able to wipe it off along with most of the dry, scaly skin. One more application and it was all healed.

Tubes 'n sauce

Let me first say that my toddler has never liked pasta. So tonight when I fixed venison spaghetti (thanks again B. & A.!) I simply gave my son a bowl of meat and sauce. When he noticed my plate, he pointed and said he wanted a "tube" to try. I took me a minute but then I realized he meant the spaghetti noodles! As I looked at them, I realized that a noodle does look a lot like Lilly's NG tube.

When Lilly was four days old, we had a photographer from Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep ( http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/ ) come out to the house and take photos of our family with Lilly. (This is a wonderful free service for babies that are not expected to live.) That same photographer came back today and took pictures of us again, including a bunch of Lilly wearing some little angel wings. She looked so beautiful! I can't wait to see the pictures because this photographer does amazing work. (And the prints are the most rich colors I've ever seen.) If you live in our area and need a photographer, I highly recommend him: http://www.steverubinphotography.com/

Finally a little more weight gain ...

Weight check = 6 lbs. 11 oz.

Perhaps if Lilly continues gaining weight at the rate she's going, then she'll hit 7 lbs. by the end of the month.

Lilly has a new cousin - baby J. He was born Tuesday which was actually on his due date. He weighs 3.5 ozs. more than Lilly but she's a little longer. Wonder who would win in a wrestling match!

In today's first picture Lilly is wearing a knitted sweater and booties. A co-worker of my husband gave him a whole bag of knitted sweaters and booties. Apparently her grandmother had knitted them for her children but they were too small. So she had saved them until she found a small baby to donate them too. (The fit is pretty good except for arm length.)


The last picture shows my two girls snoozing. It made me laugh to see them this morning. But tonight it's just making me feel sleepy!

Jumpers and games

Weight check = 6 lbs. 9.5 oz. (no change)

My oldest daughter deemed today "jumper day." She wanted to wear the jumper that she had made herself and wanted Lilly to match her. She was thrilled that Lilly had been given a little jumper as a gift.

In one of the comments on my last post, a pastor mentioned a premature baby that was not supposed to live. The baby lived. The baby was supposed to be severally mentally disabled. The child is 14 years old and not mentally disabled at all. He noted: "Unfortunately, many doctors do not factor in the Lord's blessings in their diagnoses." I like that. :)

"In his [God's] hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:10

Today Lilly's milk ran out right before we left for my older daughter's piano lesson. Since it was "NG tube changing day," I decided to just detach Lilly from the pump and pull out the old NG tube. It was so freeing to just walk out of the house without the pump and gear! And so wonderful to just sit and hold her at the lesson without worrying about being careful about the tube in her nose. I inserted a new tube when we got home and praise the Lord, it went well.

This evening my husband was holding Lilly and ended up getting a little game going with her. He kept saying the same thing over and over (I don't remember what but it ended with "boo!") and every time he said "boo!" Lilly would make a noise in response. She also smiled quite a few times too, after making her noise. It was so wonderful seeing her interacting like that!