Welcome to the World Caleb John :)

He's here! Our new son, Caleb John was born last night (October 29th) at 11:08 p.m. He was 8 lbs. 8 ozs. and 21 inches long. Everything went smoothly and it was a great labor and delivery.

It is wonderful to have him here and to finally get to see this sweet little boy that has already brought our family so much joy by just thinking about and talking about him. He has no idea all that our family has gone through this last year and we will have quite a story to tell him of the year that we had before he was born. He is such a blessing to us already! And, he is a blessed little guy to have Jacob, Abbey and Micah for his older siblings and Jim for his daddy! We can't wait to get home so we can be a family of 6! :)

The kids aren't able to come to the hospital to meet him as they aren't allowing any children visitors this time of year. It helped in making our decision because we weren't really sure if we would bring them up here anyways. Bringing Abbey into a germy hospital if we don't have to is something that we really weren't comfortable with. So, they will have to wait till we get home tomorrow to meet their new baby brother. Jim is with the kids today and he took some pictures of Caleb this morning before he left the hospital to show them. He said they were all really excited to see him :)

Today, Caleb is doing great. Nursing great and peeing and pooping a good amount (which always is reassuring with a new baby when nursing). He's a little warm snuggle bug! I too am feeling really good. It's always so nice to not be pregnant anymore after the last tough weeks of feeling huge and uncomfortable. And he was a big guy being smooshed in there! I'm happy for him too that he can move now :)

I also wanted to mention that one of my very closest friends, Kristina was my nurse in labor and delivery (as seen in picture with me below). We have been friends since 7th grade and we have kept in touch all these years. We had been in close contact lately as my due date approached and it worked out perfectly for her to be our nurse last night. She was so wonderful as she is very compassionate, kind, calm and knowledgeable in her field and exactly the kind of nurse that I needed. Not to mention she's fun to be around and so easy to talk to. Thank you Kristina for helping to make this experience so amazing for Jim and I.

And thank you all for praying for a safe delivery :) We are so blessed by all of you... and our new bundle of joy!

Baby Time!!!

Just got back from my appointment. I'm 4 cm dilated and doctor said I'm going to have this baby any minute :) Since my due date is Monday and he thinks I'm so close, he is going to put me in today. He will break my water around 5 o'clock which should put me in full blown labor (sorry if this is tmi..... I know all the other mommies out there would want to know though :) so I won't or shouldn't need pitocin or anything else to get things going. We are at home now, getting things squared away with the kids and getting our bags, then off we'll be. My doctor wants us there around 1:30ish so we will be leaving here around 1.

Please pray that all goes smoothly and that our little guy will be here soon with no complications. And also for strength as we leave the kids for a couple days. I always cry and this time I'm even more emotional with everything going on with Abbey. Thanks so very much and we'll keep you posted!!

Hi :)

No, I didn't have the baby yet :)

Just thought I'd do a quick update (and put my favorite pics from the last few days of my little loves so you all have something to look at :). We're figuring out more things to do with the camera and loving the moments that it's capturing! I could just eat these kids up sometimes :) We got a Nikon D3000 for our blogger friend who wanted to know :)

Abbey is doing great! She has been feeling completely back to normal and bounced back quickly from her fever.

She is back on her oral chemo (she had been off it for three weeks due to her low numbers, then the fever) and she seems to be handling it well. We (or maybe just Jim and her if I'm in the hospital :) return to clinic on Friday for a number check to see how her blood looks and to make sure her numbers are handling her medications o.k.

So my doctor was wrong when he said he didn't think I'd make it to my next appointment. I go back tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 9:45a.m. I am thankful that it's all worked out this way and that I didn't get home from the hospital with Abbey and then have to leave right away to be gone again and away from the boys more. As much as I don't want to be away from home, I am VERY ready at this point to have this little boy. So ready to get to hold, smell and just love on him. Not to mention, ready to not be pregnant anymore! The kids too are excited and asking often when he is coming out.

