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There can definitely be some tough days, even seasons, with our little munchkins, or maybe bigger munchkins, that prove to challenge us on every front. . . whether in our godly desire to see our children choose wisely or simply in our human weakness and sinful bend to serve self. What a treasure that when we are weak, He is strong! 2 Corinthians 12:10 Strong to fill us with the necessary love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control that we need each and every day as moms!!! Galatians 5:22-24 Strong to give us His wisdom and discernment to pour into our children's hearts so that they might grow to love and serve Him. James 1:5 May we never grow weary of sowing God's truth in our children's hearts and lives, so that we might, by His grace, witness God at work in and through them! Galatians 6:7-10 Motherhood is such a high and important calling with great rewards for those who sow wisely, according to God's ways, and in His strength, grace and love!!! As hard as it can be at times, I LOVE being a mom, and God has truly blessed Trevor and I with our two precious girlies, Hope and Gabriella!!!
And bless me, they did. . . they heated up a piece of French toast and made me "breakfast in bed" on Saturday morning. They went shopping with their daddy on Saturday afternoon, while I attended a church baby shower, and picked out the most thoughtful sweet gifts, such as a new potato scrubber to replace my old rather ineffective one (Hope's great idea!), and a memory foam kitchen mat to pamper my feet when at work in the kitchen (Gabi's great idea!). We had a game fest on Saturday evening. . . I love games! Two rounds of Clue, which you would LOVE to see how amazing Hope can play and strategize with just a partner to be her eyes! And a treacherous game of Monopoly, that is currently still in play (to be continued tomorrow night), but I will concede that mom and dad's future looks quite bleak!!! Those two girls are real estate tycoons! They took me to the new movie, "Mom's Night Out," this afternoon. . . a great laugh! And then Trev helped me make a yummy meal for one of our precious moms! Hope blessed me with sweet conversation, and Gabs blessed me by doing the dishes without even being asked! I'd love to share a picture of the inside of the precious card that my sweet family handmade for me . . .
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| Gabi pointed out to me that she had even made 11 layers on the beautiful cake that she drew to represent 11 years of being a mom! So sweet!!! |
I am truly a blessed mother! Thank you Lord, for the gift of being a wife and mother! I so love being a mom, even with Miss Hematoma hanging around! Yes, onto a quick update on our little missie, who indeed continues to keep us concerned with this unwanted guest. . . Miss Hematoma! Might as well give it a name. . . sorry, we tend to do that a lot in our family! : ) So over all, we first thank and praise the Lord that our girlie is definitely feeling much better than the week in the hospital! This past week was a tough one still though, with daddy away, very little sleep, and lots of annoying adverse side effects from the antibiotic (or so we guess and hope!) such as dizziness, vertigo, itchy rash, and nausea/decreased appetite. Hope will be finished the antibiotic tomorrow evening (Monday, just to clarify since I'm writing this so late and most of you won't see it until tomorrow!). We are looking forward to being done that both for the adverse side effects that we hope will then resolve, as well as the interruptions to all our sleep as we give it around the clock every 6 hours (especially when Hope often would not be able to go back to sleep after being woken depending on how bad her side effects were).
Hope has not had any further seizures or speech issues, which is a huge relief to Trevor and I! We believe that those may have been a result of taking Benadryl for the itchiness. . . twice both preceding the days of her seizure and speech issues (which occurred last weekend). So, we have decided just to deal with the itchiness through other means like a cool fan, changing her bath time (which seems to make the rash 10 times worse) to morning or afternoon and not just before bed, Aveeno lotion back rubs, and changing the time of her antibiotic to avoid the peak itchy rash times being when she is usually trying to fall asleep! It has not resolved the rash, but it has helped her to cope more effectively with the itchiness, and so we are very thankful. Itchiness has long been more over-stimulating and upsetting to Hope than even pain, so this has been a huge answer to prayer . . . thank you, Lord, for your ever present help in times of trouble!
However, Miss Hematoma has returned (just in case anyone is wondering. . . a hematoma is a swollen collection of bloody fluid . . . so Hope continues to bleed into the old baclofen pump site and has a large swollen bulge under the healing incision). The ultrasound that Hope had on Monday confirmed the presence of a hematoma. It has not returned quite as big as the original hematoma (probably about 2/3 of the original size), but it is still accumulating, which is puzzling and frustrating. Hope is not showing any obvious signs of infection at present, such as fever. However it is painful, especially when up in her wheelchair, and the healing incision is increasingly red. We were concerned that it could be returning infection on Friday evening, however, on Saturday morning after laying down all night, the redness had diminished, but then slowly returned as the day progressed on Saturday, and she was sitting up. So we think that the redness and pain are more likely due to pressure from Miss Hematoma's unwelcome return rather than the return of infection. It will be good then to see what happens after Hope finishes the antibiotic tomorrow evening. . . was it holding the infection at bay, but it's still lurking, or are we simply dealing with a hematoma now. . . only time will tell!
Hope had a follow up appointment with the Infectious Disease clinic at the children's hospital, and the doctor over the team that treated her in hospital. He and his staff were wonderful as they patiently assessed Hope for all the adverse side effects that she is experiencing. However, both the antibiotics that Hope has been sensitive to, are the best fit to fighting the bug that Hope has. So we all agreed that it was in her best interests (especially with Miss Hematoma having returned) to stay on the current antibiotic and finish the full treatment. Hope did wonderful at this appointment and chatted it up with all the staff, which they seemed to really enjoy! It is such a blessing to see the continued growing maturity and ability for Hope to interact and show the miracle that she is, by God's grace!
Hope is already booked for a repeat ultrasound on May 20th, a little over a week away, as well as a follow up doctor appointment with the neuro-surgeon a couple days later. The repeat ultrasound will be helpful as to whether the hematoma is growing, resolving, or just staying the same! If Miss Hematoma continues to hang around, then they will decide if/when treatment will be necessary. So, we would be very thankful to have you continue to keep Hope and Miss Hematoma in your prayers, as well as that the infection piece will be resolved completely now! One unwanted guest at a time please! : ) Thank you so very much, dear ones, for your continued prayers for our girlie! She is so very blessed by each and every one of you who still continue to shower her in love through notes, videos, cards, visits, and most important prayers!!! What a testimony and encouragement to our Hope! You are loved, dear ones!!! And again, a very Happy Mother's Day to all mommies . . . YOU are VERY loved, and I pray that you felt that today, from your children and families, but mostly by your Heavenly Father and Creator, who loves us with His PERFECT love!!!
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