Saturday Blessings

Saturday was filled with many blessings here at the hospital.  The boys had a full night’s rest (which meant Mommy did, too)!  There were no machines beeping, no tubes connected to the boys, no vitals had to be drawn in the night, no labs had to be drawn in the night.  Sleep, glorious sleep!  Thank you, Sweet Jesus, for this gift!!!

 

The next blessing came when the endocrinologist stopped by to let us know several things.  First, Cooper does NOT have Leukemia, nor does his blood work show any signs of Leukemia.  Praise!

 

Second, the extensive testing that the endocrinologist ordered (in addition to all previous testing) indicates that all of Cooper’s endocrine levels that are off is solely due to malnutrition, so the endocrinologist canceled the sedated brain MRI!!!  She has no concerns for the tumor on the pituitary gland, nor does she have any concern for any other problems/diseases/diagnoses that she previously had.  All of the test results reveal severe malnutrition as the reason why Cooper has so many endocrinology issues.  Praise!

 

This means that we should be able to go home Monday!!!  Huge blessing! 

 

Both boys most likely have rickets due to lack of vitamin D, but they’re not going to have bone scans or x-rays to check because they’re already treating the boys for severe Vitamin D depletion.  (They are at a 5 and need to have at least 20, but more like 70 showing up in the blood levels when tested.)  This is no surprise, given that the boys never left their cribs, much less their rooms to go outside.  Our bodies get Vitamin D from the sun.  The boys have never seen the sun.  But it’s a blessing that this was caught and the boys are being treated for it.

 

Our entire family was able to be together for a few hours at the hospital today!  Blessing!  The nurses enjoyed meeting everyone, and the kids enjoyed being with Conner and Cooper.  I LOVED seeing all of my kids together.  We ordered pizza and hung out as a family, still wishing it were at our ranch, but together in the hospital was better than being separate.

 

Kiefer (our 3-year-old Haitian son) said he wasn’t leaving the hospital without Mommy.  He said he would just stay here with me.  Broke my heart.  I told him to pray that Mommy and Cooper and Conner could all come home together on Monday.  Praying God grants this desire of our hearts.

 

We got to dress the boys in real clothes today since they weren’t connected to any tubes.  We’re having a hard time finding clothes that fit the boys.  Conner’s waist is a 6-month, but he’s long, so he needs an 18-month pant.  Even with the waist adjusted, the 18-month pants are still huge though.  BTW, Conner wears a size 2 diaper  (and the tabs still touch one another) and an infant size 2 shoe!!!

 

Both boys had blow-out diapers Saturday evening.  They’ve been taking Miralax, and let me just say, it’s working.  Conner had gotten poop everywhere (clothes, pillows, bedding, even the crib rails), so I stripped the bed, stripped both boys, and gave them real baths.  They BOTH LOVED the bath.  Conner had been afraid of the bath, and he was splashing and blowing bubbles with his face in the water!!!  I tell ya, these boys are different kids!!!  Watch the videos below to see for yourself!

 

 

 

The boys have literally come to life.  They are just cracking up at things, being so silly, trying to climb out of the crib, pulling cords out of the wall (setting off alarms!), and becoming wild and crazy 6-year-olds in infant bodies!  Cooper was laughing SO HARD at himself Saturday night.  He’d gotten a second wind and was laughing so hard that I couldn’t help but laugh.  He was pulling cords out of the wall and CRACKING up.  He didn’t fall asleep until 11:30PM, and he didn’t take a nap today!!!  What a tremendous blessing to witness miraculous redemption right before my very eyes.

 

Many nurses (and a few doctors) came in to visit today, wanting to know more about adoption, our journey to Conner and Cooper, Chrissie’s journey, and our family.  It’s such a blessing to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and His theology of adoption.  It’s not us; it’s all God, and, as I’ve said before (paraphrasing God’s Word), once our eyes are opened, we can’t pretend we don’t know because God holds us accountable.  We praise Him for peeling the scales off our eyes, showing us the truth about the orphans He loves so greatly.  Revealing injustice, shedding light on darkness.  May He continue to share His story, may He continue to shine His light.  To God be all the glory!

 

So, Saturday was definitely full of blessings.