Evie: Part 2

Good morning!  This blog post is one of the best blog posts I have gotten to write in a long time... and I like all my posts :)  Let's just start with the key element of this post-- bottom line, God has done some HUGE things in the life of little Evie in a very short time-- and there is so much good news that there is no way anyone else can get the credit-- only God, the healer and sustainer of life!!

(If you've missed the beginning of this story, please check out the part one: Evelyn "Evie" Claire )

First of all, initially it was going to be a long while before Anna could hold her little girl, but Anna has already held her twice! She even has plans to feed her today!

Secondly, Evie is breathing ON HER OWN!  As in no C-pap, no nasal canula, NOTHING.

Thirdly, Evie has lost weight which means that the fluids in her chest have been absorbed and she's peed it out!!

Fourth of all, her heart is looking great and the cardiologist is very pleased-- it's no longer swollen.

Next on this list of awesomeness,  Evie can potentially get the 2 tubes the run into her tummy out later this week!

Also, she is no longer on antibiotics

Evie's platelet count also stabilized over the weekend and she no longer needs transfusions!

On a special note, sweet Evie has a new name... yesterday as Anna and Robert were filling out the birth certificate paperwork, they made the last minute decision to name Evie after Anna's Granny-- So I'm thrilled to introduce Evelyn Virginia "Evie" to you! She is absolutely precious and you will fall in love with this little baby doll!



Now her initials are EV-- Evie, get it??  And how cute are these sisters?  Elizabeth Grace = EG and Evelyn Virginia = EV.  Adorable!

At this point, things are looking so good, Evie is blowing everyone away!  BUT please don't stop praying- any infection or change could be a major issue considering her size.  Anna and Robert are now trying to balance being home, caring for Lizzy G, visiting Evie an hour away from their house, Robert's job, and Anna's healing.  Also, after Anna was released from the hospital yesterday, she was almost home when they received word that Lizzy had come down with a stomach virus.  So for obvious reasons, Anna wasn't able to go home-- after not seeing her little girl for 5 days, this was crushing :( Please pray for Lizzy to get better quickly, pray for the germs to be banned from the Prusa house during these next several months, and pray for wisdom for Anna and Robert as they navigate all this.



Also, all of their wonderful friends and family have come to help-- they have been blown away by this- Anna was just telling me last night how blessed they are by all of you!  But if I could encourage you to keep it up, that would be great!  Anna has very little energy, she is still healing from major surgery, Robert heads back to work today, and as always, a 2 year old takes a lot-- so your visits, your meals, and your prayers are still coveted!

L is for the way you look at me...

Maybe I'm still 7 years old at heart, but I really love Valentine's Day and little cards and candy.  And the thing about having lots of boys in my house is that I have lots of Valentines :)  I have had my gift wrapped in heart paper, tied with candy, and adorned with a valentine card for a week now... and tonight is the night!

We're not having a particularly fancy dinner and there's not much romance planned, but you've got to see these sweet faces that I'm spending the night with... but please note that they are MINE!  The first two are taken until they're at least 30-- at that time, I'll let you know if you may compete for their hearts... and the last one, well, he's off the market for life.  Sorry to bust your bubble.  There will be hamburgers and mac n' cheese and broccoli (Gabe's request, seriously!), birthday cake, and maybe even a family game after bath time.  It's not exactly what Hallmark was going for when they created this day, but let's be honest-- isn't this what life's really about??

Gabe- our birthday boy :)  He turns 8 today, making him a real life Valentine!



Max- my best baby... at least for 17.5 more weeks :)  He makes my heart pitter patter 24/7!



Chad- my one and only someone, my Valentine til the Lord takes us home!



Happy Valentine's Day to you all-- hope it full of love and a reminder of the blessings the Lord has surrounded you with- whether you have a special someone or not, God loves you immeasurably more than you can ever imagine-- you were worth His son's life!

Evelyn "Evie" Claire

Yesterday, Evelyn Claire was born.  You remember Elizabeth Grace (Lizzy), Max's girlfriend?  Well it's her new little sister!  And so far, it's been quite the miracle and quite the God-story-- so I wanted to share it with you and ask for your continued prayers over the Prusa family.

