Grateful

Sunday we left our home in Petén at 5:30 to make our 7 hour drive to Guatemala City. In the words of Jonah, we were going to Guate so that "God could help a doctor fix Daddy because he's broken and has rocks in his tummy." Our mission agency graciously advanced us the money right away for Jimmy's surgery just trusting that we would be able to repay them. Each day leading up to Sunday, Jimmy made the drive to Santa Elena to withdraw the maximum daily amount allowed in order to be able to pay our hospital bill. Jimmy's pastor, Mark Hoover, spoke with him on Friday to let him know that Newspring was praying for him. It was so kind of him to reach out to us like that. We have also had several notes from others about how they were praying, many from the group that was just down here. I want to say thank you to everyone.  

We made it to our hotel about 1:30. As we pulled up Silas said, "I am SO happy." He was excited about his grandparents coming to Guatemala! We were able to ride the shuttle to pick up MaG and G from the airport. 

 Before Jimmy and I left for the hospital, they all got settled... and the big rumpus started! 

Eden gave me a big hug goodbye, like she didn't want to let go, but I'm not sure if the boys even noticed we were gone.

Jimmy and I went and got one last meal and I picked up some snacks to take with me. I had learned from our friends to not eat the hospital food because it is too expensive. Jimmy had to since you're not allowed to bring patients food. 

We got him checked in. We thought it was kind of silly that they make you show up the day before your surgery, but I guess culturally they want to have control over what people eat or drink right before their surgeries and control over people showing up on time. From that perspective I thought it was pretty responsible. 

We payed an extra $5 to get an air conditioned room this time... since it is July. This is what Jimmy slept in for the 3 nights he spent with me in the hospital: 

No one told us before that with the air unit you also get a seating upgrade:

I got to sleep on a couch! Now we know.

Jimmy's doctor ordered more tests to make sure none of the stones had moved into places that would complicate the surgery and he wanted to see how inflamed his gallbladder was. If it is too large it makes it difficult to take out. Well, the sonogram guy said that all the rocks were sitting in a pile, so he couldn't measure them because they were indistinguishable. Then Jimmy's doctor came in at 10:30 that night to say that he didn't think that we should have the surgery with his gallbladder that inflamed. Well that got us unnerved for sure. He wanted to put Jimmy on some antibiotics and then come back in 6 to 8 weeks. We had burned through a lot of cash just checking in and with all the tests and driving all the way to Guate. Plus Jimmy parents were here NOW, not later. Was it all for nothing?

He left with everything up in the air, willing to come in the next morning to do another test to see if anything had changed. From us hearing about this doctor a couple hours before Jimmy found out that he would need the surgery to everyone helping us get the money in time, to Jimmy's parents being able to fly in and watch the kids, we just felt that we were right where God wanted us to be, He had orchestrated everything. After talking to each other a bit, Jimmy called the doctor a little after 11PM and  told him that we really wanted to go through with the surgery now. We couldn't come back and we didn't want to risk an emergency in Petén. The doctor very graciously agreed to do the surgery. 

They came and got Jimmy at 7:45. The doctor only expected the surgery to last about 20 minutes. I saw his doctor in the hall about 8:00, so I figured they didn't even get started until 8:15. Snacks and crochet entertained me for almost 2 hours.

I tried to not think too hard, just pray. Well 3 hours went by and I was up and pacing by that time,  looking down the hallway hoping the doctor would come around the corner at any moment. Finally he did. He looked so solemn during his long walk to our room. Come on, shoot someone a smile or something just to calm their fears! He got to the door still straight faced and very seriously said lets go inside. WHAT?! I walked in and sat down and then finally got a smile! He said that the surgery was complicated, but it went well. Thankfully he didn't have to open Jimmy up, just 2 extra scope holes. He said that Jimmy's gallbladder was rotten, completely rotten, so he was glad that we went ahead with the surgery.