So tomorrow we will see when the doc says. Praying for more progress. I have thought a few times that it was time to go, but each time the contractions have stopped. I have never been pregnant this long as the other three were all born at least a week early. And here I am, 4 days till my due date. Jacob was the earliest and just over 7 lbs., but Abbey and Micah were both over 8 lbs. and born early too so I am going to talk to my doc about this tomorrow.... just wondering if I go much longer, how big he will be! We shall see :)

When we go, my mom (below) will be staying here with the kids. She is "on call" with her bags packed and is ready to go right when she gets the call. Thanks so much mom! One of us will be sure to do a post when we are hospital bound :) Thanks for checking in and for all your love and support for our family! It means so very much :)

Quick Update

Yesterday morning, again Abbey woke up with a fever. I called the doctor and they said we again needed to bring her to the hospital. Since she had been running this fever since Thursday night, they told us that we could go immediately to Rainbow 2 (which is the pediatric cancer floor where kids go for admissions) so we didn't have to sit in the ER again all day. We were thankful for that and more comfortable going there as these nurses and doctors always work with cancer kids and overall the floor is so much nicer. There also is an air filtration system on this floor so it's always comforting, knowing that the air is cleaner than other areas in the hospital.

When we got there she was accessed, her blood was drawn and she was seen by a few doctors. She looked great for her exam and the doctors were pleased with how well she was acting even though she had been running this fever. They told us that they were going to keep us overnight though so they could watch her and give her some fluids.

We went completely unprepared as I took nothing with us for an overnight. Jim stayed home with the boys and my mom came with Abbey and I (thanks mom!!). After a while, when we found out we were being admitted for at least an overnight, my mom left and Abbey and I were there for the night.

We were stuck in our room because whenever kids are admitted for fever or other sicknesses, they have to stay in their room so they aren't exposing other immunocompromised kids to anything. There is a playroom on the floor, which I couldn't take her too, but I went several times to get books, coloring materials and crafts for us. Abbey never complains when we're there and each time amazes me at how well she does with all the poking, prodding and monotony of being in the hospital.

The positive in us being there is that Abbey and I get lots of good one on one time together. We read more books than I can remember and colored pictures for every person in our family. Jim called last night and said Jacob wanted to talk and he was having a hard time with us being gone. He was in tears saying that he missed Abbey and I and wanted us to come home. Heartbreaking to say the least, but soon after our talk, Jim had him settled down and fast asleep in his bed.

And today... We're home!

Today, Abbey woke up fever free. Her numbers continued to look great this morning and she seems to be over whatever it was that she had. And as always, it is so good to be home. Last night was one of the very worst night sleeps I've ever had. Not because of Abbey... she did great and only got up once to go potty. Me on the other hand was up every hour with 9 month pregnancy aches, pains and trips to the potty. And my bed (if you can call it that) was disintegrating because it was so old. But enough about that...

So we are home and feeling confident that things will settle down now... at least with Abbey. I am feeling lots of contractions tonight and new pains. Nothing regular yet though so now we anxiously await our next hospital visit. And this one not for a sickness, but for a new life to bring home :) Can't wait...

Off to bed :) Check back soon as we will be sure to at least post something quick when we are heading out to have our baby :) and of course pictures to follow :). Thanks for praying these last few days. Past another bump and praying for smooth sailing ahead...

So happy to be home!

No More Drama!

We've had some drama here the last couple days. Thursday at lunch, Abbey didn't want to eat a bite of her food. Right after she got to her seat at the table, she asked if she could go in her bed and lay down. I immediately knew that she wasn't feeling well. After lunch, I took her temp and sure enough she was over 99. A low grade fever. Ugh!! We don't have to call our doctor until it reaches 100.4 so at that point I just monitored her.

