report on bone graft appointment

Let us begin with winsome.

In reference to Emma Kate, of course.

This girl leaves rooms full of smiling people in her wake.

So sweet her countenance.  So dear her person.

Our appointment?  Dr. Sampson is a lovely man.  We so enjoyed meeting with him, and he was kind, gentle and patient with Emma.  She was nervous about the xrays and he was wonderful and even stayed in the room with us talking to her as the machine beeped.  Emma Kate was fine as long as she stared deeply into my eyes while I held on to her dear little leg as if I was holding her hand.

There is good news!

How intricately the Lord crafted His Emma Kate.  While her lip was a bilateral cleft as was the cleft of her palate, it is not so with her gum line.  Emma Kate has a unilateral cleft through her gum line!

What does this mean?  Simply that only one side of her gum line is clefted and thus we only need to graft bone onto one portion of her mouth, not across both sides!  This is wonderful news indeeed!

It also lends credence to the question of the clefting being a result of amniotic band syndrome, not two separate "things".  When a cleft occurs it usually is symmetrical in terms of being unilateral or bilateral from the front to the back.  With amniotic band syndrome, the clefting becomes haphazard.  I'm going to check back in with our geneticist to see what she thinks now that we have new information showing the cleft to be irregular in nature.

It doesn't really matter, it is more for my own curiosity.  Either way, our Emma Kate is simply perfect to us.  Truly and wonderfully made. Fashioned in love and grown in the grace and goodness of the Lord.  Purposed for now and created with good works planned for her in advance!  She is His beloved, made to delight in Him and bring Him great glory.

Dr. Sampson is going to join Dr. Sidman in our July 25th surgery to extract a tooth that needs to come out to allow a better outcome on the bone graft surgery.  Great to fit things in together.  He will just pop in, pull it out, and then hand-deliver it to us in the waiting area to do the "tooth fairy money deal" for her.  How cute is that?!

And surgery?  December or early January.  Jim and I can pick the date, and then schedule.

So, little Emma Kate has a lovely fall to enjoy NO SURGERIES!  I'm so glad for her.  We so longed for her to be able to simply enjoy setting sail to school.  She has craved school since coming home.  A gracious gift to have a long stretch for her of simply living life, no medical procedures involved!

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone.  Where the children are above average and the weather willy-nilly.  :)

Love,
Sara

restoration {alveolar bone graft}

What is an alveolar bone?

Some children who are born with both a cleft lip and a cleft palate also have a problem with the alveolar (al-vee-OLE-ar) bone, which makes up the gum ridge or front portion of the roof of the mouth. The alveolar bone is a thin layer of bone that forms the sockets around the roots of the upper teeth under the gum tissue.

When there is a cleft in the alveolar bone, it means there is a fistula (FIST-yoo-la) or hole from the mouth to the nose. This cleft in the bone and gums prevents teeth from growing properly and the floor of the nose from developing normally. 

What is an alveolar bone graft?

The alveolar bone graft repairs the hole in the gum ridge and stabilizes the bone arch, providing better support for the base of the nose and new bone for the roots of the developing teeth to grow into.

How is the graft done in surgery?

To do the bone graft, a piece of bone usually will be taken from your child’s iliac (ILL-ee-ack) crest, the upper ridge of the hip bone. The doctor will make a 1- to 3-inch incision (in-SIZZ-yun) or cut in the skin just over the hip bone and in the bone itself to remove the inner portion of the bone. This part of the bone, called cancellous (CAN-sell-us) bone, is soft and pasty and can be shaped to form the patch that will close the hole in the alveolar bone. Gum tissue inside your child’s mouth then will be closed around the bone and sutures (SOO-chers) or stitches will hold the tissue in place as it heals. 

This is the general lowdown on the surgery that Emma Kate will experience sometime this fall.  Today we drive an hour away to consult on that surgery with our oral-maxiofacial surgeon, Dr. Sampson.

