Strep Throat and Cardiology

Anna Grace started running a fever on Thursday night. Friday I called the doctor. She had no other symptom and was acting like herself, just running a fever.... hanging out around 102. They said I could bring her in or that I could wait until Saturday if I wanted to, it was my call. I decided to wait it out and see, but on Saturday morning she was still running a fever so I took her in. Turns out little Miss Anna Grace has strep throat. Again. Ugh. She just had it about 7 weeks ago, so the doctor said it might be a good idea to have the family tested to be sure we are not carriers - meaning strep positive, but not symptomatic. So, we left with our prescrption of Amoxicillan and Brian and I both went to our respective doctors on Saturday for our strep tests. We both tested negative. I suppose I will take Zachary in this week to have his strep test done to be sure he is not the culprit. I am really praying that we are not beginning a strep throat trend. Please pray fervently with us that the Lord will clear up her strep and we will not see it again any time soon. I am not a fan of antibiotics on a continual basis.....

So... Anna Grace also has a cardiology appointment coming up on Tuesday. I will contact her cardiologist on Monday to be sure he still wants to see her Tuesday. Her pediatrican said she would not be contagious on Tuesday and that it would be OK for her to take the Benadryl along with the antibiotic she is on. I will keep you posted on what he says about her appointment, but as for now she still has her Tuesday cardiology appointment so please continue praying that the Lord will calm her and allow a smooth, quiet echo.

Thank you all friends for continuing to pray for our family!

As much as I dread going in quarantine for the winter AG has pretty much stayed sick this summer so it might be nice to have a spell of well :)

Impact of Hope - August 13

One of the Heart Moms in our little Upstate Heart Moms group was the recipient of the Impact of Hope ministry last year. She shared with me a little about this ministry and I was so inspired that I wanted to share it with you!

This ministry helps fundraise for families with sick children with the ultimate goal being to glorify Christ through the giving.

The fundraiser this year is August 13. You can visit the website for more info about the event. For $10 you can get a t-shirt AND help minister to a local family. How awesome is that?

This little video will tell you about the children this year's fundraiser will benefit. Thank you Lord for this ministry. I hope I see you wearing your t-shirt very soon!!!!

Click Here to watch video

The Doctor Appointment

Anna Grace had her 18 month well-baby visit on Wednesday. She still does NOT like the doctor - or the nurses for that matter. But she did much better overall this visit than she has ever done before. Usually she starts crying as soon as we walk into the doctor's office and doesn't stop crying until we leave. This time, she only cried when the doctor and nurses were in the room with us - not when we were alone and waiting. It is progress, not much, but hey - I'll gladly take any little bit of progress Anna Grace makes!

So, as for her appointment - she was in the 80th precentile in height and the 70th percetile in weight and she is hitting all of her milestones just as any NORMAL baby would. Isn't that just a miracle???? Thank you Lord for your mercy and your blessing on Anna Grace! I also thank all of you whou have so faithfully prayed for Anna Grace throughout the journey of her little life. The Lord has certainly blessed her and we sincerely appreciate you Prayer Warriors who walk this journey with us.

Anna Grace also had three vaccinations at this appointment. Now, I know that vaccinating your child has become quite controversial these days. But, for our family we feel that the best thing to do is to vaccinate. As a result of the vaccinations Anna Grace ran a small fever and has been a little crabby over the last few days, but has not appeared to have any other side effect from the vaccinations she received. We are so thankful for that! Please continue praying for her little body as it processes the medicine - that she would not develop any serious side effect as a result.

During our well-baby visit the doctor and I were able to talk about the upcoming winter and Synagis. Her doctor feels that she really should have one more year of Synagis and he is going to be contacting our insurance company and trying to get their approval for one more year of Synagis. Should they approve the Synagis, then she will begin getting those injections in October and they will continue through until April. As you all know, I have a love/hate relationship with Synagis. I love that the medicine is available and the added protection it gives from RSV - but the monthly injections do not help my daughter's love of doctor's or people. I will keep you posted on what the insurance company says about Synagis for Anna Grace. Without their approval we can not afford the $3,600 per month price tag so your prayers for the Lord's favor regarding this would be much appreciated.

