Anna Grace - May 17

Anna Grace has a cardiologist appointment tomorrow (Tues) here in town. It is a regularly scheduled visit, but as you know these visits sometimes throw a curve ball. Please be in prayer with us about her visit tomorrow - that Anna Grace's heart is functioning as it should and that there is no need for an echo or chest x-ray and that Anna Grace cooperates during blood pressure checks, O2 sats, etc. - most times she SCREAMS and they can't get accurate readings on her. She is a very vocal little girl :)

As of today we have not yet heard from the surgeon in Charleston regarding a surgery date so perhaps we will hear something this week. I will keep you posted.

As for our Anna Grace, she is 20 weeks old today. I can hardly believe it! I remember going to our 20 week ultrasound with her last year and that was when we were given her diagnosis of Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome. The Lord has carried us so far since then through this refining fire.

"From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise, O Lord" Psalm 8:2

100 plus Days Old

101 to be more precise but who's counting. Anyway, thought I'd post some pictures of Anna Grace from birth until recently. Hopefully these will be an encouragement to those who have been faithful to pray. And be a testimony of the faithfulness of the Lord to hear His saint’s cries. We thank you.


Minutes after birth....


Minutes after surgery...


About 1 week from getting out of the hospital...


Two days ago....

Father I testify, that this world and all that is under, in and above it, is yours to do as you please with it. Though you cause blessing or grief, you alone are worthy to be praised and are always good. You alone are the Sovereign. The glorious Holy One of Israel. The only true Living God. May Christ be magnified in and though our sufferings. Jesus you are enough and truly your grace does abound. Thank you Lord...

Hands That Tell a Story

I’ve heard it said that a picture tells a story. Well let me share about this photo and what it means to me….

Excellent - Precious - Kind - Hard working - Care taker - Intelligent - Stylish - Strong - Soft - Merciful - Tender - Giving - Brave - Able - Cheerful - Teacher - Graceful - Beautiful - Lovely - Faithful

This photo is a picture of my wife’s hands. I testify to God’s word about her the following…

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” Proverbs 31:30-31

To my wonderful wife Tina – Thank you for being a great wife and awesome mother to my children. I love you more deeply today than ever, because of Christ' overwhelming grace that's been poured into my life.

Anna Grace - May 5

We are home from Charleston, We arrived home last night about 10:30 pm and are trying to get settled back home. It is good to be home!

Now, we just wait for Dr. Bradley to review the heart cath findings and then his staff will contact us about scheduling a surgery date when Dr. Bradley thinks is the best time. We'll be sure to update the BLOG once a date is set.

Anna Grace is recovering well, she seems to be back to her old self again. She's still marked up with dye from the procedure and can't have a proper bath for at least 2 more days - but other than that she looks like her old slef again. We are thankful :)

Thank you all for praying for us :)

Anna Grace - May 3 - Update #3

Sorry for the delay in getting this last post out. The heart cath went great today - thank you Jesus! The doctor who performed the cath said that the pressures in her heart look great for surgery #2. He did not have to put in any balloons (aka angioplasty) nor did he have to put in any plugs (aka coils). He said he would make a surgical recommendation to Dr. Bradley and that in his estimation she would most likely be having her surgery in June. Of course, Dr Bradley will make the final determiniation of a surgery date. Dr. Bradley is out this week so I imagine that it will be a few weeks before we get a surgery scheduled. It was great gettng these results today and we sincerely appreciate you praying for our Anna Grace. The Lord has truly shown great mercy and we are thankful.

The delay in this post was mostly because our little one was NOT happy when she woke up from her anesthesia. She creid and cried and finally calmed down being rocked in Mommy's arms - once she fell askeep in my arms I wasn't going to put her down & risk waking her :) Since things went so well with the cath today and Anna Grace did great we were released from the hospital today. We are at the townhouse for the night and getting ready to crash out after a long day.

Please continue to pray for Anna Grace - that her body will heal quickly from the cath and that she starts to feel better soon. Also, plese join us in praying for wisom and discernment for Dr. Bradley as her reviews all of this new information and determines a surgery date and a plna of "attack" for Anna Grace's second surgery.

Our plans are to travel home from Charleston either Tuesday or Wednesday - it will really depend on how Anna Grace is feeling - we are flexible on when we travel back home. Thank you Jesus!!!

Anna Grace - May 3 - Update #2

Just got another page that said...... "They are done with the cath, but haven't removed the catheters or breathing tube yet. We will page you when Anna is back in Same Day." 10:50 am.

Anna Grace - May 3

We arrived in Charleston on Sunday morning - EARLY. As a matter of fact, after Anna Grace woke up Sunday morning at 3:00 am for her bottle we fed her & then threw the kids in the car & headed to Charleston. (We didn't really throw them in the car, don't worry)! The sweet "H" family who owns the townhome where we stayed while we were here for our last hospital stay graciously is allowing us the use of their townhome again. We are SO THANKFUL to the "H" family - it is SUCH A BLESSING to be able to have a homebase while in Charleston. We spent the day at the townhome on Sunday. It was surreal coming back to Charleston. When I walked into the townhome I saw the red couch where I labored with Anna Grace before heading to the hospital to have her. There are such memories for us in that townhome, it is like a second home. It was the first time that Anna Grace has been to the townhouse (outside of my womb that is), for all her stay in Charleston was at the hospital.

So, the doctors told us that Anna Grace was not to have any food or drink after midnight. That's really tough on the little ones, so needless to say there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping last night, but she did pretty well considering. We arrived at the hospital this morning at 5:45 am and got her checked in & then headed to the 6th floor. The nurses took her vitals and then the doctors talked with us about the procedure and the risks. Ugh.....

They took her from us at about 7:30 am. We were given a pager and they will be updating us throughout the procedure today via the pager. It took them an hour to get her anesthetised (sp?) and intubated. We received our first page at 8:30 am stating that they had begun the cath. Most likely they will finish up about 11:00 am and then she'll be in recovery about 3 hours. I'll update the BLOG today as we find out more information. We may or may not be spending the night at the hospital, it all depends on how things go.

Thank you all for praying for Anna Grace and for us. It's a tough day to hand your little one over even if it is only for a heart cath.