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It sure is fun being the Favorite!

I can hardly believe it, but Aimee is 6 months old today. She is doing absolutely fantastic. A few day ago she started to develop this little habit that melts my heart. When we lay her down and she wants to be held she starts to make a lot of her little noises and as soon as I pick her up she gets this little mischievous grin at the corner of her mouth. I think she has me wrapped around her little finger. We have a doctors appointment this Friday and we are hoping to get the "all clear" from her doctor. Ever since she has been out of the hospital we have not been able to give her a bath because of the stitches . I give her little spit-baths, but this stinker needs a good bubble bath...(what girl doesn't?)
Last night I was reading in my Bible and I had one of those moments where the heavens part and you can hear the angels holding a chord while you have a revelation. I was reading Luke 4:18-19
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
I got chills reading this because Lynn and I have known from day one that Aimee is pretty much blind because of her encephalocele. She can tell the difference between light and dark, but she is still unable to follow anything with her eyes. So I am just going to stand on this word and believe. I have believed for crazier things and they happened! The hard part for me has been to simply believe. So many times I will things to happen as if it was by my strength, but it never worked out that way. Once I got it through my head that He is the one that said it He will take care of it, things got a lot easier for me to believe. He put those promises in there for a reason right?
Speaking of the year of the Lord's favor... this year we have had the finances (because we have been so blessed by our family, church and friends) to get Lynn back in school again! (Go Lynn!) *Just a side note Lynn is wanting to get his degree in chemical and bio engineering... yikes! Aimee has been recuperating very fast and gaining weight and developing beyond her normal self before the surgery. Ohh ya I love being favored! Love you all so much!

Hey friends! I have my little bundle of joy on my lap cooing away as I am finally updating our blog. Aimee has come a long way so far. Right now she is still fighting a cold and an occasional low fever, but she is still her same sweet self. We have a wonderful hospice nurse that has seen Aimee from almost the first week. When she came over for a visit on Thursday she was teasing us that we got all worried about Aimee's cold and cough but when in came to hydrocephalus, it was just a walk in the park for us. It is amazing ever since the surgery Aimee has been so much more talkative. She still does not cry, but she sure can make noise now. Before she would only grunt and grimace to communicate, but now she is babbling and cooing like I have never heard before.
I remember listening to one of our pastors here at City Church and she was talking about what God has started He will finish. I remember thinking well OK that is great, but what am I gong to do about this little baby inside me that won't live past her birth. I have had to let go of Aimee so many times during this season of life that we are in. I can't tell you how hard it is for a control freak like me to step back form the situation and let God be in the driver's seat. So many times I can see myself saying "God , are you really sure you want me to go through this?" "Are you sure this was supposed to happen?" Every time I took control again I would wallow in despair and self pity I would cry and have an attitude, but it was my fault. When He is in control every thing works, miracles happen, we have true joy in our hearts and it doesn't matter what we are facing. I still struggle with control... (just ask my forgiving hubby) Even during her surgery I was questioning myself. I keep thinking I was a monster for making her go through such an invasive procedure, but as one of my closest friends reminded me, she is not mine. Aimee's life is not in my hands I don't control the every breath that she takes. We do protect her and provide for her, but it is because we love God, He gave her to us to love. Amen He has a plan to finish what He started and I am just enjoying it all! Praise God! Love you all ! -Beth

Friday Update

Good morning everyone. I have decided to post a day earlier because Aimee is having some difficulty and we really need prayer. After coming home Tuesday morning she had a slight cough and the doctors said she may have a small cold. Well, it has blossomed into a full blown cold complete with severe coughing and a lot of congestion. In an adult I would not be worried, but she is a 6 month old baby and just came out of surgery. Please be praying that her congestion disappears, her appetite increases dramatically, and she starts getting some rest. I feel in my heart that this is a spiritual attack on her with this happening right now. She has never gotten a cold or an illness but catching one right after surgery is a little suspicious. We took her to her doctor at Wo0dinville Pediatrics yesterday and the good news is he said her lungs give no indication of pneumonia or anything else and she is just going to have to cough away this cold without any meds. I will post again tomorrow with an update on her condition.

