Please pray for a code brown!

Grace woke up at 4:00 am this morning and stayed awake, so we went down early and got her chest X-Ray out of the way early.  Everything looked great on her X-Ray, but the nurse practitioner was a little concerned that since yesterday Grace has lost weight.  They don't like to discharge a baby that is losing weight, rather than gaining weight.  We discussed Grace's vomiting, which hasn't occurred at all today, and the fact that Grace is only taking half the amount at each feeding that she would normally take, and we were trying to figure out what the possible reasons could be for Grace's vomiting and eating situation.  Just as a precaution, we were sent downstairs to get an X-Ray of Grace's belly, to make sure there was no obstruction in there, and that came back completely normal, but it did show that there is a lot of poop inside there.  Oh, I forgot to mention that Grace hasn't pooped for three nights now, so the total number of times Grace has pooped since surgery 8 days ago is only two times.  I don't know about you, but if I only pooped twice in 8 days I would be cranky and not hungry as well.  Therefore, the nurse practitioner said that there is no harm in staying one more night and, rather than me just sit in a hotel and wonder why she's not eating and pooping, I can stay here and they can watch that and help out as much as possible.  I like that plan, and plus, it saves us money for the night.  It sounds like we will most likely be discharged tomorrow, as long as nothing funny happens in the meantime.  Please pray for poop!

Since there is such a high likelihood that we will be discharged soon, I looked into the patient family housing program, in order to save money until Kristi and the kids get here, but they are all booked up right now and the other patient housing facility is under renovation.  I can't possibly imagine being at the hotel without Kristi and the kids for too long, and since the hotel costs the same amount per night whether there are two or five people staying in it, we have decided to surprise the kids and have them and Kristi fly out early on Wednesday, instead of Friday.  The kids don't know these details yet, so please keep it a secret from them.  Please pray for everything to go well with pooping, eating, discharge, and travel for Kristi and the kids.

It's me- As David mentioned, Lord willing, we are hoping to be reunited as a family as early as Wednesday night because the separation has become painful.  With the generosity of Southwest Airlines, we are able to get the same price for our earlier flights, despite it being a last minute change, and we are hoping to take Abby and Andrew to Grace's clinic visit on Thursday, so that they can meet the amazing Dr's and nurses that have been caring for our Gracie Doo.  Above all, we can't thank y'all enough for making our family reunion in Boston possible.  We feel very strongly about the importance of staying in Boston for a few weeks after Grace is discharged because we saw the devastation that unfolded when we rushed home after her 3rd surgery; however, I'm afraid to think about what we would have been tempted to do if it had not been for the thoughtfulness and generosity of so many of you.  Would we have rationalized David and Grace coming home sooner than we are comfortable with because we wanted to be together for Christmas or spend the money that isn't in our budget to be together in Boston?  We can't stop praising the Lord that we didn't have to make that decision because y'all made that decision for us!  THANK YOU!!!

***Just a friendly reminder that Abigail and Andrew don't know that we are (Lord willing) leaving for Boston on Wednesday evening (instead of Friday evening).  Shhhhhh…  It's a surprise :-)

We had a busy weekend…

Abigail and Andrew had "Mini Olympics" on Saturday (a showcase type of thing for gymnastics), where they both did a GREAT job!

Abby lost a front tooth AND the tooth fairy remembered to show up!

The kids were in a PRECIOUS Christmas Play at church this morning where Abby was an angel and Andrew was the star of Bethlehem!

GRACIE STRONG (in God's strength)!!!