So I just want to say God worked it out in a way that we would see that He wanted us there then. Parts of Jimmy's gallbladder had died. Gangrene was setting in and it was already affecting the organs around it. If we had not had the surgery monday it would have spread even more. I am so grateful, so so grateful that God protected Jimmy. 

A nurse called my room an hour later and said that I could come see Jimmy in recovery. I was so happy to see him! His eyes looked awful. I told him about what the doctor had said. Then I asked if he would even remember this conversation and he assured me, "Yes, I am completely lucid." He doesn't remember any of it!

I saw the nurses with his records and there was a bag taped too them. It was flopping around and the contents sounded heavy. I said, "Those aren't his rocks are they?" Well they were and they gave them to me as a souvenir. I almost posted a picture of the bag full of rocks, but it's gross. There were several over 3cm and probably a dozen more beyond that. 

Jimmy had to stay another night in the hospital due to it turning into such an extensive surgery. I was glad, just because I was afraid he would try and do too much if we left. You cannot leave the hospital until you pay your bill in full. Even with the extra tests and extra night in the hospital, we had enough money advanced from Global Faith (our agency) to cover the bill. Again, very grateful!  

Overall we had a very positive experience. All the doctors and nurses were so kind to us. So many things that happened were a testimony of God's grace and love. Jimmy is on the mends. Thank you to everyone of you who were praying for him!

 CRAZY ITEM OF THE DAY:

The boys loved seeing Daddy's bag of rocks and the holes in his tummy with the cool staples.

His doctor told him that he didn't think there was anyone in Petén with the gadget to get the staples out, but that they need to come out in 10-12 days. Jimmy said that he was sure we have some wire cutters that would do the trick!

Some Medical Issues

So much for trying to be healthy, haha! Since being back from furlough Jimmy has lost 23+ pounds just from staying off pop and eating real food and less of it. Evidently due to a genetic predisposition, an extreme change in diet can cause problems with your gallbladder. 

He has been having pains and a fever off and on for about 2 weeks. Sharp pains actually started during the KBI board meeting last Wednesday. He has lost his appetite completely. I was really worried about him, especially after the fever started, so I asked him to go get a blood test. We ruled out some things, but then I asked him to go get an ultrasound just to be on the safe side. We found out yesterday that Jimmy's gallbladder is severely enlarged and that there are two stones, one 1.5cm and the other 3cm. After a call to two medical doctor friends we realized that this was pretty serious. 

I really feel God's loving arms around us because Sunday night after church we got to spend some time with our missionary friends Jim and Bonnie. Due to us being on furlough and then them being on furlough we hadn't seen them in several months. She shared with us that she just had a laparoscopy in Guatemala City to have her gallbladder removed... due to a stone. She had a very positive experience and was thankful for such a great doctor. Can you believe that! So less than 24 hours before we find out that Jimmy needs surgery right away God lets us know of the name of a wonderful doctor. It calms my heart! 

Jimmy spoke with this doctor in Gaute and after viewing Jimmy's sonogram and notes he said that Jimmy should come immediately. If either stone moves he is at risk of them blocking a duct and his gallbladder rupturing. The surgery costs about $6,000. No we do not have insurance. There was a rider anyway in our last insurance policy that wouldn't have covered any gastro work due to Jimmy's history with amoebas and parasites.  We have a tiny bit in our emergency medical fund and we are trying to get a loan from a couple different people for the rest. It takes a long time to work all that out, have money transferred, and then actually available to us here to have it ready for surgery. You pay in full here at hospitals, no payment plans. So there is no way Jimmy would be able to pay for the surgery before Monday. I am praying that God keeps those stones still until then!

So for now his surgery is scheduled for Monday. We will drive the 7 hours to Guatemala City this Sunday. Juan is covering the service for us. His surgery will be in the same hospital that Eden was born in... I'm telling you God loves us!

Another little hug from God is that Jimmy's dad already had vacation days scheduled for this upcoming week. But, instead of going on a vacation to CO, they are both (MaG and G) flying to Guatemala City to stay with the kiddos in the hotel, so that I can go to the hospital with Jimmy. EVERY LAST DETAIL.