Christmas 2007

Yeah - it's a good Christmas. We were discharged from the hospital today at 10:30 AM two hours short of one week in the hospital. I am so tired of twin sized mattresses and cafeteria food but now we are about to go get some turkey and stuffing and PRESENTS!!! The baby has done amazingly well although the doctor thinks she might have a small cold or something but we'll wait and see. I want to thank each and every one of the people that have been praying for us. We could not have come this far without the prayer coverage. Go enjoy the rest of this holiday season and I confess I will not be posting for a little while. I will plan my next update for this Saturday afternoon for anyone interested in a follow up. Of course Beth may post again sometime in between I'm not sure. I know we have promised pictures and so here is the first of more to follow.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Hi and thank you for waiting. I apologize for the slow communication since yesterday. We'll try to be better about that. So on to the news. And all of it is good news. We were moved out of ICU last night (Sun 23rd) around 4:00 PM. The baby has no more lines or IVs hooked up to her although she does have one unused IV still in her foot. They will keep it there for emergency purposes until we leave the hospital. Speaking of leaving, Dr. Doherty is the neuro-developmental specialist that has followed the baby's case since January and has stated both last night and this morning if all goes well, we may go home tomorrow morning. Talk about a Christmas present!! The baby is recovering well and her appetite is still increasing. She is almost back to where she was before in terms of sleeping and eating schedules. Sadly, her hair is gone but it is already noticeably longer than after surgery last Tuesday. We think she is dealing with a little bit of pain from sutures, blisters, and the nicks and scrapes she got during surgery. She has been given pain meds but nothing worse than baby Tylenol and a few things a little stronger than that. Mom and I have traded off getting sleep and holding the baby and are enjoying the more relaxed unit we're in now. Visits are welcome but you may have to make those visits in Monroe (smile) if it's after today. Last night we were very blessed to have Pastor Gini Smith from The City Church visit us for awhile. That was very enjoyable and reminded us that you never know who is watching your witness or praying for you in the midst of trials. Pastor Wendell preached an amazing message yesterday to always rejoice whether in feast or famine, gladness or sorrow. Last Wednesday I went Christmas shopping for Beth and as I was in line to pay, the person in front of me began complaining to the cashier how her December was so terrible and Christmas was awful. She railed about how she had only had 6 days off so far in Dec (correct me if I am wrong but wasn't there only 6 non-weekdays up to that point so far) and she had a slight cough and had not gotten a lot of sleep. The cashier expressed a little sorrow about this and asked if her family was ok. "O yeah, my family is great and I get to see them next Tuesday, and Christmas has been so easy to plan this year......etc. etc.......but December has been terrible." I started thinking. Have I been complaining to God that my December is bad because my daughter is in the hospital?! She is healthy and safe, ALL our bills are paid, my whole family is here, AND we get "Chrithmith prethenths" (credit goes to Pastor Smith for that.) I only ask that you look around you and see how many people really ARE suffering this Christmas. I hope we all enjoy an amazing holiday season but take a few minutes to reflect on the true blessings God has given you this year. 2007 - The Perfect Year. Merry Christmas.

The "List" continues:
This is a list of churches and/or groups that we know are either praying for Aimee or have directly supported us during our hospital stay. If you know of any others that are not listed please email a list of them to me at lynn.heinemann@gmail.com

The City Church - Kirkland, WA
Today's Church - Everett, WA
D Co. 1/168th GSAB & FRG Group - Ft. Lewis, WA
Amazing Grace Fellowship - Twin Falls, ID
Heritage Alliance Church - Twin Falls, ID
The Reformed Church - Twin Falls, ID
Hill Country Bible Church - Georgetown, TX
Nampa Lutheran Church - Nampa, ID
Mountain View Community Church - Ft. Collins, CO
Lighthouse Church - Twin Falls, ID
Immanuel Lutheran Church - Hood River, OR
Trinity Lutheran Church - Rupert, ID
Lutheran Church of the Incarnation - Davis, CA
Harvest Community Church - Alvarado, MN
The Men & Women @ www.Runryder.com

Quick note from Beth...

Daddy is on baby duty while I am sneaking upstairs to blog. Wow, I miss all of you so much. It is kinda weird when you start to recognize the staff here and know what their hours are. We are starting to get attached to our neighbors in the room as well as some of the amazing staff here at Children's Hospital. Our little Aimee is such a fighter. Today she has eaten at least 3 times with the bottle and given us plenty of heavy diapers... I will just leave that to your imagination. As far as I understand the shunt that is external is coming out tomorrow. Yay! One less thing to have to mess with. Her head must be so tender right now. She has about 4-5" of stiches on the very back where they removed the encephalocele and then about 3-4 " of stiches where they put in the shunt above her right temple she aslo has a few in her tummy where they finished with the shunt. All in all she kinda looks like she was in a wreck! This little girl is literally bruised from head to toe and yet she still gives us smiles when we kiss her and nuzzle her. What a sweet spirit to endure all this and still smile. Other than the brusing this little one is doing great. Her vitals are strong her appitite is growing the swelling is going down.
I gotta tell you, Lynn has been such an amazing hubby through all of this! Every time I break down and cry he has been there to hold me! Tonight when we went out to eat with his family I had to run back to the hospital to feed Aimee and he suprised me with Creme Brulee from the restraunt to cheer me up. (yum my favorite!) He is so protective with our little one making sure that every beep and ring that the monitors make is quickly taken care of. I am so excited that church is tomorrow! I am actually looking foward to the 9:30 service more than Christmas. I am just craving to hear what Pastor Wendell has to say. It seems that every thing that he talks about is specifically tailored to what I am going through. When I found out about Aimee's condition at 6 weeks along he was talking about enduring in the firey trials and when Lynn left for the army he was calling all of the men of the church to rise up and lead and support the body of Christ. I remember feeling so protected and secure knowing that. Thank God for the support from our church and all of the churches across the entire US. I personally want to thank each and every one of you who have been with us praying and agreeing with us for Aimee. I look at that list that keeps on growing and I just can't take it in. My brain just can't wrap around God's goodness... it never ends. Thank you all for being His vessels and blessing us.