I would be Dr. Sampson's favorite patient if I were 12.  Yes, it is true.  I was a complete nerd and hugely loved my headgear.  

I know.  Gasp with me.

And yes, I did share that lovely little tidbit at the cleft team meeting.  I'm sure the geneticist was feverishly jotting down notes about me.  Dr. Sidman laughed aloud and said Dr. Sampson loves the headgear.  Apparently those of us that do are few and far between.

Enough said.

Or, make a comment.  Come on!  You know you want to!  

If you could have seen me then...

Back to our regularly scheduled programming: Emma Kate.

We go today of all days because the timing of this surgery is crucial.  We need to fit it in after her sphincter pharyngoplasty {say that twelve times fast}, which is on July 25.  And it needs to occur before her permanent front teeth emerge.  Since she has started to lost bottom teeth, we are in the time range for doing it promptly.

How to be so glad your daughter can have all these surgeries to restore her mouth, and also so sad for her to have to endure so many surgeries?

She is grace personified.

After our neurological visit yesterday, I had the starch knocked out of me for the end part of the day.  I felt this tired feeling of relief.  I'm wishing we didn't have to go today, because I'd like instead to sit around and eat grilled cheese and tomato soup on the screen porch while the rain falls outside.  I'd like to cuddle up with the kiddos and ignore the rest of life's duties.  An ostrich day?  Head in the sand and all.

Nope.  We're off here shortly.  And I know when we are home, it will be good.  Worthwhile and important.  

Jeb only threw up twice this morning getting the molds of his teeth for his braces.  Wonder how Emma Kate will do having her very first panoramic x-rays.

I think I'm getting a latte.  Seriously.  :)

We'll update the sidebar on our "upcoming surgeries" when we know more!  

Thursday love from rainy 63 degree Minnesota!,

Sara

restored, healed and made whole

Emma's skin grafts are healing!

We had a wound check yesterday and Dr. VanHeest was well pleased.  The infection has abated and the grafts themselves are intact and healing.  In fact, the only place left to heal is the graft between the second and third digits.

True!

One more week of her hand wrapped up like a little mummy in sterile bandages.  As of next week, we anticipate that Emma Kate will be good to go and free to swim, play and embrace summer fully!

We can't wait to take her to the pool for the first time this summer.  We are quietly counting down the days to that event.

How grateful we are for the healing and restoration she is experiencing.  Thank you all for your prayers. The Lord has done a beautiful work in our little girl.  And we give Him great thanks and praise for being her Jehovah-rapha.

What a difference He has made in a mere four days.

We are so grateful.  And so relieved!

July 25...here we come!

Emma Kate is having a big day on July 25th.


Dr. Sidman and Noelle concurred that doing the sphincter pharyngoplasty surgery this summer is important.  This surgery is the surgery that tightens and lengthens her palate, allowing her to have full closure of her airway when she speaks.  


Right now, Emma passes air through the back of her throat, causing her speech to be hyper-nasal.


This surgery will greatly enhance her ability to speak and be understood.


We are so excited for her!


Noelle and I kept smiling at each other.  


We will wait to do the bone graft until sometime in the fall.  Maybe Thanksgiving break.  


We are elated with the results of today's visit.  And truly feel the Lord reset the course for Emma's palate treatment plan today.  I initially wondered why we couldn't get into the oral surgeon for so long, and now am thankful for that wait.  


It is clear that the July surgery is the one to do first, and it feels wonderful to have that clarity and wisdom.  


We are elated! 

"all better, Mommy!"

\

Feeling, "All better, Mommy!" called for an outing.

A school celebration.

So off we went this morning after elementary drop off.

Emma was soooo happy to get out of the house

and so was her Momma.

A sure sign she is feeling better.

Even though she keeps announcing it to me 

{perhaps hopefully}.

Working diligently

and so happily

Emma just loves learning

and feeling better

and having school at the Barnes and Noble Starbucks

{okay, Momma really likes that one}.

