Anna Grace - April 29

Our son (who is only 3) took this picture using my husband's iPhone. I still don't know how to use my husband's iPhone :) Thought I would share the pic with you. Enjoy!

Anna Grace - April 27

We just returned from Anna Grace's cardiologist appointment and her O2 sats have dropped again, so her heart cath has been rescheduled sooner. Her heart cath is now scheduled for Monday, May 3 (that is less than a week away). Her second surgery will be scheduled after the surgeon reviews the findings from her heart cath. Please be praying for us and for Anna Grace as we prepare to head back to Charleston. Thank you.

P.S. - the pic is in front of the doctor's office this morning on the way home after the appointment.

Anna Grace - April 26

We were able to dedicate Anna Grace yesterday at our home Church. What an awesome day!!!! Actually, I remember thinking at one point while I was still expecting Anna Grace that this day might never come. It was so nice, so very nice and such a blessing from the Lord to be in HIS house on a Sunday morning with my husband and my two kids together, as a family. We were only there for a short time, just long enough to walk on the stage and dedicate her - having the whole church praying simultaneously for our daughter was just amazing and we are so humbeled. Our Pastor was wonderful to make concessions for us to avoid germs and we are thankful for his understanding. Anna Grace did not fuss during the event - which is miraculous in itself... nor did our 3 year old jump off the stage or try to grab the mic and sing a solo (ha-ha)!!! It was a special day and it will be in our memories forever. Also, thanks to a very gracious family at our Church who offered to take pictures of the event we have pictures to upload and share with you. (Thank you G Family)!!! Brian uploaded some pictures yesterday and I will add some more throughout the week as I get a chance. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Thank you for praying for us and for Anna Grace. The Lord has been so merciful to us.

Anna Grace has an appointment with the cardiologist tomorrow and she will have an echo at that time. This is our last scheduled cardiologist visit before we head down to Charleston......

Photos From Anna Grace's Baby Dedication

Tina will upload more photos later this week with a link to....Shutterfly I think.

Heart Mom Update - April 22

I have a prayer request for a little girl named Maia who we ment while we were down in Charleston. Maia is 8 months old and has a very similar heart condition to Anna Grace. She has been back in PCICU for about 6 weeks now and is struggling. She is suffering terribly with Chylothorax (which Anna Grace had) and the doctors can not seem to get the drainage to stop. She has spiked a fever and the doctors are fearing infection. Please stop and pray for the Lord to heal her little body - to stop the drainage and remove the fever from her body.

Anna Grace - April 21

We got a bumbo and here is Anna enjoying sitting up like a big girl :) My camera is not the best so I apologize for the poor picture quality. I had a good camera but it got washed in the washing machine (it was one of those days after being up all night with the baby) so anyway, I have been taking pictures of the kids with my camera phone. Not the best picture, but it's still a sweet memory! Enjoy :)

The Who, How and What of a Thing

John Owens book - Life By His Death an abridged version of Owens work - The Death of Death in the Death of Christ has just moved up on my reading (books besides the Bible) list.

I love this quote from Owens starting the Part Two - Chapter One:

"In Part One, Chapter Two, we saw that the way a thing is done controls what the result will be. To make certain that the result you want actually happens, the right means must be used; to do a thing the right way makes certain that the purpose comes about. The scriptures make it clear that God (Father, Son and Spirit) intends to redeem men and women. The work of Christ is the means being used to do that. Since God always does things the right way, we must say that all who are actually redeemed are all he intended to redeem. Otherwise God would have failed to carry out his purpose."

There my friends is one reason it is suggested that "no-one has ever succeeded in refuting the thesis that Owens so fully expounds and defends from the scriptures."

Anna Grace - April 20

Just wanted to let you know that we have scheduled to dedicate Anna Grace at Church on Sunday at 11:00 am. Well.... that is all pending how Anna Grace does this week AND if the Pastor stays well. Since we are still in "pratial quarantine" we are going to arrive right as Church is starting and then most likely leave as soon as the dedication is over - we still have to limit our exposure to germs and people, but we are excited to hopefully be introducing her to our Church family for the first time this Sunday.

Anna Grace - April 13

Anna Grace saw her cardiologist today and it was a bit of a mixed visit. Her visit today consisted of vitals, weight and length and a check of her O2 Sats. She weighed in a 12 pounds even today and is 23 and 3/4 inches long now. Her blood pressure was a little on the high side - which hers always is even though she takes blood pressure medication - so it was a little high, but normal for Anna Grace. However, her O2 sats were low - which, hers are always low, usually in the mid 80's, but today they were reading in the low 70's. Not good. The nurse checked and rechecked. Then another nurse came in to check, then the doctor came in to check. All reading in the low 70's. So, the doctor said to try to calm her down and then lay her more flat and that we would recheck again. If they were still in the low 70's then he would need to do an echo. So, we turned the lights off, gave her a paci and Mommy rocked her and we checked again after laying her in a more flat position and elevating her leg. This time they read in the low 80's. Dr. R was satisfied with the reading in the low 80's and we did not have to have an echo today (whew). He explained to us that her O2 sats will continue to decrease as she gets bigger - which I knew, but hers had been so consistent that I just thought maybe we would be the exception and that hers would remain constant until her second surgery. So, we see him again in two weeks and we'll have an echo at that time. He said if she becomes any more blue than her "normal blue" to bring her in - otherwise it's business as usual and we see him on the 27th. Today was a reminder that my little girl is very sick - she looks normal enough besides the big scar on her chest, but she is a sick little girl. She's going to continue to decline until her second surgery. This journey is a rollercoaster. Mommy shed some tears today, but today, I was smart enough NOT to wear mascara!!! I am thankful that we are home and not in the hospital. It's funny, a year ago I would have never even thought to be thankful about just being home under one roof as a family - it was just a given (at least in my mind) that my family would all be under one roof together. Now, I truly am thankful each night that we are all laying our heads down on our own pillows in our home.

Anna Grace - April 10

Here's Anna doing a little "tummy time".

Anna Grace - April 9

Here is a picture of Anna Grace today enjoying her pacifier before nap time. She is a BIG FAN of her pacificer - mostly because we kept giving it to her in the hospital in an effort to teach her how to suck when she was still getting food through her NG tube. Now it is a big part of getting her to sleep. The doctors at MUSC called it a "non-nutritive suck" - I call it a paci enjoy!!!

Anna Grace - April 8

Zachary headed down to the lake with his Mee-Mee on Wednesday afternoon for some "play in the dirt time", which leaves Mommy a little more free time for picture taking. Here is Anna Grace on Thursday (April 8) - enjoy!

Anna Grace - April 2

We had an apointment with the pediatrician yesterday who has officially partially released us from quarantine. YEAH! What does that mean???? It means that we can now go places with Anna Grace, but that he wants us to leave her in her car seat and not have anyone hold her or touch her - but we still can leave the house! As for Zachary - he can offically play with friends again who are not known to be sick - he can attend church again but he has to wash up & change clothes as soon as we get home. If he does get sick, then we will have to try to keep him from Anna Grace at home (hmmmm.....). So, great report and I'm excited at the prospect of getting to see friends and family again. She weighed 11 pounds 7 ounces at the doctor - she is in the 50th precentile in height and the 30th precentile in weight for a "normal" baby. He also believes that she has hit all her two month baby milestones, wow......