Challenges of being home...

Anna has been home now for over 2 weeks. It has been such a delight for everyone to have her home with us. She has had many struggles being home, which has caused a lot of stress for all of us. I am so thankful for my parents. They have been staying with us in our home day and night to help with literally "everything!" Heather and Chad have had a difficult adjustment to the "new" schedule and multiple authority figures. Noah and I have had to really work hard at giving them individual attention. We have been gone for so long that they are yearning to have things "back to normal" ...I'm still not sure what that is! Please forgive my grammar as I write this...due to the amount of sleep I'm getting. I just wanted to share some thoughts as to where we are right now...

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse...they would...Heather one night threw up down the hallway that ended up on the walls and floor boards...as I cleaned I just prayed that no one else would get sick and that this was just a one time event! Noah was comforting/feeding Anna at the time and had just kicked his toe against one of the kid's toys and it was bleeding all over. He was trying to get his foot in some ice water and Chad was not staying in his room where he was suppose to be sleeping! Ahhh! This of course had to all happen when my parents had decided it would be a good night for them to sleep at there house for once. Then the next evening I had told the kids that it was bed time and that they needed to brush their teeth. I was feeding Anna in her room and I could hear Chad in the bathroom. When I went to check on him I saw that he had been drinking his sister's anti cavity fluoride rinse! When I caught him, Chad said, "Mommy, yummy juice!" So of course I had to call poison control to find out if he was going to be okay and they said that apparently he would have had to have drank 4x the amount that he did. I told Noah that I was about to turn in my "Mommy Badge." I really didn't think that I was doing a good job and felt that I really couldn't handle one more thing.

Anna has not been pooping on her own, so we give her a suppository every 24 hours. She had been throwing up most of her feeds and her body would arch in pain as she cried out! We went to see the Dr. this past Monday and since our visit Anna has been doing a lot better. She has been eating and keeping her milk down, which has been a HUGE praise. Anna is now over 7 lbs and 20 inches long. We are praying that her little intestines will figure things out and allow her some comfort. We will also be meeting with a specialist about her intestines as well.

Please pray for stamina for all of us! Noah has been working long days...6am-midnight...there is much going on at work right now and it doesn't help that he wakes up in the night to Anna's cries or a false alarm on her monitor. I think we are all trying to pace ourselves and we know that things will get better as Anna gets older. Please pray that we all would be kind and patient with one another as we all try and survive each day! :)

We have been greatly encouraged by many friends and family! Thank you all for your encouraging notes, meals, and prayers. We are blessed by so many! God is always providing for our every need and we are so grateful for the peace that He brings to us each day.