It was a great morning.

We even ran an errand.

The sun is shining cheerily

and honestly, the snow is glinting with gems.

It is truly beautiful

{and that's something coming from one

weary of winter}.

We hope your day finds you delighting in the simple rhythms of life and finding God's grace in the midst of what the day brings.

He is always more than enough.

Today, we are more than fully full.

Grateful for the outing

for my sweet ones continued healing

for her persevering spirit

for the ways she is drawing near and delighting in her momma

for tender caretaking and care-receiving

for soup and bananas and pudding

for smoothies and

the kisses of her darling lips

especially when they spring first from her heart!

Lap sitting at mealtime 

and quiet reads snuggled on big chairs.

And more than all of that, 

grateful for our Lord.

Who is our all in all.

Now

Then

and even when.

Good, hard, bad, joyful, and everything in between.

He is in it all.  

And He provides.

Always.

Lots of love from a cheerful home,

Sara and Emmacakes

Hello, Friday and a goodbye lament to our Gogo

Friday!  Finally, Friday.


Although, truth be told, it feels a bit as if the week was one looooooooonnnnng Monday and suddenly we are at the last day.  Odd.


Emma is doing quite well.  Back on the codeine on a reduced dosage schedule.  Trying to wean off of it, but she is just still in too much pain for only Tylenol.


Quite well, though, can be defined as making an outing to Target and playing trains with her sister and her Daddy.  So there are moments of activity, but mostly lots of couch time still.  


Talking is coming slowly.  Quiet, punctuated by short bursts of cheery speech.  She's still enchanted with the sound of her voice {and maybe how it feels?}.  I will confess to having a very hard time understanding her at times.  And this is very frustrating to Emma and makes me sad for her.  We are making such a.m.a.z.i.n.g. strides, though!


The biggest {sad} news of the day is that my mom left this afternoon for her winter home.  Emma and I dropped her at the airport right before the elementary school pick-up.  Emma was so sad she wouldn't even look at her.  We really both were just sad, sad, sad.  In the best of ways.  


I've treasured away the sound of Luke and Gogo chatting away at bedtime. My Mom bunked in with Luke, and they were such pals in the evening.  Luke asking for definitions of words when stuck reading.  Luke waking in the night and asking Gogo if they could cuddle.  "Um, Luke, we are snuggling.  I am sleeping with you!"  The sweet music of their voices joined in harmony.  Such a dear memory. 


Gogo made our home spotless!  I am a huge and devoted fan of my vacuum, Fred {Astaire}.  He is such a lovely dancer.  Gogo had him flying through the house, and truly waltzed all the dust away.  Windows washed inside, surfaces dusted.  


And that doesn't even begin to address our food-laden refrigerator.  


Webster's definition of Grandma surely lists my mother's name followed by a list of attributes describing her that the rest of the world can try to live up to.  And I sound like I'm teasing, but I'm kind of not.  My Mom is so amazing.


And I love her so much.


We have a fun weekend planned.  Anna's Girl Scout troop is featuring "China" as their country at the International Day tomorrow morning.  I'm completing the display tonight.  We are really excited about the event.


Hopefully a long weekend of Daddy home and some good naps with lots of family love, will equal a girl greeting Monday as a new week!


Welcome, Friday.  We are so glad to see you here.

thursday brings

• another quiet day on the couch
• a long splash and soak in the bathtub
• vanilla pudding and strawberry yogurt
• Kipper the dog, on DVD
• story books
• freshly laundered pink "Emma" blanket...by request. :)
• fireplace roaring, even with 53 degree temps outside

Emma had a bit of a rough night last night with pain.  She is back on some doses of tylenol codeine, and that seems to do the trick.  We are stretching out the dosing as much as we can while still managing her pain and keeping it at bay.

She's so sweet.  In the night as I lay stroking her forehead and humming to her, she turned in my arms and stroked my cheek in turn.