At Anna's 21 week ultrasound, they found a small tumor on her placenta.  This is very rare, but being that it is attached to the placenta, it doesn't pose a threat to the mother, and if everything goes well, it doesn't really cause a threat the the baby either.  The catch is that the tumor and the  baby are sharing and competing for blood.  There is no reason or cause for the tumor and the chance of this happening is very very scarce.  When the doctor's discovered the tumor, the decided that it would be best for Anna to go to a specialist every 2 weeks, but otherwise, everything would be considered a normal pregnancy.  For 10 weeks, there wasn't a problem-- the tumor was growing, but the baby was growing too, and the doctors we're thrilled with the progress.

On Sunday, Anna began having contractions.  By Monday they were very regular, so she went to her doctor and was checked into the hospital.  After 2 days of extensive testings, ultrasounds, and visits with the pediatric cardiologist, it was decided that Anna was not in pre-term labor, and the baby was doing fine. So they were sent home after being given 2 doses of steroids to speed up the baby's development, just in case anything were to happen down the road.

On Wednesday, Anna worked a full day as a speech pathologist at a public middle school.  She did her mommy duties that evening and began taking care of her house and her family.  On Thursdays, Anna does not work, and had scheduled an appointment with the specialist.  While at the appointment, they discovered some fluid in the baby's chest and decided that an immediate, emergency c-section was necessary.  Anna was sent to the hospital right away... and this is when God's handy work and God's perfect timing becomes very clear:

First of all, Robert, Anna's husband was with her at the appointment and Anna had a bag packed in the car.

Secondly, Chad was painting at their house and I had just arrived to bring him a sandwich.  The boys were playing in their backyard and I was setting up some stuff in their house when I got the call.  I was able to pack a bag for Robert and head straight to the hospital to be there for them.

Thirdly, the tumor had actually been causing the baby stress for up to several weeks, but it was not something they couldv'e seen on an ultrasound, so the fluid development and the specialist appointment was perfect timing and got the baby out just in time.

Fourth of all, although the baby is 31 weeks along (9 weeks early) she still weighed in at 4.4oz!

All the miracles are from the Lord, the given and sustainer of Life!  Praise Him!

These next few days are critical.  The baby is stable, but has serious issues going on in her little body.  The NICU is very encouraged because they only things that have gone "wrong" and the only "issues" that have arisen were totally expected by them.  Baby Evie is covered in tubes and wires and masks, and it makes this mother's heart hurt-- I can NOT imagine how her parents are feeling- but Anna has been able to hold her hand, and hopefully, in a couple days, will be able to hold her precious girl.

Please pray for Anna that she makes a quick recovery from her c-section so she can focus on her new baby and her sweet 2 year old.  Please pray for Robert as her supports them all emotionally, and processes this, as it's his daughter and his wife going through all of this, physically, but the whole family is dealing with the repercussions of all of this.  Please pray for God given bonding experiences for both parents-- not being able to hold and connect with a new baby has to be very taxing and surreal. Please pray for Evie and all the doctors that are taking care of her.  Pray for her lungs and her heart development.  Pray for her platelet count, that it would rise.  Pray the the fluids in her chest would be absorbed. And pray that she knows she's loved and adored by many. And please pray for the journey that is ahead.

And most importantly, praise God from whom all blessing flow.  Praise Him for taking care of Anna and Evie and praise Him for all the wisdom that he has given everyone involved.

Blog Roll

I finally added a blogroll to the right hand side of my blog-- if you go to my actual website:  www.parentingbuildscharacter.com and look in the column on the right, my favorite blog links are listed down the side.

SO,

1) If you read my blog, but I don't ready yours, please comment with your blog site so I can follow you too :)  I love reading blogs!

2) If you know of other awesome blogs that I'm not following- even if they're not yours, then please comment with the site so I can stalk, I mean follow, those too!

3) If you love blogs like I do, then let me encourage you to get google reader or some other site like it- it pours all the blogs you read into one place, every time someone posts something new.  You can even get an app to read them on your phone-- anytime I arrive somewhere early or have a few minutes to kill in my car, that's what I'm doing :)

Happy Blog Reading!

