kristaphillips 
The nursed called me on Thursday while I was at work.
My first reaction was, HOLY CRAP WHAT IS WRONG???? when I saw the hospital # on my caller ID.
But she immediately said, “Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong!”
PHEW!
But then she asked if she could use my camera to take pictures of Annabelle because they had her on her TUMMY!!!!
This is HUGE because my Annabelle is 4 months old and it was the FIRST time she had EVER laid on her tummy. And from what the nurses said, she LOVED it! The pictures show a pretty pleased Annabelle too:-) (I’ll include at the end…)
In other news…
Stomach surgery as you have probably already guessed was canceled. It was supposed to be last Friday, but the surgeon said no. Then they said sometime this week, and now it’s been scheduled for Monday the 30th. So unless something changes between then and now… that’s the plan! While for most babies this surgery is relatively minor, for Annabelle it is a pretty major surgery. So please be praying for her on Monday! They will be doing a Nissen to help stop her vomiting as well as “installing” a G-tube so we can feed her via her tummy instead of through a feeding tube.
Although, the hope is that once we fix the vomiting, we can start trying to teach her how to take a bottle. The G-tube is so she can get nutrition while she builds up her “eating” skills.
On a sad note…
The baby that was our PICU “neighbor” went home to be with Jesus last night. She had been here as long as Annabelle had, was a week older than her in fact, with the same type of defect. My heart just aches for her family. Please keep them in your prayers during this really difficult time. I just… yeah. I’m SO thankful Annabelle is doing well, but it just brings a dose of reality to things as well. While I finally slept a little last night, the sleep was filled with some not-so-pleasant dreams. *sigh* Hoping to dream some lighter-weight stuff tonight.
On a HAPPY note…
Here are some Annabelle pictures to make you smile. To be honest, I need lots of smiles lately to keep me going! Annabelle totally provides some:-)
She is SO cute! PRaise the Lord for fun things like tummy time.
My heart goes out to the family who had to say goodbye to their baby.
Have a super blessed Thanksgiving Krista!
Love it!
Praying for dreamless sleep!
I love love love the butt shot! I laughed too!
I'm so excited that she got some tummy time. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving, KP!
Love the pics of Annabelle on her tummy and of you with all your girls! Don't worry about laughing at the pics. When things are "rough" is when we need humor most, I believe. Remember the old saying, "Laughter is the best medicine."
Our Daniel had to have a mic-key button and a nissen after his Norwood surgery before we could come home. He no longer has the mic-key button. He is now 6 and eats, eats, eats. Praying this will be your Annabelle one day, too! Just make sure to let the surgeon know not to get the nissen too tight. (Daniel can not throw up if he gets sick and he has never burped.) We will be praying for you.
Ooohhhhh!! How wonderful! She is sooo cute! And I absolutely love the one of you and all your lovely girls.
I pray you have a happy Thanksgiving! God is good, isn't He?
Thank God for smiles and "butt shots" and tummy time! Krista you are a strong woman of God – know that you are loved! It is such a joy to know your family! I enjoyed Kara Lynn, previously, in my SS class and I have fallen in love with Lacey in our class, now. Praying that the Holiday is full of family time and that good news and success is on the horizon for next week!
She's adorable! I love your family pic, and also the one with you holding her. Her skin and tummy look so healthy, so nice and cutie fat. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
And I'm so sorry to hear about the other family's baby…:(
She is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing your, and her, life with us! May you have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Julie Zaragoza
Krista,
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. Just wanted you to know we are still praying for all of you. Also, I was thinking of one more bit of info that I thought might be helpful to you. One of my hardest things after Daniel had his surgery was seeing him afterward. I wasn't prepared for how it would look once he returned. It wasn't the way it would stay but it was a shock. I'd ask someone at Vanderbilt to explain what you should expect right after the surgery. Things might have changed since Daniel had his surgery a little over 6 years ago but I thought it might be something you'd want to know.
We'll keep praying.