Fun with Friends! 11/27/08

Enjoy the mini show. Don't you wish you had this much energy? Happy Thanksgiving. We all have a lot to be thankful for.

Here come the Holidays! 11/21/08

The first four months of Kensley's life felt like a lifetime in themselves. It was soooo hard. Then we went to Omaha and things started to go at light speed. Kensley started making great progress and growing. Suddenly we were back home and 6 months old at more than double our birth weight. Now we are quickly approaching 7 months old and we(meaning WE all had it-Mom, Dad, Kaydee, Cooper and Kensley) have survived a stomach virus with sinus infection and huge swollen mattering eyes. Kaydee and Cooper even had strep along with it. I have lived in fear of Kensley getting any virus. Like usual she just used the strong spirit that God gave her to push through. She is up to 14lbs and 11ozs. happy and growing. Our trip to Nebraska was good, but hard. We started driving on Sunday, stopped and spent the night in Wichita, Kansas, got up drove another 6 hours into Omaha, had labs drawn, spent the night, got up went to our appointment at 8:30am and then started driving again, stopped in Wichita again, got up the next morning and drove another 9 hours back to Lubbock. Kensley made the trip fine, but J. and I were so tired and sore that we will probably fly from now on. NOW, the rest of the story...
The good news is that Dr. Mercer says that if we continue making this progress we will be off of our TPN and fluid by January first and that the central line can come out during our next trip to Omaha. PRAISE GOD. GLORY TO THE MOST HIGH. Now the bad news is that on the way home I noticed that her central line (which is a tube that goes under the skin and into a vein close to the heart) has a fray in the tubing that sticks out of the skin. This is typical of these line, just wear and tear. It has been in place since July. One hard pull could tear it in two. This was devastating to me because I had just found out that I only had 8 weeks to go. Well, our nurse coordinator, Brandi G., said that we should get it repaired and flush it with a large single dose of antibiotic. BUT, the surgeon in Lubbock does not do repairs anymore. He says that they don't work very well. He wants to replace it! AAAHHHHH! I ONLY HAVE 8 WEEKS LEFT AND HE IS TALKING ABOUT A WHOLE NEW LINE! Right now we are being extremely careful with the line. We have redressed it and placed the line securely under the clear dressing called a tegaderm and we will make a final decision on Monday after we talk to Brandi again. As my dear friend Joy reminded me..."God will not give me more than I can handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much." Mother Teresa said that. Boy is that true. Thank you Joy for the encouragement. I needed it badly. Pray for me. I'll be praying for all of you. Hugs from Heaven, Tana

Prayer requests: Caed is almost home. Hallelujah. Pray for travel mercies and continued progress AND a smooth transition to doctors and life at home.
Jake is doing well and will probably make it home sooner than expected. This is the season for miracles. God is good. Pray for continued progress and strength for him and his family.
Pray for Kensley and for her central line and that we make the right decision concerning it.
Remember Jesus loves you and so do I. Have a heart full of love for Thanksgiving. It is fat free.

Hope Floats 11/14/08

It has been a tough week, but we made it through the stomach bug OK. The problem is that we found out that the throwing up and diarrhea are only the beginning of this virus. Apparently you throw up and have loose bowels along with congestion. These are all typical flu like stuff, only that with Cooper and Kensley it has turned into a sinus infection. They both have watery and mattering eyes, and congestion with some coughing. We have had Kensley tested for everything, Roto virus, central line infection, and bacterial overgrowth. All labs show that she is negative for all these things, Yeah! However, that means that she just has a virus-a bad cold-so we have to ride it out. She is doing all right and has gained a few ounces back. She is back on her tube feed and her stools are not as liquid any longer.

We leave for Nebraska tomorrow (13 hour trip). The grandparents are here to take care of Kaydee and Cooper. J. and I will leave with Kensley on Sunday, get to Omaha on Monday, have labs drawn, spend the night, have an appointment on Tuesday, and then start home. We should be back home late Wednesday. Sounds like fun, doesn't it! At this point I think all you prayer warriors better hit your knees. We are going to need all the help we can get!

I have to tell all of you thank you. It blesses my heart so much to read your comments. You help my hope to float. I am sure that most of you have seen the movie Hope Floats. It is a good movie. One of the more memorable lines from the movie is "They wouldn't let hopelessness win. You just have to give hope a chance and it will eventually float to the top." That describes our 6 month journey with Kensley very well. There was a time of little or no hope. All we had was our faith that whatever the outcome that God was already there and He would catch us on the other side. Well, I can see Him standing there with His arms wide open. We might not have made it all the way yet but I can see Him. My hope is floating and growing stronger everyday. All of you are a part of that. Hugs from Heaven, Tana

Still surviving 11/10/08

Kensley lost 3 oz due to the stomach thing that she has. It does not appear that we have a line infection, but we are going to have blood draws again tomorrow. We are also going to test for bacterial overgrowth which is common for SBS kid. Overall, she has feels OK, but there are times when you can see that she does not feel great. We had to remove the current NG tube and replace it today, so we took the chance to have a few tubeless pictures. This is getting very hard for me. I just couldn't get the tube in right today. I made her left nostril bleed slightly and the tube just kept curling. So I did get the tube back in her right nostril. She cried and cried, so I cried and cried. I just can't stand to hurt my baby. I haven't gotten much sleep in the past few days. I am tired and worried and sad. And I pray that God will deliver me from this. I know that the NG tube does not hurt her for long, but it hurts me for days later. I desperately want to find that place where I don't worry about Kensley living to see another day, to that place where we don't have to cause her pain just to keep her growing. Please God, deliver us. Heal Kensley, and give me the strength to wait on You. Just tonight Cooper said to me, 'I wish our baby wasn't so sick'. Dear Lord, I pray for that too, and I pray for all sick babies and children and their parents. Nothing could be harder, and no one needs for prayers. So I ask God to be with us tonight. Give us peace and rest to cope with another day and be strong for our children. Please read John 9:1-5. It has helped me a lot. Hugs from Heaven, Tana