Meet Jack

On Friday, we found out that we're having another boy!  So the Bowman family tradition continues... boys only :)  But if you're one of the very few females that married into this crowd, it actually works very well for you-- just ask me, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law... we tend to get what we want quite often!  Anyway, our newest addition is Jack Henry Bowman and he will be coming to us in June-- and we absolutely canNOT wait to meet him.



When I was pregnant with Max and went for the ultrasound, I was initially disappointed that he was a he-- the disappointment lasted like .08436 seconds, then he started waving on the screen and I started falling in LOVE with him!  I think I wanted a girl really bad because Anna was pregnant with Elizabeth Grace, so she needed a girlfriend... but God had other plans- which has turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to our family.  So this time, when I went for my ultrasound, I just knew it was win/win.  A girl would be different and unexpected and fun and a boy would be a boy-- Max's friend, another mommy's boy, a little tyke to wear all the cute clothes, Daddy's little man-- ahhh, perfection!

The ultra sound techs always do the gender check last, so she was going through her measurements, talking about how strong his heart was, showing us all his features and measuring his bones-- and in about 35 different pictures I could see "it" and knew that Jack was indeed Jack way before she confirmed it. It was cracking me up!  Then he did some tricks too-- he kept touching his toes to his forehead, showing us his moves... maybe he'll be into shaking his groove thing like Gabe!

Many of you have asked about Gabe's reaction, considering how much he wanted a sister- and honestly, he was disappointed and keeps pointing out that he'd rather it be a girl, but he's already excited and tells people about his next baby brother.  Plus, him and Max get along so well and play so well together, that if we had a girl, and she came out all high maintenance and such, he'd want to trade her in anyway :)  Not to mention that rarely in life does Gabe NOT get what he wants, so all these little brothers are probably really good for him. We'll be having adventures and bugs and dirt for years to come-- and since Gabe was 3, I've been finding his precious rocks and sticks in my purse, so by having Jack, I've insured that this will happen for at least another decade- and who wouldn't want that???

Lastly, Jack's name-- his first name, we just like it :)  As you can see from our trend, we like the short, sweet manly names that are cute little ones, but strong for adulthood-- Gabe, Max, and now Jack- but all 3 boys have special middle names.  Gabe is Gabriel Todd-- Todd after Chad's middle brother who was killed in a car accident before any of us got a chance to meet- but after hearing stories about him, he seemed to be the biggest heart around! (Seeing that I didn't even know that Chad existed when Gabe was born, I obviously had nothing to do with his name, but I LOVE it!)  Max is Max Ryan-- Ryan after Chad... Chad is Chad Ryan.  Obviously it's a honor to be named after your own father. And now Jack will be named after my Papaw who is John Henry. My Papaw needs a post of his own to even begin to encompass the man he is, but with a namesake like my Papaw, I'm just sure that Jack will be precious and sincere and loving and full of integrity.  (We initially thought about naming Jack after my dad, but we only had to say Jack Daniel once to realize that a name like that was probably setting him up for failure and a lifetime of alcoholism!  But it still makes us chuckle, nonetheless!)

We're blessed by Gabriel Todd, Max Ryan, and Jack Henry.  So glad you all got to meet Jack... 19 weeks, give or take a few days, until we meet face to face!  Praise God from whom ALL blessing flow!

(Please note, I have decided to implement wrestling mats and padded walls into future home decor.)

A Hollow Shell

Well, I thought when I blogged last week, that I was coming back from the dead- but it was a total fake out.  On Wednesday night, Max and I were awake all night-- until 6:44am to be exact.  I'm not sure if it was just the sickness or his drugs too, but the baby just cried all night.  Considering that I, too, was sick, I just didn't have the energy for a marathon night like that.  But Chad was out of town, so I had no options.  I'd get him to sleep and it would last for 5-7 minutes, before he would wake back up screaming.  I tried to be patient-- but before long, I got to the end of me and just started crying right along with him.  At about 3am, I called Chad sobbing so hard, that I'm pretty sure he couldn't understand a word I said for at least the first 5 minutes.  He offered to come home, but being that he was several hours away, that just didn't make sense, so I had to just keep on keeping on.  I thought about putting Max in the car and driving- but I was so tired and spent that I decided we would probably end up in a ditch and that would be horrible.