I would also like to ask you to begin praying now for Anna Grace's upcoming cardiology appointment. It is in 10 days and if you remember she did not do well during her last cardiology visit. So, please be praying that the Lord will calm her so that the doctor can get a good echo on her. He really needs to get a good look at her heart and we need Anna Grace's cooperation in order to do this. Thank you all for beginning to pray about this now.

Here is a little video from Anna Grace's well baby visit. It was just me, Zachary and Anna Grace in the room at this time. We were still waiting for the doctor to come in. As you can see, she was not crying and she was having a decent time while she waited - I had a DVD playing and a bag of toys to help during the wait!

Beach Pictures!

We have been busy playing catch-up since returning from the beach so I'm sorry I'm just now getting these uploaded. Please enjoy our pictures from the beach!

Leonard Ravenhill

A.W. Tozer said of Ravenhill -

"Those who know of Leonard Ravenhill recognize in him the religious specialist, the man sent from God to battle the priests of Baal on their own mountain top, to shame the careless priest at the altar, to face the false prophet, and to warn the people who are being led astray by him. Such a man as this is not an easy companion. He insists on being a Christian all the time and everywhere. That marks him out as different. Why do we have men of such fiery swords as Ravenhill? They are sick inside when they see the children of heaven acting like the sons of earth. To such men as these, the church owes a debt too heavy to pay."

I just finished Mack Tomlinson biography of Leonard Ravenhill. It was such a joy to read. Very convicting, motivating and enlightening. You can pick up a copy here if your interested.

"Lord, engage my heart today
With passion that will not go away;
Now torch it with Thy holy fire,
That never more shall time's desire
Invade or quench the heaven-born power.

I would be trapped within Thy holy will,
Thine every holy purpose to fulfill,
That every effort of my life shall bring
Rapturous praise to my eternal King;
I pledge from this day to the grave
To be Thine own unquestioning slave."
Leonard Ravenhill

We're Home!

Today is Wednesday and we are just now getting home from the beach. A day late, I know! We had so much fun down there we decided at the last minute to stay an extra day! The kids did great and the weather was perfect. I will BLOG more about our trip tomorrow, but for now I am tired and dirty and ready for a shower and my nice big soft bed.

So..... good night friends. I'll post more tomorrow night!

Gatting Packed

The kids and I have been running around all day trying to tie up loose ends before we head to the beach. Let me just say, the kids are not a fan of running erronds!

AG is napping right now and I am trying to get things packed up. We are going to hit the road in the morning.

As for our colds... yes, we still seem to have them, but I think the kids are both close to being over theirs. I however, am still sniffing and sneezing!

I will try to BLOG some while we're there..... see you at the beach!

We're Hanging In There....

I have caught the cold that the kids have.... ugh, sniff, sniff..... but we are all doing fine.

I took Anna Grace to the doctor yesterday afternoon so that he could listen to her lungs. She has developed a nasty cough from her cold and it really is her "first cough" and I'm a little jumpy when it comes to respiratory things. The doctor listened to her lungs and said they sounded fine - he wasn't concerned about anything he heard. We also checked her O2 sats while we were there and they were 82 which is normal for Anna Grace. So, I feel better having had her doctor look at her and listen to her. He said she was handling it all fine.

So our little family of four has a beach vacation planned this weekend. We are supposed to be leaving on Saturday and coming home on Tuesday. Just a few days, but I am SO EXCITED about a vacation! Seriously, this time last year I could not even fathom being able to take a family trip like this. And here we are today.... packing the kids up and heading to the beach! This will be Anna Grace's first trip to the beach and I am curious as to what she will think about it. I will try to BLOG a little and upload some pictures while we are down there.

Maybe we will all be over our colds by the time we get to the beach, but if not, we will have a great time anyway! It is fun making memories with the kids - I certainly don't take it for granted. It is a blessing!!!!

A Year Ago....

A year ago today we were at MUSC celebrating the Fourth of July from Anna Grace's hospital room. She was recovering from her Glenn. What a differece a year makes!

As a matter of fact, last year we spent New Years AND the Fourth of July at MUSC. I am very thankful that this year we are home together as a family (even though we all currently have colds and nasty coughs)!

Thank you Jesus!