My doctor appointment was Thursday late afternoon so when Jim got home I was out the door for my appointment. I was holding back tears as I drove to my appointment as I just knew Abbey was coming down with a fever. A fever in a healthy kid is not much to be concerned about, but with Abbey at best it is only a few days of spending lots of time in the hospital. At worst, well there are lots of "bad" things it could be and my mind wanders much when she isn't feeling well.

We have been sooo careful this past month. The only place that Abbey has been over this past month is the clinic for two visits. And at those visits we have been ridiculous about her wearing her mask and trying so hard to keep her from picking anything up. And we all have been healthy here at home. No colds, coughs, runny noses or anything.

With the new baby due to come any day (I'm 2 cm dilated and the doctor told me any day... He said he'd be surprised if I make it to my next apt. which is next Thursday) and all the yuckiness that's going around right now, we have been diligent to do all we can to keep her from getting sick.

Thursday after my apt. sure enough her temp was at 100.3. At that point I called her nurse and since we had a scheduled appointment the following morning, we were told that we could watch her and if it hit 101, we'd have to take her to the ER, otherwise we could wait until Friday morning to take her to the clinic. Thursday night was rough as I was so uneasy with her having a fever and putting her to bed. Although it didn't hit 101 while she was awake, I knew that in the past, whenever she'd gotten a low grade fever, it eventually goes up and we end up at the hospital. And it was nerve racking, not knowing if it would go up while she was sleeping. We so did not want to go the ER though. She woke up at 6a.m. with a fever of 101.8 and at that point we got up, ready and were out the door for the clinic. We didn't have to go through the ER Thursday night so for that we were sooo thankful!

Friday at clinic her numbers were nice and high!! Huge relief because we knew that if she was still neutrapenic (under 750) we would be admitted again. A blood culture was taken and she was given an antibiotic. We were there for about 3 hours.

This morning, once again she woke up with a fever. This time even higher.. it was 102.8. We called the doc and again had to take her to the hospital. Today (since it's Saturday and clinic is closed) we had to go through the ER.

You would have not believed the mobs of people there with sick kids. Jim and Abbey stayed outside while I went in to check her in. They always get us back quickly... within a few minutes. We were told by our nurse that people were waiting for about 5 hours to be seen in the ER since all the swine flu craziness has been going on. The three of us wore masks and got to our room. She again was given an antibiotic and a blood culture was taken. Today was over a 4 hour visit. Everything takes super long when we go through the ER.

So far, as of tonight, her blood cultures have been negative. She is not presenting any other signs of illness besides for her fever. When it's just a fever, it makes it hard to know where it's coming from. She has no cold symptoms or flu symptoms so we are just praying that this fever goes away and nothing else shows up. As of right now, her temp is over 101 so if it doesn't go down by tomorrow by itself (no tylenol) then we again will be spending about 4 hours at the hospital tomorrow.

Overall Abbey has been acting o.k. through it all. She is a little more tired then normal and not eating too good, but she has been playing and pretty happy.

So far I am feeling like the baby isn't coming at any second. I said that Friday, after Abbey's appointment I would be completely ready, but now with all this going on with her, it would be really great if she could be completely fever free before he comes. Again, I know this is out of our control so all we can do is relax and trust. God's timing is perfect in all things, even though right now it is hard to accept the fact that we are dealing with fever right now, but we are hanging in there and focusing on getting her better. We so want this baby's arrival to be special and as stress free as possible so please pray for her to get better!! Thanks :)!

Abbey after her bath tonight. She's a trooper and has been smiling through this most recent setback...

Abbey's Numbers

Yesterday was Abbey's appointment at the clinic to see where her numbers are now. If you recall, at her last visit which was a week ago Friday, her ANC was at 70 which is extremely low. The lowest they want her ANC to be is 750 so that kind of puts it in perspective. An ANC of 70 is pretty much a person with no immune fighting ability so just knowing that at this time of year (or any time for that matter) is something that is not a comfortable spot to be in.