So he fell asleep at 6:44am and I followed after him, give or take 30 seconds.  And by 9:30, he was up again.  Horaah.  So I held Max as he cried all day, attempted to work, and also lysoled and cloroxed everything in our house.  I washed every blanket, every towel, all the sheets and sprayed the couch and pillows.  I wanted these germs out of my house.

By Thursday night, I was anxious for Chad to get home and the best news of all was that my mom was flying into town.  The following day was baby day, finding out if we had a little man or a little princess.  My mom was coming for the appointment and then we had plans to do baby things and nursery things, depending on the results.  Unfortunately, by the time she landed, I was dying all over again.  I was not healed, I was definitely still sick.

Thursday night, no sleep-- but this can't be blamed on Max-- oh no, I just stayed awake ALL night coughing.  And seeing that I'm pregnant, I can take NOTHING-- all I could do was suffer.  I repeated this same fun on Friday, although Chad was back home, so I stayed awake all night on the couch this time.  By Saturday and Sunday nights, I was back in my bed, Chad was kicked out to another room, though.  I'd just doze off, then go into a raging coughing fit that included a hot flash and a trip to the bathroom.  Then I'd have to blow my nose, apply lotion on the poor thing (by this point, I was on my 5th box of tissues) and once again, build my pillow castle that would properly elevate me for sleeping, despite the congestion and cough.  Again, I'd just start to doze off, and I'd circle back through the fun- over and over and over.  I watched each hour on the clock tick by for 5 nights in a row. FIVE.  And then I began to lose my mind.  I found myself dreading the sun setting, taking that long walk to my room and praying praying praying that God would show me a way to sleep-- but instead I wrestled and coughed and went mad!

Instead of a fun weekend with my mom, she had to take care of me and watch me sulk on the couch and try to shield herself from my germs.  She cooked us food- lots and lots of food- which was a good thing considering how many days it had been since I'd gone to the grocery store-- or even eaten for that matter.  And seeing that Max was sick too, he was SUPER high maintenance and needy, so Granny Annie to the rescue!  She held him, coddled him, changed him, rocked him, and fed him.  And I sat.

Then yesterday, after we dropped Annie at the airport, I attempted to take Max by the office for one little thing the required the copy machine and could not be done at home.  But he was not done being sick.  Oh no!  He cried and acted a fool and caused a ruckus until I was so embarrassed that I wasn't sure how I could get my keys out of my office and get him to the car fast enough. Early evening, I had a horrendous fight with my husband and ended the night with a trip to Wal-mart at midnight, as I finally decided that drugs would be better for the baby then a mom that went crazy.  Despite the doctor's orders and google, I went and stood in front  of the cold and flu medicine aisle and just prayed that God would give me wisdom about what to purchase-- I picked a cough syrup that didn't have alcohol in it and just prayed for peace of mind.  I'm not a medicine taker anyway, even when I'm not pregnant, but enough was enough.  I needed sleep, I needed relieve, and I needed rest.

The medicine worked- I slept for about 6 hours before waking up to puke my guts out-- I think my body didn't like the meds after all- but they did allow me to sleep before rejecting it, so I think it was worth it-- throwing up and all.

If you're wondering what this long rant is all about- it's really not just to complain. And obviously, I don't need to document the horrible flu as I don't ever want to remember that this happened- but I think there's something to be said about reaching the end of yourself- about looking in a mirror and seeing a hollow shell of a person- about realizing that there is absolutely nothing left.  I think it points to my depravity.  It reminds me that life is fleeting.  It reminds me that I'm not made for this world or the germs in it. It reminds me that all I need it God.

You know the saying... When it rains....

Last Monday, I walked into work several minutes early and an extra hop in my step.  I had a lot to do, and plenty of energy to do it, and I was ready for the day and the week.  It sat down, opened my computer, got everything going and heard a crackle, and then a fizz, and then a rumble from inside my COMPUTER.  Oh geez, this can't be good, and I immediately turned it on it's side, shook it a bit, flipped it over, and then noticed that I have 5 minutes left before my battery died....