So, please keep Jimmy in your prayers. We believe this is just the devil attacking because everything with the institute is coming together. Thank you to all of you who do pray for us on a regular basis. I am very thankful! And thank you to Victory Baptist Chapel in Conestee, SC who immediately sent $500 to help with the surgery. We are very grateful! 

A Couple of Things

First, my grandmother went to her Forever Home tuesday night about 12:30am. I am posting this because the timing is really a testimony of God's love and care for His children. We weren't planning to visit in September, but I got a sense from my dad that he thought that would be our last opportunity to see her. We still weren't sure we should go, but then through another chain of events Jimmy soon felt like it was meant to be, so we went. I am so thankful because that was really the last chance to be able to spend quality time with her. We knew this past weekend it was getting close to the end of her time with us, but since Jimmy was gone I wouldn't have been able to go, plus she wasn't alert anymore anyway. That time in September was a special gift from my Father. 

Also, my prayer that day was that my mom could be with my grandmother when she passed. The nurse called my parents just in time (about 30 minutes after they had left her side) to make it back. My mom was holding her hand. That comforts me to know that. I wanted someone with my grandma and I wanted my mom to have that closure. My dad was sending me emails which I appreciate so that the news was not a shock. God is so gentle with us.

Jonah had a high temperature all day Tuesday. Usually my kids play right on through whatever bug they have, but this time Jonah didn't play at all. That worried me. For the first time ever we had a movie day in our house. My boys are only allowed to watch football on tv, all movie watching is for the truck. Jimmy had brought them back Madagascar 3, so it was kind of a special treat to pull all the pillows in the living room and lounge around for a morning. 

My boys wouldn't make it through a movie without being strapped in a car seat and they watched this movie probably 3 times... I knew something was wrong!

Jonah runs hot normally, but he was really hot again on Wednesday. I was giving him Tylenol as often as I could, but it was doing nothing. I was worried it might be Dengue Fever (which you get from mosquito bites) so I didn't give him any Ibuprofen until I was really desperate. It worked a tad bit but I was afraid to give him more. I gave him popsicles and rubbed his face, neck and arms with wet washcloths, but it just kept getting worse. His little eyes weren't opening all the way and he was bright red all over. I had never felt anyone that hot before. 

At that point I started to panic. I didn't have to kiss his forehead to check his temp, I could touch his arm and tell he was burning up. I quickly filled a rubber bucket with as cold of water as I thought he could stand and put him in there. I poured water over the back of his head gently as he cried. Poor kid, he was miserable AND mad. I was really scared. I called Jimmy and asked him to come home so that we could take him to the doctor. (Our 2nd vehicle was in Santa Elena, so I had no transportation that day.) He came home right away and we were waiting in the doctors office by the time he returned from lunch. 

Jonah was whimpering and I told him that the doctor would help him feel better and I promised him no shots. Other than a loss of appetite the fever was his only symptom. I really didn't think the doctor was going to be able to do or tell us much. Well when he lifted Jonah's shirt we all saw the Dengue rash. It was kind of a good sign, because when the rash finally appears it means you are almost through the worst of it. He took his temp and said it was 106... which scared me even more. That is so dangerous! Since it was so high he immediately pulled out a syringe to give him a shot to help bring down his fever... mommy is a liar! I felt horrible. Jonah forgave me. 

Here's Jonah after his shot working on a lollypop! He's extra snuggly when he's sick. The shot did bring down his temp pretty quickly. Once again I am SO thankful for our pediatrician in Santa Elena. Pray he never leaves!

Silas always has bites all over his legs, the mosquitos love him bug spray and all. Jonah gets like 2 bites a year. Which one gets Dengue?! It's crazy. 

Jonah has been playing today some. He does have a fever, but not even close to what it was yesterday. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him. It is very painful to get Dengue. It can cause fatigue and muscle and joint pain for weeks. It is dangerous if you don't stay on top of it, especially if you get dehydrated or don't realize what it is and take the wrong medications and end up bleeding internally. Anyway since Jimmy has had it 3 times so we are familiar with it and Jonah should be fine. Glad we had Jimmy as a warmup! 