It was hard for me to even take her into the hospital yesterday as I know the many sick germs floating around there. She was very good about wearing her mask the whole time that we were on our way up and down to our floor and room. Her little eyes were the only thing peeking out and I was proud of her for being so diligent in keeping her mouth and nose covered. We always tell her that her mask is to keep everyone else's sick germies away from her body. And boy how true that was yesterday!

Once she's accessed, it takes about 15 minutes for her blood to be evaluated and for us to have a paper in our hands with the rundown of her blood counts. Her ANC is up a good amount. It was at 700 yesterday so we were very pleased that it has come up so much, but it's not up enough to re-start her oral chemos. She's also still considered neutrapenic so if she would get a fever at any time with her counts being under 750, then she would have to be admitted to the hospital. So, we will go back this Friday to see if it's above 750 and if we can get back on track with her medications and take a huge sigh of relief that her immunity is back up.

Today was beautiful here! It was in low 60's and just a beautiful day to be outside. Jacob was off school due to a conference at his school so we were able to play outside for hours and enjoy the weather. Still very much enjoying our new camera. I am trying not to drive the kids nuts with taking pictures of them, so I have also been taking pictures of trees, pumpkins and whatever else looks pretty :) I did get some of the kids today though too :)

Thanks for checking in! Please continue to pray for Abbey's numbers to get nice and high by Friday and for a hedge of protection from sickness around our whole family (especially Abbey) through this season. My appointment is Thursday so hoping this baby will make his appearance sometime after Friday (after Abbey's appointment).... I know I'm being a little picky :) We'll keep you posted...

Update and Lots of Pics :)

We just got a new toy this past week... can you guess what it is?? After scrolling down and seeing lots of pictures, you'll probably be able to guess it :) Our new dSLR camera just came in the mail a few days ago and we are having a blast with it! (doesn't take much to excite us these days)! We have much to learn about it, but are having fun taking lots and lots of pictures. Here are some of my favorites so far :)

And a quick update on things here...

Abbey is doing great. As we mentioned in our last post, Abbey's numbers were still very low at her last appointment. So we haven't taken her out of the house at all since we left the hospital except for her clinic visit last Friday. We go back on Monday and are praying that her immunity is back up. With cold and flu season in full swing, we will be keeping her in much of the winter, but just knowing that her body has some ability to fight off infection just makes us feel so much better. You wouldn't know by looking at her (or playing with her) that her numbers are low though. She has been happy as a clam and playing like every four year old should be :)

We have been loving not doing the shots! Every morning and night I make myself think about how wonderful it is that I don't have to give her them. I don't ever want to forget that we made it through that. Her legs and arms have healed up so beautifully. It's amazing to me how fast the bruising went away and you almost can't tell that she had hundreds of shots in those same spots day in and day out.

This past week at Jacob's school there was a possible case of the swine flu. After talking to Abbey's doctors, we decided to keep Jacob home from school the two days (Thurs and Fri) after the note came home. Jacob seems completely fine and we are seeing no symptoms of sickness, but we just wanted to be extra cautious right now as Abbey will get anything she is exposed to.

We have had a couple wonderful days here with Jacob being home. Jim also was off today so it was so nice to have all five of us home together for the whole day. Jacob has been enjoying school, but still loves to be home and these past couple days have been refreshing as we've just spent time together as a family and have been able to sleep in a little and hang out.

I will be 38 weeks pregnant on Monday. Still feeling good, but definitely getting excited and feeling ready for this little guy to be out. At my apt. on Thursday, the doctor said I am 1cm dilated and that the babies head is very low. So we shall see what this Thursdays appointment holds. The doctor who has delivered Jacob, Abbey and Micah is out of town until next Wednesday so once we make it to that date our little man can make his appearance whenever he wants (we'd really like for him to deliver us this time too). Our first three were all early, ranging from 3 weeks to 1 week so we are thinking this one will be the same. Who knows though... he'll probably decide to be late to keep us on our toes. In God's timing he'll be here and we are anxiously waiting for him :)

Thanks for checking in :). I will be snapping away behind our camera and sharing photos as we get more comfortable with using it. We also will keep you posted about Abbey's numbers after Monday's clinic visit and also on my progress :)

Blessings to you!