Be still my heart.

Mom is busy making a culinary delight of our kitchen.  Laundry is swishing.  Door frames dusted.  She's a busy lady.

Last night the "girls" played a rousing game of Blokus in the kitchen.  We were roaring laughter and rolling eyes.  It was so fun!  Luke followed and soundly trounced Gogo and I until his treachery was uncovered in the form of connecting game pieces.  Scoundrel.  Somewhere in there Gogo was called an "old lady" and I ate three apricot tart bars.  

Merciful heavens!  

The days end was happily met and snuggled into bed, each person in place, we greeted evening.  Gratefully weary and happily tired.

Jim's Dad continues to do well.  They are working on regulating his heartbeat, which is keeping him in ICU a bit longer than anticipated.  He finally got some sleep at days end, and that hopefully did much to restore him.

I have a princess smiling eyes and pretty lips at me.  All a-sparkle even in her "owie cheeks".  Sweet one.  

Time to Florence.  It's a good assignment.  I'm so grateful to be able to tend fully here, and be the one given the "tending the homefires" ministry.  How blessed I am.  And well I know it.  

Savoring the goodness of healing, being together, and the quiet of recovery time.

Love to you,

Sara

lazy day at home

Alternating between that cheery look, and this tired, worn out demeanor:

We are grateful to be home, resting and recuperating in our own place.  Emma is doing so well.  


She had a full night's sleep snuggled up next to me in bed.  I can't tell you where Jim slept as we were long abed before he was.  Train wreck was my emotional fortitude be evening.  Thank goodness for a new day!


We are off the tylenol with codeine and trying simply tylenol.  She is so stoic and keeps denying any pain at all so I am doing my best to translate between the lines.  


Lots of this:

and this:

today.

Good for the body and the spirit.  

My mom has been an amazing help.  She is incredible, really, and seems to simply find what needs doing or who needs help.  Last night while I sat prone and melting in a chair desperately attempting to muster the focus to get through the last hourish to bedtime- which included a bevy of activities I won't bore you with- she had Anna and Emma snuggled in on the couch reading books.  They were occupied and delighted, and the house was quiet with Cooper working on homework and mom reading.  I pretended nothing else was happening.

Today Emma's managed very small meals of chicken noodle soup {yes, for those of you who know my charming ~ and opinionated ~ quirk...it was Campbell's} and a tidbit of scrambled eggs.  Our doctor moved her directly from a liquid only diet to soft diet right there in the hospital.  Floored me.  

She is very tentative with eating, chewing, speaking etc.  Understandably. I'm so grateful she has her own slow pace in the recovery.

It is so gloriously warm outside {for Minnesota in February} that we took the world's slowest jaunt around one block and came back home to collapse on the couch.  Good healing fresh air!  She mimicked a bird along the way, displaying the chipper we know and love in her sweet spirit.  

Now Emma's watching a little video and I'm typing this out.  I feel better today even though I was aware of waking with each rustle she made last night, be it of cover or stirring of breath. She slept beautifully.  I'm so glad.  Answered prayer for sure!

So goes the day!  I am already looking forward to a delicious lunch of balsamic roasted squash and fennel soup.  Can't wait to eat it!  Afterwards, I'm sure I will be restored to my full glory, and look just like myself again...

Don't I look incredible?

Ha.  That accidentally uploaded off of my desktop.  A picture I keep to remind myself I do like short hair on the days when I start feeling boy-ish and miss the tresses of yesterday.

As if you were dying to know that. 

Actually, short hair is a bit of my signature statement.  I find myself in angst when it is long feeling not quite right.  Not that you needed to know that either.

Clearly, I am still a bit tired.  Right.

Onward!

{images found here}

Home!

Emma is thrilled, bathed, enfolded in sister hugs and brother smiles. Getting chattier as the hospital gets further away!
I am bleary eyed, unshowered, overly caffeinated and verging on unraveling my way to bed. Good signs that we are both home and Emma is doing well!