So Jonah is on the mends. Please pray that his fever will continue to stay down. It is a praise that we have not had any difficulty in keeping him hydrated. We also have been praying with him this whole time that God would make him feel better. I wish he didn't have it, but it is a very real learning experience that he can take his pain to God. I love listening to my little boys talk to God. 

Our Life Is Bananas... B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

It is looking like Eden may be here soon. I am 35w4d, and as of 2am tonight I will have had the steroids in me to help her lungs develop for 24 hours, so that is good news. I am on a couple of meds to help my uterus calm down, but I think if she comes now she will be just fine. The doctor said it looks like she is measuring at 37 weeks now anyway, so we will probably get to take her home with us! My doctor is absolutely wonderful, so that brings a lot of comfort as well. He was looking at her the other day and asked me, "Is your family as big as your husband?" I laughed out loud! He thinks she will be very tall.

{My boys in the waiting room eating pretzels}

Jonah and Silas go to every appointment with us so that Jimmy can be there too since we don't know anyone in Guate to watch them. Jimmy doesn't get to participate much, but I like him seeing the baby with me on the monitor. He is a good sport about it since it is a lot of work on his part to keep the boys entertained with snacks (and sometimes maybe a little bit of candy). My doctor thinks our boys are angels, haha! We have friends coming tonight, so today was our last appointment with them in tow.

The place we have been staying for the last 19 days decided to up the price by over $600 a month. We just found that out this morning. There have been lots of other issues as well... tons! It is a beautiful, completely non-functional facade of a place. None of the issues were worth moving over, until the price change though.

The apartment complex's maid stole something the very first day. I didn't want a maid anyway, so that was fine, but we asked her to come by and change the trash while we were here in the morning each day... 2 weeks went by and no maid. (And we are the only ones staying in this place.) Since I have been having contractions and we have guests coming tonight AND there is no vent on the dryer so there is soggy lent all over the floors in this place that need to be mopped every day, I asked if she could come by today to do that while I had another doctor's appointment this morning. Our "free" daily maid service that we haven't been using turned into a $5 charge for her to come today. So I said fooy on that, I'm leaving the breakfast dishes for her too to get more of my "free for only $5 service" worth while I was at my appointment. Well $5 later there was still dirty breakfast dishes in my sink when I got home. It won't be hard to say goodbye to this place! Their rates and services manual is sitting on our coffee table. That was how I thought it was actually going to be. Naive optimistic me!

{This was the inside of their "pink" dryer the first day. They said they tried to clean it, so it wouldn't come off on my clothes, no worries. Well after a dozen or so of my laundry loads later, their dryer is clean! I had a dryer-phobia before this anyway, I miss my clothesline!}

Sooo, tomorrow, on Jimmy's birthday, while I am trying not to go into labor, and after our poor guests (whose bus has been broken down for several hours on the side of the road today) get here in the middle of the night, we are moving to a new place, that is significantly nicer and cheaper. We actually liked the new place better before choosing our current one, but the owner lives outside of the country and we couldn't get a hold of him until this morning. So we are really thankful for this newly available option.

It is owned by a gringo. That might cut back on some culture shock issues. Yes, when I don't live in my house that we have repaired and rigged I still... 6 years later... experience culture shock. I'm used to things here and probably prefer them now, just not INSIDE my home. The new place has a real kitchen too (and a clothesline!) No more cooking on a hot pad and toaster oven hooked up to a 20 amp breaker and tripping over extension cords!!! That will be really nice while I am in my "large (lbs)" state.

Another HUGE praise is that we got all of the money from the debit card cloning incident put back into our account. I am not sure how, since they used our pin number and were withdrawing cash so it wouldn't involve a merchant, but it is there, even the ATM fees. We are so thankful, especially since we will be using that to pay our hospital bills in a couple days. Thank you to everyone who prayed about this! God continually works everything out for us!