Abbey's MRI Results...

Yesterday was a long day. We had been waiting for October 9th to come for a long time now and when we woke up yesterday morning, we were both excited and nervous. We knew it was very possible for this clot to be completely gone and for the shots to be done, but we also knew it was possible for them to be extended again. So as of yesterday morning we were excited, yet nervous to think of what this day would hold.

I didn't mention this in my last post, but yesterday was actually the very first day that I haven't gone to clinic with Abbey. Jacob had a special day called Grandparents Day at his school where families could come and see them in action in their classroom and then he was able to show us around his class. There then was a presentation where all the students did something special, from reciting Bible verses, saying poems and singing songs. So, of course when we saw the date of this special day at his school we were both very torn as Abbey's MRI has been on the calendar for over a month now and if we were to change it we knew it would be for a later date (which we weren't about to do). So we talked to Jacob and Abbey and explained to them that we would each take one of them for the day. I sometimes feel like Jacob gets the least of me, so really wanted to spend that day with him and Jim feels like he gets the least one on one time with Abbey so we thought that this was a good plan. They agreed that it was good so that made it easy.

It was hard not being there all day to know exactly what's going on with her every second. Jim was really good about texting me all day with updates and pictures of Abbey though so that helped. Abbey was put under sedation for over an hour (that always makes me nervous), but Jim said she did great and woke up in good spirits. Her ANC continues to be very low (it was 70 yesterday) so her body still has not recovered from her last virus. Her WBC count is going up though and platelets were up some also so they are coming up, just slowly. Another thing that they look at is her monocytes. These turn into nuetraphil (ANC) and that number was very high so we know they are coming. She got a chemo through her port and started her 5 days of steroids last night. She also got her flu shot while in sedation which was nice that she didn't even know.

So back to her MRI results.... The doctor told Jim that he would definitely call us last night and that we should know the final results by then. Doctor B whom we think the world of gave us his cell phone number very early on and told us to feel free to call him with questions and concerns. We haven't used it too often, but at 9 last night when we still hadn't heard anything Jim decided to call and just see if he knew anything. The doctor said he was just about to call us.

Jim went in the kitchen to talk and I was in the living room with the kids. It was pretty loud as they were all playing so I couldn't hear the conversation. My heart was beating out of my chest. It seemed like Jim was in there for an hour and I almost didn't want him to come back because at that point I still had the hope that we were done and didn't want that to be crushed with bad news.

Jim came in with a huge smile on his face and just said "It's gone. We're done." I think I smiled for an hour and just couldn't believe it. We told Abbey and Jacob right away. Abbey just smiled and dug her head into her blanket. Jacob was more verbal and kept saying it was great! We are so thankful to be done with this very hard part of her treatment.

I never, ever thought I would be able to give my own child two shots a day for over six months. It is hard to believe that we did it! This morning I spent some time cleaning out our one cabinet that is just for all of Abbey's medications. It felt so very good to get to throw away all the needles, alcohol pads and syringes filled with lovenox. I can't wait to see her little arms and legs heal over these next couple weeks and know that I won't be causing anymore new bruises or bumps.

Thank you so very much for praying! This is a huge answer to prayer and we are so thankful to be done with this part of our journey! No more shots and no more blood clot!!! Yay!!!

Please Pray...

Tomorrow (Friday) is a big day for us. Abbey will have her MRI to see if there is anything left of the blood clot in her brain. Please be praying that they can't even see where the clot was and that the blood flow there is as normal as if there never was a clot. Her sedation time is at 9a.m. and the MRI will take about an hour. We are hoping that since it's an early time, we will get the results tomorrow.

I don't know if my heart can handle having to continue doing these shots. It has been over 6 months since we started them and we have a reserved excitement that we may be done with them. Please pray for this part of her treatment to be done. Thank you and we will let you know when we find out.

