Weekend in MN

I think it's about time I write a new post, so here goes...

Life is basically back to normal with our little family. Sometimes it's almost as if nothing ever happened (except for the fact that our entire world was rocked to its core only a few weeks ago...). Elijah has completely recovered, and then some! He is better at walking, starting to even run a little bit, but he mostly just gets too excited and falls on his face... He is talking more, maybe not saying anything we can understand, but he knows what he's talking about and that's all that really matters to him at this point :-P He can also point out most everything he plays with if you name it. He also knows where his belly, nose, ears, eyes, and mouth are. He refuses to say "touchdown" anymore, but we still try sometimes :-)

This weekend Chris had drill so we finally made it back up to MN for a visit. Thursday night Elijah got to see his grandma and he was very excited about that. He made sure to ask her what everything was by pointing everywhere and saying "dat". The rest of the weekend we stayed at Darren and Alaina's house where Elijah just roamed around and played with random stuff while Alaina and I had some girl time. On Saturday we got lucky and got some free passes for the MN Zoo from the library so we went to the zoo for a few hours. Elijah refused to take a nap the whole time we were there, even though he was totally exhausted, he didn't want to miss a thing. I think his favorite part was when we went underground and could look at all the tropical fish through the glass. He just stood there and stared and made "Ooohhooohhh" noises. We also got to visit great-grandma and great-grandpa and uncle Chris and auntie Lisa and his cousins Sophie and Abby. All in all, it was a very exciting weekend :-)

Here is a picture of me and Elijah sitting on the turtle at the MN Zoo :-)

So let's see, the excitement of the day today is when I cut Elijah's fingernails. It was extremely traumatic and he screamed his lungs out. But man, I gotta cut that kid's nails, they are like razors! Plus he is not a gentle boy, I have been scratched more times than I care for. And I have to cut them constantly because they grow so fast and he can't seem to hold still so then I have to hold him down, and then the screaming comes... Crazy kid. That's all for now! :-)

Griffin

Here is the post that Griffin's mom, Laura, wrote this morning...

"Griffin, our courageous little warrior, passed away this morning at 3:50am. He was surrounded by family and was in my arms when he died. He went very peacefully; he ceased breathing and his heart just stopped beating. God took him home where he is now at peace and pain free. No more struggling, no more fighting. Free. He is now our little angel.Griffin had been tolerating CRRT till about 10pm when his blood pressures dove and his heart rate dropped. He just could not tolerate it. The doctors tried there best but it was not meant to be. Dr. Davis came in and said the left ventricle was failing like it was after the first surgery. He had such a big heart but it was not a strong enough heart. Thank you to everyone. To all the doctors, nurses, techs, and others who cared for Griffin- bless you. To all of our family and friends who lifted us up and supported us in so many different ways- bless you. His battle is done now, its our job to keep his memory alive and live the lessons he taught us. Even in his short time here he impacted so many. May that live on....Laura"

Chris and I are heartbroken to hear this news, but we know that Griffin is with his Heavenly Father and he will never feel pain again. Thank you all my friends and family for lifting him up in prayer when I asked for it, even though you didn't know him. Please pray now for peace and comfort for his family, especially his parents Laura and Josh, and his brother Cooper.

Spinning Gourds

Prayer Alert!

URGENT PRAYER ALERT!

I know that Elijah was healed through God's power and the faithful prayers of all of you! Now I am asking for some more!

When Elijah was in the PICU there was a family next door to us that we developed a friendship with. Their names are Josh and Laura and their son's name is Griffin. Griffin was born on the 30th of August and is still in the PICU. He had heart surgery when he was a week old and has been in the healing process since. His chest is still open and they are facing many complications, they have seen a lot of ups and downs, but right now they are going downhill fast.

The doctors talked to Josh and Laura this morning and said that Griffin is not healing like he should be and they are running out of options. The doctors also gave them the quality of life talk. They are going to be in conference today to discuss what to do with Griffin's case, but it is not sounding good.

Please, please, please pray for this family! They need God's healing touch as much as we did and we all know that it works! God is in the business of miracles and we need one now! Please pray for miraculous healing for Griffin, please pray for peace and comfort for his mom and dad, and also his 3-year-old brother Cooper, and the rest of their family!

Elijah's first word!

Elijah said his first real word tonight! "Touchdown!" What can I say, we taught him well :-P

Adjusting to "normal"

It's late and I should be in bed, but Elijah is scheduled to be given some medicine every 6 hours, and midnight is the next dose so I have to stay up and wait for it. Chris went to bed a little earlier since he's in charge of the 6am dose. I definitely got the better end of that deal :-)

So I figured I should use this waiting time to give a little update on how things are going for our little family. Since we first got home Elijah has continued to improve. He's been walking around a little today without any support, really starting to build up to where he was before all this happened. And it's been interesting to see how as he builds up his strength and is able to get around on his own more, he is getting less and less cranky. So today was a great day! He played and laughed and chased us and let us chase him and just had a great time :-)

He's been sleeping really well too, which surprises me. I expected him to be on a crazy sleep schedule after the hospital, but he's fallen right back into his regular patterns. Although he has been wanting to wake up around 6am instead of 7am, which is way too early for me, but Chris usually gets him at that point (at least until next week when Chris starts working).

We have an appt for Elijah tomorrow to check up with his regular pediatrician. Hopefully we will get a good report. I know everything about his breathing has been great, he hasn't even sounded congested much at all since we've been home. The only small concern I have at this point is the bruising he has on his thigh. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but he originally had a line in his left leg and they had to take it out because his leg was getting really swollen and there were some clotting problems. Since then there has been a terrible bruise that covers the top of his inner thigh and the entire left side of his genitals, it looks really bad. I thought it was getting better at first but towards the end of our hospital stay I thought it looked worse. We pointed it out to several doctors several times and all they told us was to keep an eye on it. So they don't seem too concerned, but it's clear to me that it has not gotten better. So if you think of that, please say a little prayer. It doesn't seem to bother Elijah at all, but another complication is the last thing we need. Hopefully his pediatrician will have something to say about it tomorrow.

I feel like I have so much more to say, but I don't even know where to begin. Chris and I are just continually amazed when we think about everything that has happened and how God has been so faithful to us. We just can't get over how awesome our God is! We are so grateful for the miracle He worked in Elijah's life! We are so blessed by the faithfulness and the love of His people!

I just have to say one more thing tonight. At the most frightening point of Elijah's struggle, when he was coding and Chris and I were in the room with all the doctors and nurses surrounding him, when we came so close to losing him, I have never felt more love, more desperation for my child... and what amazes me most is that the way I felt in that moment doesn't even compare to the way that God feels about us. I just can't get over that. How wonderful it is to be so loved. Amazing...

That's all for tonight, I'm going to go give my precious baby his midnight dose of drugs and put myself to bed! Goodnight everyone!