If you would pray for our friends that are currently on the side of the road somewhere between Belize and Guatemala City we and I am sure even more they would appreciate it! I will share more about this wonderful couple later.

Tomorrow Jimmy will be 29... haha! I can't wait for him to be 30. He has made so much fun of his viajita the last 2 years, he deserves to be 30 already. So I am off to make a German chocolate birthday cake, cooking it one layer at a time in my completely awesome toaster oven!

COOL ITEM OF THE DAY: It is only fair that I include in this post one of the many wonderful things about this country...

Pregnant Lady parking spaces!!! I have been taking advantage of these!

A Day In Our Life

None of our days are typical really. I just decided this morning I would pick today to take a "snapshot" so that you could see what one was like... actually I wish I had taken more snapshots of this day!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

4:00 - I wake up to feed the boys.

5:00 - Lucha sees a scorpion crawling down the hall and tells us about it.

5:05 - Jimmy wakes up and kills the scorpion. (FYI: A scorpion killing kit is the same as a spider killing kit, just change the flipflop to a larger shoe.)

Lucha proudly standing in front of the squashed scorpion!

5:10 - I work on and finish my first set of Bible story finger puppets for the boys. This one was the story of Zacchaeus. I am seriously considering selling some of these sets on etsy, but that's another post. I am having too much fun creating them. / Hang some laundry on the line.

Here's Zacchaeus

5:15 - Our neighbor starts revving his truck engine right outside the boys' nursery window... I spend the next 5 minutes trying to figure out WHY he does this EVERY weekday morning and if there is any way this could possibly be benificial to his vehicle. I decide that it doesn't matter and that I need to work on the whole loving your neighbor thing. The boys stir, but don't waken.

7:00 - Jonah and Silas wake up for their second feeding of the day (Side Note: It just happened to be 3 hrs later, I do not believe in the whole making your baby wait 3 hrs thing.)

7:40 - Playtime with boys! We sing and play with finger puppets. They have tummy time in Jonah's crib together. They grab each other's hand and smile at each other a lot now. I enjoy watching them interact.

Silas and his baby pushup!

Jonah and his baby pushup!

9:00 - Jimmy works in his garden. / Boys go back to sleep.

A beautiful okra flower in Jimmy's garden!

10:00 - We wake up the boys and leave the house to drive to Santa Elena (the "big city" in Petén about 40 minutes or so from our house.)

11:00 - We drop off our micro to get an oil change and to fix a patched leaky tire. They say it is going to take an 1.5hr. Thus begins the "1.5" jokes. In Latin America you take whatever estimated time frame you are given and multiply it by a "distance from reality factor"! Petén's distance factor is a pretty large number.

11:10 - Abel meets us at the mechanic shop to pick up the title to the Blazer that Luis needed us to sign over and then drops us off at the Pizza Hut.

11:15 - Our plan is to wait in Pizza Hut until the micro is finished since there is no way the 4 of us can fit in a tuktuk. We chose the Pizza Hut because it is air conditioned, has a large booth big enough for us all to fit in and I can feed the boys without an audience. Plus they serve delicious coffee! (Side Note: I'm not sure if it is the same in the States, but PH has THE BEST hot wing sauce. Jimmy ruined it for me though because he told me that the hot wings were 60 cents a piece. So now I just buy a little cup of the sauce and dip my pizza into it. Honestly it is THE BEST hot sauce I have tasted. I wish I could buy a large bottle of it. I would dip everything in it!

Our normal booth that we fit in with both carriers (old photo).

11:16 - The waitress tells us that the section that has our booth in it is closed right now, so we have to squeeze into a little one by the entrance.... oh well. (Another Side Note: We usually skype in Pizza Hut on our laptops with our parents so that they can see the boys. The internet in our town is too slow. It was too noisy around this booth, so no grandparents time today.)

11:30 - Our pizza comes, but the waitress forgot my hot sauce.

11:45 - Waitress comes back with hot sauce, Silas makes a humongous diaper!