Taking Jesus at His word. 11/9/08

Well, the weekend started off good. Kensley had been slightly congested in the mornings, but has gained up to 14lbs and 10oz. Then we get to Saturday afternoon. She started having liquid, brown, rotten egg smelling poops. You may not want to hear about her poop in detail, but it is very significant to her condition. She also started throwing up. Yes, it looks like we have the stomach virus. The one thing that I have worried about has happened. She is not running fever, so our doctors have instructed us to run some extra fluid as in infusion and to take her off her tube feeds. She is still taking bottles and some breast milk, but she is getting a lot less in volume and calories-HERE COMES THE WEIGHT LOSS-. Overall, you can tell that she does not feel great, but she is not feeling horribly bad either. Thank the Lord for that.

So, this morning when I was awakened by my baby girl throwing up, I was again ministered to by Jesus. After I had cleaned everything up, changed sheets, clothes, diapers, etc., I turned on the TV. Because I knew I wouldn't be making it to church, I turned on one of the many broadcasted church hours. A Reverend Price was teaching about the time that Jesus healed the nobleman's (the official's) son (John 4:43-54). The man's son is sick and dying back home in Capernaum. Jesus and this man are in Cana. The man asks Jesus to go with him to Capernaum to heal his son. Jesus says, "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe...You may go. Your son will live." BUT, here is the exciting part...the man took Jesus at his word and departed.

Do you know what happened? The son was healed. Read all about it, you will love the story.
There was a reason (besides being thrown up on) that I was up at 5am. I needed to be reminded to take Jesus at His word. Let him send his word out and it shall be done. We have the stomach virus. I was so afraid of this thing, but somehow, I know that we will make it through this. Kensley may lose a few ounces, but she will rise up out of this too. And when she does, more people will know how she is protected and watched over and healed by our Savior Jesus Christ. I am calling out now and I ask all of you to call out with me, Kensley, Jesus Christ heals you. (Acts 9:34). Remember Jesus loves you and so do I. Hugs from Heaven, Tana

Prayers: As always, I ask that you continue to pray for Kensley, Jake, Jack and Caed.
Caed has been staying in Omaha for over 2 months now, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and we pray that they will be able to go home to Texas soon with hearts full of praise for the work that has been done and strength for the work that is ahead. curiousaboutcaed.blogspot.com
I also ask you to pray for Ashley, a little girl who recently received a small bowel, liver and pancreas transplant. She had a rejection episode and I know that she and her family need lots of prayer and love right now. Please go to ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com and leave your prayer and comments. It would mean the world to them right now.

A Family having Lunch! 11/6/08

Update: Today Kensley weighed 14lbs and 7oz. She looking great and sleeping well at night. I praise God for our improvement everyday. She is still having loose and watery stools, but only 5 or 6 a day. For a baby without complication, that would be a lot of stools, but for a SBS (Short Bowel Syndrome) child, it isn't too bad. She is beginning to eat her baby food well also. This should start making her stools thicker, but it hasn't worked yet. Kaydee and Cooper are really settling into being great big sister and brother. I am sooooo proud of them. Both of them have that famous wisdom of babes. Wisdom #1: The other day, we decided to grab a quick lunch at Wendy's before J. had to leave for Grapevine, Texas on a business trip. Kensley had just had a bottle and she wouldn't eat again for a couple of hours so I took one of her teething biscuits for her to chew on as the rest of us ate. We all got our food and sat down to eat. After we had been at it for a few minutes, Kaydee said, "Hey Mom, we are ALL eating together." And we were! I started crying. There we were in Wendy having a major miracle happen to our family. J. was eating, I was eating, Kaydee was eating, Cooper was eating, and Kensley was gnawing away at a teeth biscuit. WE WERE EATING TOGETHER! I can't remember all the times that I prayed that there would be a time that we would all get to set down and eat together. Praise the Lord. I hope it is a sign of the good things to come and many more shared moments around the table. Wisdom #2: J. and I were talking yesterday and I mentioned how worried I was about potty training Kensley. I just can't imagine trying to train a little person who has to go sooooo often and soooo quickly how to make it to the potty on time. So I said to J., "I just don't know how I am going to potty train Kensley." Cooper was laying in the floor watching cartoon and he turned around and said, "Why? You potty trained us didn't ya? You'll figure it out." Then, as calmly as he made the statement, he turned back around and started watching cartoons again. J. and I just looked at each other and smiled. From the mouth of babes...Maybe we ought to start asking the kids how to run the country. Hugs from Heaven, Tana

Cooper(Scooby Doo) and Kaydee (Josephina-The American Girl Doll)

The gang trick or treating.

Kensley's Harvest Outfit.

My how we've grown! 11/02/08

Kensley is weighing in at 14lbs and 3 oz. now. This is amazing and wonderful and miraculous. God is good. We are even beginning to worry that she is gaining too much weight. I never dreamed that would be my problem. Her labs remained good, almost totally normal! We have had an amazing 3 weeks at home, and I feel that we have settled into being a family again. Kaydee and Cooper are doing great also (all A's on the report cards). Kensley just loves them. They are her favorite people in the world. It is so beautiful. Here are some pics to enjoy. Hugs from Tana.

(Our First Trip to Church)

(Stylin' with Mom)