WELCOME HOME!

Welcome home Levi.

From a Grateful Heart

I finally get a chance to post! I see Larry's been keeping everyone up to speed with the events in our life since Thursday. What a whirlwind adventure.

You never forget the events leading up to your child’s birth; it's something every mom has earmarked in her heart forever. But Thursday was truly the most unforgettable experience for me. It all happened so fast, I was even chatting with some of you on Yahoo IM that morning- even moments before I called Larry.

Although no one wants to have labor that fast, it's such a miracle that Levi came when he did. During that 30-minute time frame between the apartment and delivery, there were so many "God stops" (as my friend would so phrase it). Getting to the hospital was just a miracle, we toyed with calling 9-1-1, but it would have taken longer. Little did we realize the distress we would be in and every single second would count. Every red light turned green just in time, there was a nurse with a wheelchair at the reception desk along with valet parking- Larry would have missed the delivery had he parked the car in large parking garage. While being transported from triage to delivery, a dr. who "just happened" to be walking down the hall heard my panicked cry and gowned up (my dr. was in the hospital, and came as fast as she could- but it would have wasted precious seconds). This dr. "just happened" to be a 3rd year resident specializing in high risk O.B.

When Levi was born, I was told to open my eyes and look at my baby. But I was rewarded with silence and a gray lifeless body before my eyes. We knew something was wrong. The cord had been wrapped around his neck 3 times causing there to be no breathing or a heartbeat for about 1 minute. They quickly cut the cord and handed him to Dr. Sherman. After about a minute with no heartbeat, Levi was finally revived. Although we had received word that he was alive and probably would make it, it was a few hours before we knew what the final outcome would be. We didn't know if there would be brain, kidney or liver damage. We could have even been facing cerebral palsy.

Yesterday we got the last of the reports. There is no infection in his body. His 5- minute apgar was a 7.3! Anything higher than a 7 indicates a "normal" baby that will face a "normal" future. Lauren herself was a 7 at birth and she's pretty normal to me! We are hoping he will be able to come home tomorrow. We sure miss our little man.

I also want to post a Happy Birthday to my amazing husband who held my hand and has been so patient with me over the last few days. I am so blessed and amazed at Gods faithfulness to me and to my family.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

More Pics

Here is a picture of Levi in his Isolette and Jenny holding him.


Special thanks to all the people working in the NICU at St. John's Children Hospital.

Levi Update

The doctor gave us a good report this morning on Levi.

He had no breathing problems in the night, pooped and went pee, which shows the bladder and kidneys are working and there is no sign of infection. They will probably remove the IV antibiotics late this afternoon. They will also try and feed him some food later in the evening.

He is still in the NICU and will be sent home probably Sunday or Monday. Jenny gets out tomorrow.

We wish we could have called each of you personally to let you know what's going on.

Thank you for all the prayers!

He's Here!

Wow, what a day!

I got a call from Jenny at 1:56PM this afternoon saying,"GET HOME NOW! I'M IN LABOR!!!"

I flew out of the church and arrived at the house at 2PM.
Got to the hospital at 2:15 and Levi Michael (5lbs.) was born at 2:27. Talk about cutting it close.

When Levi was born the cord was wrapped around his neck three times. It cut off the blood flow and oxygen for about 30 seconds. They took him right away and put a tube in for air and started compressions on him to get his heart started again. He was taken directly to NICU and stabilized. We didn't get to see him until after 5PM.

While he was there, one of the nurses came in and told us Levi got ticked and yanked the tube out and was breathing on his own. That was good. But they are going to keep him there for a few days for observations.

Before I left the hospital, the doctor said he was doing really good and didn't foresee any complications. We got to hold him and Lauren got to see her little brother!

God is good. We are so excited about this new addition to our family, yet we are praying that there is no hidden damage. The doctor mentioned kidneys and liver, but didn’t think it was an issue.


Here are a couple of pics. We’ll post more in a few days.
Thanks for all your prayers, phone calls and emails!

First Day of School

The uniforms have been bought; school supplies purchased, and bed time routine in place. Today was the first day of Kindergarten. It literally seemed like yesterday when I brought her home from the hospital. I remember the events of that day so clearly. However, today is a new chapter in our lives. (Note in the picture that she wanted to show of her Angelina the Ballerina Backpack and Princess lunch bag.)

Lauren is really blessed to have a WONDERFUL K5 teacher. This morning when I took her to class, Mrs. Ames had a container of play dough on each child's desk to pass the time until everyone arrived. This lady knows what she's doing! Her teacher asked if I could stay and help organize school supplies which I gladly did (who can turn down a morning of organizing things...especially when one is nesting!) so I obviously got to observe how Lauren was doing. Although she's the only one in her class who can't reach her coat hook, (smile), she was already praised for leadership ability and also earned Integrity Honor Roll points. (At the beginning of the year, each student is given 100 points. Throughout the year they can add to those points, or subtract from those points based on their behavior. There are awards given throughout the year for students who have earned a certain amount of points.) Thanks for letting me brag.

Now I need to figure out what to do with my time over the next few weeks! I've already organized a handful of Connection Point events, done the laundry and cleaned the bathrooms. Perhaps there are some kitchen drawers that need my attention! (Please no comments about me coming to organize YOUR house! ha ha ha)

iToilet!

Just when I thought I'd seen all the iPod accessories possible, they came out with the iCarta. The manufacture says, "enhance your experience in the smallest room". Think of all the money you can save on bathroom reading material!

Boy, does that picture look crappy!

A touching elephant story

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college.

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large thorn deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.
Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later he was walking through a zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him.


Probably wasn't the same elephant