Faces.

Tiny, beautiful face.

Three months later:

Fat, beautiful face.

Thank you Lord, for all the work you have done in Marcela's life.

Pictures of Marcy! And other news. Though I know you really just come for the pictures. ;)

Last week the social worker and I went on a trip to 5 different provinces to let the judges and other protection agencies about our home, and what type of girls we are receiving. It was a long couple of days, but a few of them told us they had never heard of our home, so I was glad that we had taken the information out there.

I will admit, I'm a little confused. I know there are girls out there hurting, and suffering. We have put out information to several courts, and I know that our governing agency has also put us on their website. So where are the girls?

A friend of mine who has a home for kids with special needs has given my name out to at least three different courts when they have called. Yet they aren't calling me. To me, it all boils down to one thing: God isn't ready for us to have another girl yet. I don't know why, but I just need to be obedient, and wait for His timing. Again. Seems to be a theme in my life. ;)

While we wait, we are putting our all into our little Marcela. Which isn't hard to do. She has won quite a few hearts around here.

This is my favourite, when she sucks in her lips like that.

She is doing SO much better at sitting up, and rolling over (not quite all the way yet, but close!), and she moves her legs like crazy! 

Fat ankles!!!!! 

When we left the hospital on June 28th, she weighed 8 pounds, 11ounces. On July 11, she weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces!!!! I am thrilled. She has wavered between 7 1/2 pounds and 8 1/2 pounds since she came at the beginning of April. Now we are pushing 10 pounds! It is funny, as I am having a hard time holding her now. She is so big and heavy, I can't throw her around like I used to! ;) But I couldn't be more thrilled. 

Eating! 

After being in the hospital and not eating by mouth for so long, she has decided she does NOT like to take a bottle. Or too much food for that matter. But we fight on! I only wish she would open her mouth that big for food. I have to squeeze it in between her lips. Ask me how easy that is! She'll eat it once it gets in there, but she won't willingly let it in. And when we offer a bottle, she just rolls the nipple around on her tongue. Please be praying that she will learn to love to eat. She doesn't know what she is missing!

 These two nurses made our hospital stay bearable. Thanks Judit and Sheny!

I have a hard time not kissing those cheeks all day. Literally. When I am near her, her face is being kissed. I can't help myself.

She likes bath time again! 

We had to work at this one too. When she got back from the hospital she wouldn't tolerate them at all. Her breathing would get so bad, all we could do was wipe her down every day. It is nice to have her enjoying it again. 

Thanks for praying for me!! 

A quick trip.

I've been asked by many people if I have received any more girls, and why haven't I received any more girls. I wondered myself for a while, and I was surprised. Some friends of mine opened a home for children with special needs in August, and in the first 6 weeks they received 8 children.

As I think about it, I am glad we didn't receive children that quickly. I wanted to stay with Marcela in the hospital, and make sure she was okay. It would have been very difficult (though do-able) to accept new girls. I think God knew I needed to be there with her. I have received a few phone calls, but none of the children were girls with special needs.

When we first opened, I travelled around to 5 different children's judges offices to let them know about our home. Now I feel like it is time to let more people know about us.

Tomorrow the social worker and I will travel to four different provinces to present our home to the judges, so they know who we are and what we do.

Please be praying for our safety as we travel. Please pray for Marcy as she stays home with the nanny.

Please be praying for the next girls to come. I know they are out there, they just need to find us. I'm excited to see who God brings to us next. Will it be a baby? A cute little toddler? A big 9 year old? I don't know! But it will be exciting to welcome the next member of our family. :)

We're home!

I'm actually a little behind on posting that title! We were able to bust out of the hospital last Saturday (the 28th) and come home the same day.

Her tracheostomy was removed for the second time on June 24th and I'll admit, I was worried. The Friday before that her left lung had completely collapsed for no known reason. They had put a chest tube in, and though the majority of it resolved, there was still less air entry in her left lung. From the moment they took it out, she was like a different baby. Her breathing was easy, and she smiled her first smile since she was admitted to the hospital. We stayed until Saturday to finish up some antibiotics, and she did so well that whole week!