11:55 - Back from changing diaper, eat my cold but deliciously spicy pizza.

12:15 - Jimmy calls mechanic. They say that it will be another 45 minutes, but that they're "almost done". We enjoy our time just chatting together and playing with the boys.

1:00 - Jimmy calls mechanic. This time they say, "Hey, your tire has 10 holes in it. You need to buy a new one." Jimmy says that's fine, we'll buy 2.

1:05 - We leave Pizza Hut and decide to kill time at the Maxi Bodega and dollar store... or at least what I call the dollar store. I find some alphabet magnets for the boys! Silas makes another humongous diaper... this one's a change your outfit one.

1:30 - Jimmy calls mechanic. They say, "Fijese, we don't have any tires this size, but we will start calling some friends to see if they do."

2:15 - The boys need to eat again, so we decide to try and find another cool secluded place... like an ice cream store... right?

Saritas (on right) has delicious ice cream. This is at a new shopping center across from the airport. It is the most modern "looking" area within hours.

2:16 - After walking in we realize that there is NO air and it seriously smells like the outhouses in Santa Rita, but figured there weren't any better options, so we sit down.

2:17 - We feel bad sitting in there without ordering anything so Jimmy gets a small sundae and I get a Mirinda.

2:18 - I realize that I have had 3 coffees and a Mirinda to drink all day and wonder how my body even makes milk.

2:35 - I feel bad changing Jonah inside the ice cream shop even though no one could smell him over the stench already there, so I take him outside to change him on a bench.

2:40 - I come back inside and tell Jimmy that it is actually cooler outside, so we leave.

2:41 - Jimmy calls mechanic. They say that a friend has tires, told us the price, and that it would be 45 min.

2:42 - I realize the cake shop next door has air conditioning, so we move in there. These cakes are very pretty, but very Chapin (Guatemalan), and since they don't serve any drinks we didn't buy anything. The lady was very nice and loved playing with the boys, so she let us just sit in there.

Before Jonah really let loose on Daddy! His spare shirt was in the micro!

3:24 - The micro's ready. Jimmy takes a tuk tuk to go pick it up. (It took 4.5hrs to get an oil change and fix the tire.)

We have a rearview mirror again! Ever since the whole windshield incident Jimmy couldn't get the old glass off to be able to glue on the new one... he was happy.

3:45 - We go by market to pick up a Kekchi couple from New Horizon. They are longtime friends and the lady has been very sick. She kept going to a witch doctor and finally we convinced her to let us take her to a real doctor. She was very nervous about this, but in so much pain, finally willing to try it.

3:50 - Dr. Aragon (my Petén OB) sees her. He is very patient with her. I was going to go in with her, but since her husband was there I figured that he would instead. I stayed in the micro with the boys, and somehow Jimmy ended up in there with both of them! She was too shy to talk to the doctor. She told Jimmy, "He doesn't speak Kekchi, so I will talk to you and you can tell him what I say." The thing is, Jimmy doesn't speak Kekchi either, he is just used to her broken Spanish... I thought it was cute!

4:10 - After an ultrasound and examination, we leave the doctor's office with a diagnosis and some pills... everyone's happy.

4:20 - The 6 of us stop by my eye doctor. I have had an eye infection for 3 weeks now and can't get rid of it. My doctor was supposed to give me the all clear to wear my contacts again, but she wasn't there. She's in Honduras... oh well.

4:25 - We stop by the post office to check our PO box. (We can get bubble mailers from the States for somewhat reasonable prices... really unreasonable, but the Grandmas like sending stuff!)

We had 2 from my mom waiting on us! These had clothes for the boys and food for us!

5:00 - We drop off the couple at the gate to New Horizon and pick up Mateo.

5:15 - We make it home and realize that 2 pieces of our left over pizza fell out of the box in the micro. Fije and Lucha are very happy about that.

5:16 - In her typical "you'd have to have lived on the streets to have skills like this" fashion, Fije stole half of Luchas'.

5:17 - Feeling sorry for Lucha, I tore off half of one of my remaining good pieces to give to her.

