Prayers for Elizabeth

I know I sent last night's email out with a plan to fly below the radar for a while, but we are again in need of your prayers...this time for Elizabeth. Today I spent the day at home with the girls helping to manage the transition from Granna (flying home) to Auntie Tawni (arriving to help).

We had a fun trip to the salon where the girls got a trim and then enjoyed playing with our cousins here at home.

After dinner she crawled up on the couch complaining she was really cold and within minutes she was deep asleep, breathing fast and developing a fever. She now has a 104 fever without an obvious source, so she and Matt are at Children's Hospital for labs and cultures to determine if it's another case of bacteremia. Because of her history, Elizabeth isn't allowed to just have a run-of-the-mill fever. We don't know yet if they'll want to keep her until the cultures are negative, or if they'll give her a dose of IV antibiotics and send her home pending the results. Matt has full clinics tomorrow, so another hospitalization it the family would be a big challenge. Sweet Elizabeth is handling this with her usual courage, but obviously, we'd like to bring her home as soon as possible.

Please Pray for:
~Healing and protection for Elizabeth
~A clear source for the fevers and course of treatment. Last time she had bacteremia, the bug was resistant to the antibiotics they gave her for the first 3 days...that prolonged her illness and recovery.
~Encouragement and grace for Matt. He spent all day at the hospital with Ava and came home expressing how sapped he was. He needs a boost to get him through what could be a very long night.

Amazingly, things are going tremendously well with Ava. When Matt left the room to grab some lunch, Ava grabbed hold of her nasal cannula (the tubes in her nose giving her a little extra air) and her NG tube (for feeding) and yanked them out! Fortunately, she'd been assigned a veteran nurse in the hopes that she could be weaned from her O2 today, so the nurse decided to only replace her NG tube and leave the O2 off for a while...and she did great! She's up to 16ccs (3+ tsp) and will keep advancing as long as she keeps moving things through! Now that his cold is gone, Matt got to snuggle with her for the first time today...of course, he's completely in love.

Tonight, we again feel the tension of being so thankful for so many blessings, while also carrying the burden of Elizabeth's health. The same God loves all of our daughters and we know, true to His character, He has already provided for what is ahead...even what we can't see. Please pray for our faith to remain strong, and our trust in His goodness to grow.