I plugged in the power adaptor and the noises got worse AND the computer didn't recognize the adaptor.... um the problem was mounting.  Almost instantly, the computer shut off  and so I called apple care.  Do you know apple care?  You should, they are wonderful.  They talked me through several things, all of them sounding very technical and helpful... and then Mr. Technician Man signed and said, this is all very bad news, you need to take your computer into a store right now, hold while I make you an appointment.  He then gave me the run down of needing to be realistic and say my goodbyes-- it might be the end for my very dear friend.  This hurt.  To the (apple) core.

To make a long story short (on the 3rd paragraph, ha!) the night before, Max has dropped his smoothie cup into my box of stuff, that was sitting in the car, in between the car seats.  The fatal flaw was that I didn't take the .56 seconds necessary to slip the computer in it's waterproof, temperature-proof case before I put it in the box.  So my computer, and my papers rode to the office the next morning with Max's smoothie cup... a little bit of smoothie dripped out and crawled right into the computer charger opening, leading to the computer's ICU visit.  Due to insurance, we got the computer fixed for NOTHING out of our pocket :)  as after some touch and go moments and 10 days at the Apple Hospital.  My friend was released TODAY-- that's right, it was resurrected, and we are all very overjoyed.  BUT for the past 10 days, I haven't known how to handle myself-- I don't know how to access email or pay bills with the bookmarks on my computer. All my work stuff and all my home stuff is on this computer.  Everything I write and do and think and schedule, on this computer.  AH!  And you don't need to lecture me about backing it up- we do, BUT when I didn't know whether the computer was going to pull through or not, it did me no good :(

So then, this past Friday... the 5th day of being computer-less, I woke up and felt "it".  I was getting sick.  My body hurt and every time I breathed, I felt like I had just run 48576 miles in negative temperatures.  But how could this be?  I had gone to bed just fine and dandy on Thursday?  I only hang out with healthy people.  What happened??

Well, I had a retreat with our church youth group, so I muscled through-- I fought it, denied it, tried to overcome it- but by Sunday, I was DEAD.  As in, don't even look at me because it will hurt, dead.  I had fevers and sweats and shivers, pains and body aches unlike anything I've ever experienced, and I couldn't even hold my baby if I wanted to.  I went through 3 boxes of tissues in as many days, and my throat is absolutely raw from coughing. Chad took over the duties of Mr. Mom and I crawled in bed for 3 days straight.  I called my doctor who informed me that since I was pregnant, they could do NOTHING, and best of luck.  They also told me to drink lots of fluids.  Um, hello, I'm pregnant.  I have to go potty every 20 minutes if I drink a little bit of fluids, but you want me to drink lots?  So I can go potty every 5 minutes, when I can think of nothing worse than having to haul myself out of bed and walk to the toilet?  Wow, sounds outstanding.

By yesterday afternoon, Chad had to head out of town for a job that has to be finished by Friday.  I had to take care of Max- or else let the 1 year old rule the roost.  Although Gabe is normally with us during the week, he has stayed with his mom this week in order to avoid all this fun-- I'm not sure why anyone would want to miss out, though.... Anyway, Max and I made it through last night.  I ordered in dinner, watched him play, tried to confine him in closed in spaces, and before I knew it, it was 7:30 and we could both go to bed.

I woke up this morning and got myself ready-ish-- although my energy is still very low, I was feeling better and had several things to take care of at work. But when I got Max out of bed, I realized he was on FIRE.  He was really fussy and clinging, and sat on the couch without moving-- something was seriously wrong.  His sweet sitter came and sat with him for a bit, I grabbed a few things from work, and then I came and got him and took him to the doctor-- he tested positive for the flu immediately.  AND because he's under 2 years old, he's high risk, and I have to keep a very close eye on him and give him drugs that may cause nightmares and hallucinations.  Did I mention that his father is out of town and his mother is still whiney and weak from her own sickness?  And he's just not himself- he just sits, and mopes and it's heartbreaking, aghhhhh.  He's in pain, and his face in on fire, and I gave him these germs :( Poor baby!