Children are a gift from the Lord!

No Place Like Home!

Yes... We're home! And oh how wonderful it is :)!!

Yesterday we got some good news while in the hospital. Abbey does not have swine flu and the several blood cultures that they did on her were all negative. We can be pretty certain at this point that she had some sort of virus that was causing the fevers and her bone marrow to be so wiped out. She still has a cough, but we are amazed how quickly her body was able to fight off whatever this was.

So as of yesterday she was not running a fever, but her numbers were still very low and we knew it was just a matter of her numbers to start to go up for us to go home. Last time her ANC was this low, it took her body two weeks to recover. Her doctors told us that it would not necessarily be that long. It could take two days or two weeks.

This morning the doctors did their rounds pretty early so we were both still sleeping when they came around. I quickly got out of bed to go into the hall to hear about Abbey's numbers. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that her white blood cell count was up almost double from yesterday. Although her numbers are still considered very low and she's still neutrapenic, her numbers are on their way up so we were able to leave today :)!

I hadn't even mentioned to Abbey yesterday that it was a possibility that we would be leaving today. Since we had no idea how long this stay was going to be, I didn't want to even give her the hope of us going home at this point. So when she woke up this morning, she was more than excited when I told her daddy was on his way to get us!

We will not take her out of the house until next Friday when we will go back to clinic for her number check, MRI and IV chemo. If she would get another fever we would be immediately admitted back to the hospital. This admission was unfortunately a sign to us that with cold and flu season here, we will have to avoid doing too much outside of our home. And to be completely honest, being home today has been so wonderful that I really don't feel like I want to leave again for a long time :) I do know that eventually we will start to get stir crazy, but being in the hospital and seeing her so sick this week is something that we will avoid at all costs.

Thanks for everything this week! We knew so many of you were lifting Abbey and us up in prayer and were comforted to know that many were thinking and praying for us. Thanks too for many encouraging comments on all the last posts and the video slideshow :). You all are so good to us!

Yesterday we couldn't celebrate the way that we had planned with our whole family, but my dear friend Melissa came up to the hospital with lots of goodies for Abbey and I. She was very thoughtful in everything she brought from orange cupcakes and cookies (orange for leukemia awareness) to very meaningful gifts for us to a number 1 candle to celebrate our one year anniversary. I wish I had my camera (I didn't have it the whole week so have no pictures to share from the hospital) so you could see our mini celebration. I also got to take a long, hot shower and go down to the cafeteria by myself for a little break from our room. It was a blessing. Thanks Melissa!

We are praying for an uneventful week here. Hopefully the next time we head to the hospital for an admission is for baby Colberts arrival :) This coming Friday (the 9th) is Abbey's MRI to check for the clot. Please continue to pray that it's completely dissolved and that we will be able to stop the shots. And also for her ANC to be back above 750. Today it was 130 so it still has a ways to go...

Thanks so much.... and a quick pic of Abbey at home tonight :)

And another of her sleeping soundly in her comfy, clean, warm bed :)

And now off to mine... Goodnight!

1 Year Down.... Journeying Through Leukemia

Don't forget to pause the blog music...

What a Day...

Yesterday was a busy day with tests and doctors and nurses in and out all day. I had planned to update the blog last night before going to bed, but once Abbey fell asleep I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. It is 9:45 am on Friday and as I sit here and type Abbey is sleeping peacefully in her bed. She is exhausted from all that she's been through this week and a 'normal schedule' is out the window when we're in the hospital. She has been taking late naps almost everyday so then at night we are awake really late.

I had different plans for our day today as it's our one year anniversary of Abbey being diagnosed with leukemia, but as I look at her perfect little face and feel her sweet breath on my check each time I kiss her forehead, I am just so thankful that Abbey is with us today, so wherever we are is o.k. We are blessed that she's made it as far as she has and know that this year could have looked a lot differently than it has. She is a fighter and has overcome many things over the past year. So today on this day of celebration we sit here in a hospital room, but we praise God to be able to see her smile, hear her voice and just be with our girl.

