"Flawless"

That's the word the surgeon used, so I guess we can use it too! Thank you for your prayers...All three of Elizabeth's procedures went beautifully. She was cheerful and peaceful all morning, despite the early hour, and after cheerfully chatting the nurse's ear off, responded well to the anesthesia and drifted off to a "happy place". This was her longest surgery to date and took almost two and a half hours...but she rested contentedly in recovery and 2 hours later woke up, drank some juice, scarfed some graham crackers and was ready to head home! Matt and I were pretty amazed! To top it off, she got to ride in her very own wheelchair out to the car and as we climbed in she cheerfully announced, "That was EASY!"

 

Amazing. We've gotten so used to curve balls & unexpected complications on this journey with Elizabeth, and honestly, sometimes have a hard time even hoping for a smooth and easy road. But lately we've been practicing believing that God is good ALL the time and have been meditating on Psalm 112:7 which says, "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD."...and incredibly, our hearts are growing in confidence and trust and rest. So it's good news all around. Ruby had a marvelous morning with Sophie and sweet Kristen offered to keep her until after her nap so I could get Elizabeth settled at home. What a good friend!

 

I'm off to tend to Elizabeth, but wanted to share the latest...Thanks again for praying for our family!

 

 

Our little "midas tune up" tomorrow

We've got a big day tomorrow. Now that we have FULLY recovered from our Christmas adventure we're back on the schedule for regular endoscopies to check in on the varicose veins in Elizabeth's esophagus. We'd planned to do the procedure before Christmas and combine it with a surgical procedure to close her g-tube site, which has remained open since we pulled out her tube last February. In a sign of God's grace, at the last minute, we decided to delay the procedure until after our trip. After seeing how sick Elizabeth got while we were gone, it's a good thing we did! In the interim, she now needs her ear tubes replaced, so we were able to add yet another procedure to our docket for tomorrow.

Technically, each of the procedures is scheduled as "same day" so we'll get to the hospital bright and early at 5:45am, then Eliza-bug will go under general anesthesia for a few hours and if all goes well, we'll be home by dinnertime...

We'd appreciate your prayers for grace and Elizabeth's protection. Our flight home from California was an amazing example of how God's grace can carry us through lots of logistical obstacles with ease and we're asking God to supply the same grace for tomorrow. Ruby will play at Sophie's house so she'll be happy as a clam.

We'll let you know how it goes!

Our Mango is 23 Weeks Old!

Apparently she's the size of a mango...she's certainly making her
presence known these days! I love to feel her kicks and jabs.

Ahhh Sisters...

While checking in at the Pediatrician's office Ruby gave Elizabeth a shove.

Me: Ruby do not push your sister! I want you to give her a hug and
say, "I'm sorry sister."

Ruby: "I'm NOT sorry!"

hmmmm....that's a first...I had to laugh.

At home, one hour later, Ruby stole a toy from Elizabeth and was being
a grump in general.

Me: "Ruby, I don't like your attitude at all. If you want to keep
playing, you need to be cheerful!"

Elizabeth: "Yeah, I don't like your attitude at all"

Sigh....at least they're honest! I can't wait to add a 3rd little
princess to the castle in only a few months...

Home from California

We're finally home after a whirlwind trip to California. I never thought I'd think 2 weeks was a whirlwind, but after the week we've had, we feel like we've been in a tornado and are just grateful our feet are still on the ground.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas with Granna & Papa Peterson, and all the aunties and uncles, and cousins. Baby Harms #3 will be the 7th GIRL cousin on that side, so we're not planning on putting away the dress up clothes anytime soon.  We spent a wonderful evening celebrating my parents' 35th wedding anniversary and are thankful beyond words for the heritage we have. We also had a chance to spend a few hours with my grandmother who is near the end of her beautiful life. Our time together was a gift.

Unfortunately for the 3rd time in as many trips, both Elizabeth and Ruby got a virus while we were away and by the time we got to the Bay Area on New Years Day to spend a few days with Grandma and Granpda Harms, Elizabeth was pretty sick. To make a long, exhausting story very short, both girls were feverish & coughing and nobody slept much over the weekend. On Sunday, Elizabeth was diagnosed with a bacterial pneumonia at Urgent Care and given two rounds of antibiotic injections so we could get on a plane yesterday to return home to St. Louis. Needless to say, Matt and I are doing our best not to make any rash promises to "never travel anywhere every again!" sigh...it's tempting though.

At our follow-up appointment with the pediatrician this morning, we confirmed that she also has another ear infection and Ruby has croup. We'll be so glad to get Elizabeth's tubes re-inserted on January 25th since this is her 2nd ear infection since we discovered her tubes had come out 4 weeks ago!  Also on the 25th, she'll get an endoscopy to see the status of the varices in her esophagus and they'll also stitch up her g-tube site which has remained unhealed since we removed her g-tube last February.

Lastly, we'll get another set of labs tomorrow to follow up on a strangely low platelet count seen on her blood work in California. We'll keep you posted if it amounts to something.