Update on Lily

Well, Friday night was just as bad as Thursday, if not even a little worse. She woke up every couple hours and then at 4:30 and wanted to be up (so she thought)but extremely fussy. I tried watching Barney (her favorite), holding her, walking with her, basically everything, I put her back in her bed and called for backup. I woke Fred up at 5:45 and told him it was his turn and I went to sleep. I was defiantly at my wits end. 3 days of no sleep and a fussy child makes for one tired, edgy, emotional mom.
We called our surgeon back yesterday and told him what was going on. She really was having a hard time sleeping all together, naps and bedtime. She was only taking at the max an hour nap and up all night long. He suggested giving her benedryl at night to help her sleep. So, that is what we did. It helped some....she went to bed at 8:30, woke up at 12:30 (was able to get her right back to sleep) then woke up at 4:30. When she woke up at 4:30 of course she thought it was time to get up, so it took until about 5 (crying of course) to get her back to sleep and then she woke back up at 6:45.
The bleeding from her nose has almost stopped. I can still see a little tinge of blood sometimes when her nose runs. Her palate is still looking great and she is eating and drinking well.
I thank God for directing the surgeons hands and enabling him to close the palate completely when he didn't think he could and for enabling her to heal well without complications! We are blessed.
Here are some pictures I took yesterday.

A little behind on pictures, so here you go....

Lily's Dedication on Oct. 24
and Halloween at Gymnastics on Oct. 26

Another sleepless night....

Well last night was probably worse than the night in the hospital. Lily was up every hour to two hours crying. She was able to get herself back to sleep most of the time but it kept me up worrying about her and whenever she cried I woke up. Her nap today was not much better. She woke up this morning at 6 am with a messy, bloody nose, which I had to clean out once during the night. She then went down for a nap at 11 and only slept for about 45 minutes. So much for me squeezing a nap in. She goes through phases during the day where she seems like herself, playing and acting "normal" to phases of wanting to be held all the time and fussy. No rhyme or reason to it usually. Her nose is not bleeding as much tonight and no more bleeding from the mouth. I am able to see her palate when she cries and it looks great. I called her surgeon to see if he would prescribe her something stronger to take at night other than Tylenol, but he would not. The nurse said that her sleeplessness could be a side effect from the anesthesia. Not the answer I wanted to hear. We will see how she does tonight. I am praying for a better night sleep.
The biggest thing for me was that we just got into a great routine with her sleep and now it is all messed up again. She was sleeping from 8 at night to 8-8:30 in the morning and taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and she seemed so happy all the time. It was wonderful. I am looking forward to those days again.
I know this will pass and I will have my happy girl back again. I get glimpses of her everyday, thank goodness.

We are Home!!!

Lily had a difficult night. She was on morphine during the night but the nurse kept letting it run out and she would wake up fussy about every 2-2.5 hours. So, needless to say Dawn (my sister) and I didn't get much sleep. Fred went home with the kids and Dawn came up to keep me company during the night. What a sweet sister..and she is all mine!
This morning the nurse came in and took out the tongue suture when Lily woke up. Then she mowed down some eggs and 2 pancakes. She was very hungry!! We switched her over to Tylenol and after her last antibiotic at 10 am they took out her IV. Dr. Matthews (her surgeon) came in around 11 and checked her out and said everything looked great and she could go home. We got home around 12:30 and Lily napped for about and hour. I was hoping for more of a nap so I could get one too, but that did not happen. She woke up fussy but after she got some more Tylenol and ate a banana she was feeling better and was happy and playing. She ended up eating a yogurt and some mashed potatoes and bread before getting ready for bed.
I could not wait to give her a bath! She smelled like the hosptial and blood. She is draining blood from her nose now more than her mouth. Actually haven't seen any from her mouth since this morning. Anyway, it gets everywhere. Gotta keep cleaning the nose out and spraying down her mouth so it stays clean. Lily is down hopefully for the night, but I am not counting on her sleeping through (although that would be nice). She feel asleep in a matter of minutes....she was exhausted. She has been good about not putting her thumb in her mouth and she didn't even try when she fell asleep for her nap and when she went down tonight. I did put a sock on her hand with some surgical tape around it so that she can't pull it off just in case she tries to do it during her sleep. Our doctor does not want to put arm restraints on her as he feels it causes them more stress.
All in all she has done really well today. I am hoping each day gets easier for her.

Surgery Done!