5: 20 - Jimmy cleaned up for the adult Bible study in Santa Rita. / I cleaned Mateo's finger he had sliced with a machete and got him a new bandaid.

5:30 - Jimmy and Mateo leave for Santa Rita. / I feed the boys. Afterwards we read a lot of books and sing.

6:15 - They make it to Santa Rita.

6:30 - Adult Bible study starts. It ended up being the biggest turnout yet! 4 new teenagers came too and participated.

7:45 - Jimmy and Mateo leave Santa Rita. / I laugh at Lucha for following me around like a cat because of the loud thunder. She blocks the doorway while I read to the boys so that I can't shut the nursery door... scaredy cat! I let her because she's cute.

8:25 - Jonah and Silas fall asleep.

8:45 - Jimmy's home! (It took an hour because he stopped by an ATM.) Jimmy tells me about what I missed at the Bible study and I tell him about what adorable things our boys did while he was gone.

9:0o - We heat up some yummy soup Jimmy had made in the crock pot the day before. He's a crock pot master. We continue watching a Doris Day movie that Jimmy had DVR'd for me.

9:15 - We pause movie because of a thud we both hear.

9:16 - We discover it was another very large scorpion. It had fallen out of a plant that was on the wall (very close to Jimmy's head) and had landed on the tile.

I know... I need to sweep up the ceiling flakes/wall flakes/lizard poop/dust under my end table. Our windows are always open, so you get over it.

9:18 - Jimmy kills scorpion.

9:20 - We eat some yellow Peeps that came in the bubble mailers and then just talk and spend time together.

10:30 - We decide at least one of us needed to go to sleep. Jimmy stays up to work on translating class outlines for the Kekchi Institute module next month.

An Extra Praise

There is a lot of skin cancer in Jimmy's family and we were concerned about a spot on his arm. He was able to see a dermatologist on Thursday in Guate. He was equally concerned... which made me even more concerned. The doctor removed the spot and sent it to the lab. We just got the news today that everything looked ok. We are so thankful. It was a gentle wake-up call to be more careful with the sun here.

4 Perfect Little Eyes

Preemies born before 32 weeks need to have a follow up retinal exam after they leave the NICU to check to see if they are developing properly since they did not get to develop fully in utero. Any extended time spent on oxygen can cause problems as well. Since Jonah and Silas were born the day of the cutoff their doctors wanted them to get checked just in case. I was a little worried about Jonah because he took longer to really open his eyes and start looking around, he's more of a kinesthetic tactile little guy than Silas. Both of them got a good report today for which we are very thankful!

Seven Pounders

We love Jonah and Silas' pediatrician. He was so helpful today. He is a friend of my dad's. He is such a nice guy. I felt like we got extra special care, but he probably treats all his patients that nicely. He spent so much time with us going over questions. He hand wrote out a list of issues we might have in the first year and what medications to look for and the doses. He also gave us his personal number to call if we ever have an emergency and need some immediate info. This was such a blessing and made me feel a lot better about taking my little ones to the jungle!

The boys have been off bottles since Friday and the nursing is going great! This is such a blessing. I was having a lot of anxiety over this since there are 2 of them and they had been on bottles for so long in the NICU. God just brought the right people in my path to help me with this and offer encouragement. I know this is the best thing for our boys. Anyway this is a HUGE praise and one of the most rewarding things that I fought for in my life!

Jonah is 21.4 in and 7 lbs 2 oz and Silas is 20.4 in 7 lbs.

The boys got their 2 month shots today. They didn't make too much of a ruckus. Jonah actually took it better than Silas.

Silas Before:

Silas After:

Jonah Before: (He liked this vaccine)

Jonah after his shots:

Life in the NICU Day 26-29: November 10-13

Happy 4 Weeks in the World, Jonah and Silas!

They are 36 weeks gestation today. It is hard for me to think that they should have still been in my tummy for another month. We have already gotten to know so much about them.

