Bentley's - June 13

I spoke to my husband this morning by telephone since he & Zachary are at Mee-Mee's house so as not to expose Anna Grace to his illness. He is feeling terrible still - and sounds worse today than yesterday. PLEASE pray for healing for his body. Not sure how we're going to manage his coming home with him still being ill and the work-week approaching. Quarantine is hard. Lord - give us discernment.

Virus???? - June 11

My sweet husband woke up with a sore throat today. Ugh..... so I think he and Zachary will be heading to Mee-mee's house tonight to stay through the weekend to help keep any possible virus he may have away from Anna Grace. Please be praying that this is just a sinus issue and not a virus - we are so close to surgery it is really critical that Anna Grace stay well for these next two weeks. Thankfully the Lord is soverign and if it is His will for Anna Grace to catch a virus then we will trust His plan. The Holy Spirit has really been convicting me these last few weeks about not trying to control things and to trust HIM - this is hard for me. It seems like the closer we get to surgery the more difficult this is for me. I had to spend some time on my knees today about this. Thank you Lord for forgiveness.

As for me.... my body is trying to adjust to not producing breast milk. It hasn't been going that well. I was told that putting cabbage leaves in your bra will help dry your milk up, so in desperation I went to Food Lion and bought a huge head of cabbage. I have been putting the cabbage leaves in my bra. It really stinks and I'm not sure if it is helping or not, but I have been a trooper and have been doing this diligently. Today I ran out of cabbage so I had some romaine in my fridge - I substituted the cabbage with the romaine until I can get back to the store. I'm not sure if the cabbage worked but I'm pretty sure the romaine is not working. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It's OK if you're laughing at me right now..... I'll happily take any other remedies you might have :)

Random - June10

Just wanted to update that Anna Grace seems to be doing fine from her cold, it is a huge blessing from the Lord. She had her last dose of Apsrin yesterday in preparation for her surgery - which is exciting and scary all at the same time. Exactly 2 weeks from today Anna Grace will be in surgery.

Something that I could really use some prayer about this week..... I developed a nasty infection - an infected milk duct and had to see the doctor on Tuesday and have it lanced & drained. So, during this awful procedure which they don't numb you for I decided that my time for nursing is over - I just can't do it anymore. So, I am on antibiotics for the infection and am no longer pumping... which for those of you who know me is quite a terrible task because I produce enough milk to feed a small orphanage. Needless to say these next few days for me are not going to be fun. Anna Grace has enough milk in the freezer to last us until we get to Charleston and then after her surgery I think it will be time to make the switch to formula. I have had guilt about this decision - but I am just turning that over to the Lord whenever it creeps up - which is frequently right now. I am praying that after Anna Grace's surgery she will not have Chylothorax again and can go to a regular baby formula as opposed to our not-so-favorite Portagen. She is almost 6 months old.... unbelivable I know....... she will be 6 months old on the 28th of this month. What a journey.

Well... I'd better run because my little one is waking up. Thank you for praying for us :)

Anna Grace - June 6

Just wanted to let you all know that we took Anna Grace to the doctor on Friday for them to listen to her lungs. Her lungs sounded clear (praise the Lord, truly), but she had broken out in a terrible rash. The rash started Friday morning so I'm thankful that we already had our appointment to see the doctor. The docotor suspected that the rash is either being caused from the virus or it is a reaction to the Amoxicillin she is on. So, he wants us to stop the antibiotic for the weekend, call him on Monday & and possibly restart again on Monday. If the rash comes back after we restart then we know it is a reaction to the antibiotic. As of today (Sunday) the rash is cleared up. Poor little thing...... I am happy to report that, although she cried during her examination at the doctor, that as soon as the exam was over Anna Grace was quite flirty with her doctor. She smiled at him and would say "ahhhh" and he would say it back and they did this back and forth together for at least 2 or 3 minutes. It was adorable and I think it was the first time she has ever been happy or pleasant at the doctor's office. Perhaps this is a trend..... I don't know, but it sure was nice for Mommy to be able to have a conversation with the doctor without Anna Grace screaming the whole time - it's really hard to concentrate when your baby is crying.

So, coming up this week.... we stop Anna Grace's asprin on Tuesday in preparation for her surgery. One of her daily medications is to take a half an asprin a day to keep her blood thin so as not to clog her shunt. Surgery is rapidly approaching.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us.

By His Grace I See

My sin is before me and by His grace alone I see it clearly. Why oh heart do you not want to be sorrowful and repent. I will plead with my Master to grant sorrow from deep within by the power of the Holy Spirit, and He will hear my cry. My flesh is powerful, but I have died to my flesh with Christ and have been raised with Christ as a new creature in Him. The Lord is my salvation. He will not abandon me. In Him alone I hope.

Anna Grace - June 2

So far today our little one is still coughing, but I haven't noticed any wheezing - which is a good sign. However, my little one has been very fussy today... could it be the cold, could it be an earache, could she be getting a tooth???? As it is with all mothers of babies so much of this job is a guessing game. I'm glad we are seeing the pediatrician on Friday to be sure there is nothing going on. I'll try to give her some tylenol at bedtime tonight, maybe that will help?????

So, other than Anna Grace being a tad fussier than normal today I have been trying to spend some time figuring out how to keep my 3 year old occupied sine we are in quarantine again. Cartoons all day everyday will just not work.

So.... we spent about an hour this morning playing in the sprinkler in the backyard, which turned into my 3 year old unhooking the sprinkler and spraying water direclty into his dirt pile which is used exclusively for his digging and dump trucks (so he wasn't ruining the grass or anything) anyway... water mixed with the dirt pile turns into a big sopping stomping mud puddle which my 3 year old played in happily by himself for at least 30 minutes. Mommy was happy that he was happy, but it was some work scrubbing all the red mud from him after all the fun was over.

What shall we do tomorrow??????

Anna Grace - June 1

Just wanted to let you know that we saw the cardiologist today. We weren't able to get a good echo of her heart because she was CRYING so hard, we also were not able to get a blood pressure on her because of the same reason. Her cardilolgist said today that in his 25 years of practice that Anna Grace is one of his more challenging patients. She has SUCH stranger anxiety that these visits are very difficult for her. One of the side effects from quarantine I suppose. We were able to get her O2 sat checked which was 83 today despite her cold and yucky cough which is a tremendous blessing. The doctor confirmed that if she is still sick within 10 days of surgery it will have to be postponed so we need to continue to pray that the Lord heals her little body of this virus quickly. We see her pediatricaian again on Friday for him to listen to her lungs to be sure there is no pneumonia setting in. In the mean time, we are just hanging out at the house.

Oh.... Anna Grace had her weight checked today and she weighed in at an even 14 pounds. Despite everything she continues to grow at a slow but steady rate. We are blessed. Thank you friends for traveling this journey with us and for continuing to pray for our Anna Grace.