Surgery went well. Tubes were placed in first. There was a lot of puss and fluid and the ears were inflamed. Everything was sucked out and tubes were put in. Next came the palate. Our prayers were answered here. The doctor did not think he would be able to completely close the palate and therefore she would still have a small hole near her gum line. Thanks to every ones prayers the palate in closed COMPLETELY! God never seizes to amaze me. Total surgery time was approximately 3 hours. That's a long time to wait. Thanks to Dawn, Grace and Mom for keeping us company and making the wait easier. Thanks to all who have prayed, called, texted, emailed, etc. We are blessed to be surrounded with such amazing friends and family. We have felt your love, your kindness and your prayers.
Lily is finally sleeping now. She has been extremely fussy. She has her tongue sutured so she can't move it much. One to protect the incision and two because she has a nerve block and they wouldn't want her to swallow her tongue. So, this is not comfortable for her. Add to that the fact that she can't suck her thumb....her good ole friend. Very frustrating on her part. Nothing to eat for her today, just fluids. My girl loves to eat and is not happy when she can't. All will be better tomorrow I am sure. We should be going home tomorrow and the suture will be taken out in the morning. Please pray that she gets a restful night sleep (mommy too). We were up at 3:45 am this morning and Lily was up at 4:30 am. We could both use the sleep.

Lily's Dedication & Upcoming Surgery

Lily was dedicated on Sunday with all her family and friends present. We are extremly blessed to have such a wonderful family and great friends. God has given us the honor to raise Lily, care for her, teach her about the Lord and to love her. Yesterday we declared that publicly before our church and our family and friends. It was a good day!
Surgery is quickly approaching. This Wednesday Lily will have her palate repaired and tubes placed in her ears. I am beginning to get a little anxious, but I know that I need not worry because God has already gone in front of us and will take care of her. He is the ULTIMATE healer, sustainer, and protector. He loves her more than I ever could (hard to wrap your mind around) and He will watch over her.
I will keep everyone updated on the surgery as it unfolds.
I have attached a lot of pictures so enjoy! My sweet Lily is growing up before my eyes.

More Pics of Atlanta Trip

Trip to Atlanta!

We had a blast in Atlanta, Ga. We got there on Thursday and checked in our hotel and then went over to Coca Cola. It was pretty cool, but the highlight was the tasting room! Coke products from all over the world and you could taste as much as you wanted. We were in walking distance of all the places that we wanted to go. The hotel was across the street from Centennial Park, which had a great area for the kids. On Friday we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel and then I took the kids over to the park while Fred had a business call. Then we went to Stone Mountain. The kids had a great time on the ropes course and would have stayed there all day. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and then back to the hotel for bed. On Saturday we got up and went to the Aquarium after breakfast. After that we met Mason's 1st grade teacher for lunch. The year after she taught Mason she moved to Atlanta, but we still keep in touch. It was nice to see her. From there we came home. It was a fun filled few days for Fall Break and the weather couldn't have been better!

More random pictures....

Surgery Scheduled!

Lily's surgery has been scheduled for Wednesday, Oct 27 @ 7:00 am. Please keep her in your prayers that she will come through the surgery successfully without any complications and that she heals quickly.
We went back to the pediatric an today to check on her fingernail which seemed to be infected. While I was there I had the doctor check her ears, partially due to her history and partially due to the fact that she has not been sleeping well. Sure enough she has another ear infection. Hope that this is the last of those for awhile. I am hoping that this surgery should take care of those ear issues.
Lily is doing well. We started Kindermusick and Gymnastics. She is doing both with Grace. It is truly amazing to see them together. Time has really bonded them in a special way. They already have the beginnings of an amazing relationship that can only become stronger and closer. It melts my heart to see them playing together. They are so blessed to have one another.
We had our first outing with our adoption group here for Autumn Moon Festival. It was alot of fun. The kids played, made paper lanterns, ate moon cakes, and enjoyed getting to know one another.
Fred's niece and her family came into town last week and spent a few days with us. We had a great time with them and wished they lived closer. We don't see them enough. I have included a picture of the gang together.
The kids are out of school this week for fall break. We have just been hanging out together the past couple days but will leave for Atlanta on Thursday. We are going to go to the Aquarium, Stone Mountain, Coca Cola Company, ImaginOn, and maybe the zoo and then head back on Saturday night. Morgan (my little chef) made amazing cinnamon rolls tonight from scratch, all by herself...they are amazing. See pics below.