They have been doing so well nursing. I think that if we brought them home right now, they would do fine, but they have to learn how to take a bottle for all 8 feedings to be released. A bottle is harder and more tiring than nursing.

This is Sarah, their nurse for the morning. She took a lot of time talking with us. Today I was a little down. Each day one boy does better than the other. If you take just a snapshot, it looks like one is ahead of the other, but they flip flop. Well yesterday the doctor wanted to bump up Jonah to 2 out of 3 feedings and leave Silas at every other. I was concerned because 2 days ago, Silas was doing better than Jonah, but the doctor didn't asses them that day.

I want to keep them on the same feeding schedule, one, so that I can feed them myself as often as possible, and two, so that they come home at the same time. My greatest source of anxiety right now is that one would have to stay longer than the other. They sense each other and cry if we leave one in the crib without his brother. It is already hard enough to leave two without their Mommy, now we would take away their brother too... it would break my heart. I would be concerned that the one left would even regress and take longer to come home.

It seemed like every time we tried to talk to the doctors they would say, "Well I haven't looked at their charts yet." The healthier babies in the NICU get looked at last. I understand that, but it was getting frustrating. Sarah must have spoken to the head of the NICU, because he spoke to us for a while today and agreed to give Silas a try at the 2 out of 3 to be on the same schedule as his brother and... they both were successful as of their last feeding. Now the little sleepy guys just need to keep it up.

Sweet Silas snuggling with his Mommy!

Jonah falling asleep with his crazy leg sticking straight out!
Jimmy changing a diaper... this is a big deal! We are still at the point where we like changing diapers! We will take any moment we can get with them.
Jonah with his Daddy!

Please keep praying for them. I want them home with us to get loved on all the time!

Life in the NICU Day 25: November 9

Great News!

We went in today and their nurses told us that they are being bumped up to a bottle every other feeding! One of those will be a bottle if they want after they nurse. That's 4 bottles a day! They are doing so good, they got to skip 3 a day. They have to get to 8 a day to be able to come home. The step in between is 2 bottle feedings then a tube feeding (6 a day). It is harder for them without a rest in between (tube feeding). And... they are both 5 lbs as of last night. Silas is 5lbs, 1.6oz and Jonah is 5lbs, 1.5oz! We are so excited. They will be home soon!

Life in the NICU Day 21-24: November 5-8

Both boys have taken up to 2 entire bottles a day on their own. They might be bumped up to 3 a day tomorrow. We think they could have been bumped up sooner, but that's a parent's opinion! Our two favorite doctors haven't come in for awhile, they seem to be more aggressive than the ones looking at their charts for the last week and a half.

Yesterday Jonah started opening his eyes more. His eyes are very sensitive to the bright lights above his bed, so we had to wait a little longer to enjoy them!

Each day I feel like we connect with them more. They have their little mouths open when we get there like little birds ready to be fed. One visit Jimmy walked in about 5 minutes before I did and picked up Jonah for his feeding. Silas, still laying in the bed, was very upset and started to whimper. Soon his Mommy came and fed and snuggled with him too. I was worried at first that they wouldn't distinguish us from the nurses, but they know who we are! We are very much attached!

Silas caught on to the nursing before Jonah, mainly because Jonah just wanted to sleep! Since they get a feeding through their tube while they are being nursed, anything they get is extra. For that reason, Silas hit the 5 lb mark first. Jonah is 2 oz behind. Jonah did really good this morning nursing. Yesterday seemed like a turning point for him in many areas.

Silas was taken off the pump they were using to slow his feedings and hasn't had any problems with reflux. Jonah's slight reflux is better too.

Silas found his thumb for a little while!

I was on a mission to find them more hats since they lose so much body heat through their heads. I found some sunglasses too. They need something to protect them from the harsh lights in the NICU!

I think they would have liked them if they hadn't already been asleep! They will wear them in KS. We only put them on them for the photo op! (Silas is on the left, Jonah on the right)

They are still on track to come home around 36 weeks gestation. That should be in a little over a week! Please keep praying for them!