Once we got home, she had another fever, and some coughing which had me worried. Her lungs and trachea are not as strong as they should be, so any little cold can be really bad for her. It was a rough first night, but praise God, since then she has done fantastic! And she is sleeping a lot better than before she went in the hospital, for which I'm very thankful.

She feels so much better now, that we are seeing many more smiles and lots of laughs! I'm so thankful for that. I love to see her feeling good! 

I have just a few prayer requests. First of all, her weight. She lost over a pound after the surgery, and though she regained it, after 5 and a half weeks of being in the hospital, she weighed only 2 ounces more than when she went in. We should be doing another weigh in this week, so pray for a fat girl!

Secondly, her eating. She wasn't able to eat in the hospital because of the trach. She didn't eat well before we went in, and since we've been home, she has flat out refused. I'll keep trying, and will be consulting on how I can help her to eat, but please continue to pray for that issue for her. 

Also, please be praying for her breathing. We are still dealing with some breathing issues that are as a result of her syndrome, plus the hospitalization. 

Hope you are all doing well, and I'll be back to normal posting about my cutie now! Thanks for all your prayers.

Little Marcela.

On Friday, Marcy and I had our one month anniversary of being in the hospital. Half of that time has been in intensive care, and the other half in intermediate care.

She has had three surgeries, a tracheostomy (twice. They took the first one out and three days later she decided she wanted it back in again), countless I.V.'s (including a femoral line-long term I.V.), a ton of x-rays, multiple antibiotics and steroids, two laryngoscopies, many blood draws, suctioning, examinations, dr's talking over and about her, one chest tube, dealt with very high blood pressure, and hundreds of prayers prayed over her.

It's been a bit of a rough month.

Please keep praying for her. The chest tube was placed Friday, after her lung collapsed (and the dr's can't tell me why this happened). And she has another infection. So it seems to be two steps forward, and two steps back. 

 There are many things contributing to her ongoing complications, but it basically comes down to her short, tiny little trachea. It is weak and flimsy (malformed due to her syndrome), and it was damaged and swollen from her initial intubation (the tube down her throat to help her breathe after heart surgery). Besides that, her kidneys don't function as they should, and though the repair on her heart was successful, there are other issues with it that are being managed by medications.

This little girl is much more complicated than we all thought. And in such a short time together, I have fallen in love, and want only the best for her. As a parent, it is hard for me to look at it objectively, even though I am an intensive care nurse! None of what I am seeing is really new or shocking to me, yet it is so much harder now that I'm emotionally involved. 

So please be praying for her little body. I just want her to come home! Of course, I want her to be completely healthy first. 

They want to take out the chest tube today, and try to take our her tracheostomy tomorrow. I am nervous. Please be praying for her, and success with the trach removal. If it isn't successful, I'm not sure of the plan. There has been talk of bringing her home with the trach, and trying to remove it again at a later date. But at this point, I don't know. 

Update.

I'm so sorry. I have forgotten to keep you updated on here. I have been sending updates on the facebook page, here.

Marcela hasn't done great post-operatively. She had a simple surgery, but developed some unexpected complications that still affect her and she has been in intensive care since last Wednesday.

For the most part, everything is under control now. But after 3 unsuccessful attempts at extubating her (taking the tube out of her throat that was making her breathe) they decided to do a tracheostomy. This is basically a hole in the base of her throat, they insert the tube there, and this leaves the top of her trachea free to heal from damage and swelling. The tracheostomy was placed on Wednesday, and we are seeing good results. She is no longer needing the ventilator (which makes her breathe) as she is breathing on her own. She is allowed to wake up more too, as her head movement, etc. will not do any further damage.

Please be praying that the swelling goes down soon, and they will be able to remove the tracheostomy this week. Pray that her blood pressure stays under control (this may be a kidney issue that will need to be followed up). And pray for us. We miss our baby!

Please pray.

Today Marcela had surgery on her heart. It was a simple procedure in theory, but complications arose that have the potential to be very serious.

Please be praying for a miracle for Marcela. Please pass this on to your friends. She is in intensive care, and will remain there tonight. Hopefully we will know a little more in the morning.