Making it to bedtime cheerfully may well be the largest fruit of the spirit for me!

Press on, shark lady. Don't stop swimming or it's lights out (not in the good sense of that) for you!

See. I'm talking in third person now. Scary.

Tomorrow I will be refreshed!

What a journey. 24 hours and so much is different!

Sent from my iPhone

all things new

Wonder is bubbling in our room this morning.  Joyful wonder.  

Emma talks, eyes wide open in amazement.  Her voice sounds different!  

Even through all the swelling, which is inevitably altering the tone of her voice a bit, her words are clearer!  She sounds different and she likes how she sounds.  We both keep giggling and smiling.  She is beside herself and enjoying it.

"Go home, Momma?"  

Yes, sweet Emma Kate.  We are, indeed, going home.  Today!  

Total miracle.  Honestly, a complete miracle, these twenty four hours past.  

We are off of morphine, eating vanilla pudding and beef broth followed by a bit of vanilla yogurt.  Walking around a bit, playing with our doll { who is complete with a new adorable outfit of nightgown, robe and slippers for the hospital stay, of course!}, commenting on Little Foot in a movie and telling me her mouth is "all better"!

After lunch and a second dose of an oral medicine, we can begin the discharge process, anticipating a home-going about 3pm.

Oh my stars!

Jim had to go into work today due to some urgent work issues, so my mom is going to come down to pick us up and Kris is fetching the littles at school.  Cooper skis his last nordic race of the season this afternoon and Jeb is prepping for a choir concert tonight.  Luke has basketball.  A regular old day and night, all in all.  Boy does it sound good to return to home.

And not just to me, either.

Little Miss Emma is more than ready to return home to her people.  The beauty of that, is that she is also securely content to rock and play here with me, too.  The care and love she is allowing me to lavish on her and she is receiving with open arms is so beautiful to behold.  What strides we have made together.  

Last night Jim and I reflected back on her dental procedure in December.  Eight short weeks ago, and yet an eon in the journey of her heart-strides.  SUCH a different scenario this time.  All night long she turned to me for comfort and nurture.  And found safe harbor.  It was such a beauty.  Hearts enfolding one another and both finding wonder at the gift of it all.

"Hi", with a huge glowing smile, my daughter intones.

"Mom", she tries out the word and finds it liking.  

"Hi, Mom", again.

Oh, Emma.  Hello.  In new ways each day, hello.  

I love you so, my daughter.  

And today we go home.  Right where we both belong.  Together.  

One huge step in Emma's physical renewal complete.  And a grateful family, of not just Jim and I and our children, but our whole family and our circle of friends.  Family that cheers one another on and stands alongside upholding and sustaining one another through all the "stuff" of life.  How sweet this "stuff" is to us.

Thank you for journeying right along with us this past day.  With all that it brought.  What a celebration of goodness and mercy, lovingkindness and healing, peace and comfort, hope and faith.  We have a hero.  His name is Jesus.  We love Him with you, and you with Him.

{p.s.  Jim's dad is singing slightly off kilter and color songs as he receives his pain meds in Virginia.  He's in great spirits, doing well, and keeping us all laughing with his intrepid spirit and infectious encouragement.  He's the one that just had open-heart surgery and he's making sure to lift the spirits of everyone around him in turn.  Totally Dave.}

rise and shine

Quiet, peaceful night.  

Yes, you read that correctly!

Emma was completely at ease, pain-free and very relaxed last night.  She waved to the sweetest night nurse, Karlene, each time she came in and out of the room.  She complied with each request to listen to her heart, check her blood pressure and look in her little mouth with a flashlight.  

Most cheerful patient ever.  

We all dozed on and off, and by 4:30am Emma said she was done "shway" {sleeping}, so now we are up reading books and thinking about coloring.  Still pretty mellow and slow, though, are we three.  Jim stayed, too.  So the three amigos are all watching the sunrise over the city, praising God for a night beyond anything we expected.  