Yesterday started off rough. She woke up with the highest fever that she's had yet and didn't even want to pick her head up off the pillow. She was also complaining of eye pain again (which was what she kept complaining about right before they found the clot in her brain). The hardest days for me are without a doubt the ones where she is so sick that she doesn't even want to open her eyes. I called Jim and just cried. I thought the whole day would be like that and just didn't know if I could handle being here another day, in this tiny hospital room, just watching her be so miserable. Her numbers came back early in the morning and again they were not on their way up. They were actually down a little from the day before. At rounds the medical team gave us the plan for the day. They had ordered a ct scan for her head to check on the clot. They also wanted a chest x-ray done to make sure there was no infection or anything going on there that they were missing. They were also going to look at her blood closely under a microscope to make sure there were no leukemia cells or any suspicious cells that were starting to show up.

Soon after rounds, Abbey woke up and wanted something to eat. I was thrilled that she sat up and was actually wanting to eat. The next hour got much better as she seemed to perk up and prove me wrong about our day ahead. Jim got here in early afternoon and when he walked in the door, Abbey's eyes lit up and she couldn't stop smiling. He came with a huge bag full of stuff from home. It was so wonderful having him here and just what us girls needed.

So back to the tests..... Since a ct scan and x-ray are fairly fast, she didn't need to be sedated for either, which was a huge relief. Both tests came back normal. The scan of her brain found nothing abnormal so of course a huge answer to prayer. They wanted to be sure that the clot did not come back and there was no sign of it on this test. An MRI is more sensitive and is able to look even closer at the area where the clot was including seeing the blood flow there, so we still need to continue her shots until her scheduled MRI next Friday, but the results from the ct scan were reassuring that her eye pain was not being caused by something we didn't know about in her brain.

The blood smear also showed no leukemia cells or any suspicious cells. That was the best news we had gotten all day. That's always a concern when fever comes on and her numbers drop so low and to be honest, our biggest nightmare as that would be a relapse.

The only other test we are waiting on at this point is the results from the swine flu test. They have done three wrap panels on her (it's a test where they have to put a small tube up her nose and squirt water up there, then suction it out) and it is unpleasant for her to say the least. They have ruled out many other viruses from the other two, but this third one is to just test for swine flu. We should know any time what the results are. We would be surprised if that's what she has just because her symptoms don't seem to be lining up with having the flu, but who knows. Just praying to be able to rule that one out!

So the waiting game continues... We should get her numbers back soon and get the results from her swine flu test. Could you please pray for these things today... No fever, higher numbers, her to begin feeling better overall and negative swine flu results. Abbey and I are missing our boys so very much and the boys are missing us too! It's so hard to be living under two roofs and kids under 12 aren't allowed to visit the hospital as the cold/flu ban in on so Jacob and Micah can't come up to visit. We haven't seen them since Monday and it's been hard. Thanks so much! I will update later and let you know any new results that we have...

I am now going to work on putting up the slideshow that I put together of this past year. Wishing Jim was here to do it with me... Check back later to see it..

Another Day

So, Shelley called me this morning and said that Abbey is still not feeling well at all. She's had fevers off and on and is not her normal self. She is tired and has little to no appetite. Shelley was expressing to me that one of the things that's so difficult is thinking that Abbey will start to feel better as each day passes... but that has not been the case so far. I am hoping to go up to the hospital today to visit, but I'm not feeling very well either. I've got some type of cold and I don't want to pass that on to anyone. If I do go I'm going to wear a mask the whole time and I will also give our computer to Shelley so she can continue the updates on here. I'm sure I can speak for Shelley when I say that we are discouraged to say the least. It's so difficult to see your child suffering and be unable to do anything about it. Yet at the same time we continue to find strength in that same Hope that conquered sin and death. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Jim