What a crazy day! The past 24 hours have been a nonstop whirlwind for Lynn and me. Last night we had finished dinner and I was feeding Aimee when she choked and wasn't pulling out if of. She started to turn pale and blue and wasn't responding to anything we were doing to help her breath again. The paramedics showed up and gave us a speedy trip to Children's Hospital. By the time we got in she was awake and alert and her stats were back up again. Lynn and I thought that it was an issue with her new medication she was on that caused this problem. ( She gags when ever she has to take it and then sometimes breathes it in and it gets her all congested.) *There are some squeaminsh details here...just warning you. However, the doctors wanted to check out her shunt and we did an X-ray, CT scan, blood work, and a shunt tap. The neurologist was shocked when he found out that her shunt was dry. There should have been enough pressure to fill the syringe up without any tugging, but he had to fight to get 1 ml. out. So around 5:30 this morning she went in for a shunt replacement. Even while we were in the ER last night the plate that they used to cover the hole in her skull started leaking and she was starting to gather fluid at the nape of her neck. Lynn's eagle eyes caught this a few hours before the surgery. Her body will reabsorb this in a manner of time. It is not a big problem. It turned out that there was a blockage in her shunt that was preventing it from working. That was why she has been acting so different lately. This little lady has been through so much today. They couldn't find her veins ANYWHERE! On one of her feet I counted 7 different places where they tried to get an IV in. I quit looking after that. Eventually they put in a line directly into the bone with a needle the size of an elephant. They just took it out! Whew...I want to thank those of you who have been praying for her and the IV situation. They needed to put a catheter in an artery in her leg and they got it in on the first try! Thank you Jesus! She looks a little puffy from all the IV fluids and she is missing her hair on her right temple, but her little cheeks are still chubby, soft, and rosy.... Being a mommy is such an amazing gift. Lynn has been the best friend/husband/mentor for me during this crazy day. He stayed right by her side during all of the tests and procedures. I couldn't take it at all. I love the doctors here at Children's but when they made my baby hurt it unleashes a fury in me that I didn't know was there. It was like I could feel my temperature rising and my fists clenching and it took my hubby to keep me from going ape on them... and you all thought I was so sweet ;) I was put on time out in the lobby 3 times at 45 min intervals... I am not kidding! Just ask Lynn or the nurses in the ER. I don't know how he put up with me. We were able to get a sleeping room and got about 3-4 hours of sleep which miraculously feels like a whole night to me. As of right now she is resting and doing great! Praise the Lord what He starts he finishes! Love you all lots. By the way thanks for listening to me and talking to me at 3 in the morning. I love you da da.

February Update on the Baby

Sorry I have not written in a while. Things have been very busy after leaving the hospital back in December. We have pretty much just stayed at home and not gone anywhere letting Aimee recover. I am happy to report that she is doing wonderful. Her stiches are fading, hair is growing back beautifully and she is growing like a weed. She is now 14 lbs, 5 oz without the weight of the growth. She is so much more active and awake now. We have had a therapist working with Beth to increase her motor skills and development. She has had a minor set back in the past few weeks. Starting in late January, she developed a habit of straining all of her muscles very hard which made her legs and arms and back rigid and tight. For the first couple of days we thought she was having digestive problems because we started her on solid food at about the same time. She will work anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours straining and working herself into a frenzy. Sometimes, she works so hard that she raises her own temperature once even up to 101.6. We have taken her to Seattle Children's ER twice and an outpatient visit once to try to find the cause for this. Fortunetly, they don't think it is anything related to the shunt. 2 CT scans and 3 full body X-rays have been done in the past two weeks and her shunt is working perfectly. This led the doctors to believe she might be having seizures. We went into the hospital again at 3 am on Thursday Feb 7th and were admitted. They did a lot of different cultures for possible infection, re-ran CTs and X-rays and then did an EEG (Electroencephalography) which measured her brain waves to detect any seizures. I am happy to report they saw no seizure activity or infections at all. While this is of course good news, it still leaves us with questioning what really is going on. We were released from the hospital late Friday evening and are just at home monitoring the situation. We think it could be any number of things including maybe teething. Or just a lot of bubbles in her system. Because she has a cleft palate she swallows a LOT of air when eating. (Trust me on this - her X-rays shows large amounts of air in her system). Just be praying whatever is going on that it will stop soon cause it sometimes scares mom and dad. Other than that though she is doing so great. Talk to you later.

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

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.