We are truly in awe.  

The kids visited last night and brought heart balloons.  Emma loves them!  Two purple, one bright pink, one red.  I bolted down dinner {from Broders- thank you, Jim's workmates!} in the family lounge with my mom.  It tasted soooo good.  Jim left to return everyone home, pack up and return.  And we were all quickly drifting off to sleep in our various bed accomodations.  Brief slumber, yet oh so peace-filled.

I didn't sleep much so I'm aware of being a bit delirious writing this out.  I keep staring at the blinking cursor and nothing is coming clearly to mind!  Coffee.  Coffee.  Coffee. :) Soon.

Emma sends her winsome smile and love to each of you.  Our little valentine.

Happy Tuesday.  It is a good morning, indeed!

all is calm

Day is almost done.

Dave's surgery (Jim's dad) went well, too.  By late afternoon they had removed his intubation tube and he was sitting up and speaking!  Wow.  Jim's sister and mom are now at their respective homes for the night, and will return tomorrow to keep Dave company.

Emma has spent the day in and out of sleep.  She is doing beautifully.  Truly.

Jim returned home to have Valentine's dinner with the kids and my mom.  They are on their way down to visit for a bit and then Jim will take them all back home and return for the night. 

Emma and I spent two hours rocking in the quiet, hushed room.  She just gazed up into my eyes and I hummed and sang every hymn I could remember over her, eventually creating motherlove songs just for her.  Not only did her eyes smile, but her mouth gave the faintest upturn on one side as we loved each other.  I will remember those hours forever.  I feel like we were set apart in time, and God did mighty and deep ministry in Emma's heart {and mine} that sacred space.  It was like holy ground.  It was holy ground.

She is drawing comfort from me, and from Jim, and has done so all day long.  I feel like we are just drinking in one another.  I could have rocked her forever.

She is now back in her bed and I"m sitting right next to her.  She's dozing, and I hope awakens for the sibling visit.  We shall see!  

Your emails, texts and calls have been manna for our day.  Thank you!  I'm not getting back to all of you, but please know how much it means.  We are blessed, indeed, and well know it this day.

Sending our love to you.  Know it comes straight from our hearts, and in full measure.

Sweet dreams from the sixth floor,

Sara

all settled in

We were called back to be with Emma as she was waking up.  She was in a great deal of pain and quite scared.  The nurse remarked that she had been quite stoic and upon seeing us enter the room started crying and being visibly upset.  What sweet confirmation that we are her safe place.  She felt secure enough to show that emotion knowing we would absorb it and love her through it.  

Family.  The love of parents.  Safety, security and trust.

And the Lord birthing those things and growing them, even in this.  Glory.

We are now in a room.  Emma has had a few drinks of water and is sort of watching Little Bear.  

She is upset and wants "home"...the first words she's said besides water.  Bless her sweet, dear heart.

More soon.  We are doing an intake with a nurse.

She has her pink blanket and doll snuggled up with her.  And God is right here ministering love, comfort, hope and safety.  

We rest secure in Him.  

out of surgery!

Dr Sidman just came.  He is very pleased with surgery.  It was a significant clefting and he feels very good about the closure.  He said his fellow was wondering if he would be able to close it the cleft looked so large to her.  His response?  "Watch this!"

It is so gratifying to work with a surgeon who treats his patients as dear children.  Dr. Sidman made as many comments about Emma as a person as he did about the medical procedure itself.  What a beautiful thing.

We should be summoned momentarily to go back and be with Emma as she wakes.  He said she will be very sore, especially on the area where he removed skin from the bone.  

I am praying for a steadfast heart.  Florence Nightingale with the faith of Joshua.

We should be in a room in a few hours.  We stay two nights.  

More soon.  I can hardly wait to see her. My heart is beating so fast right now..

one hour left

The nurse just called again.  Things are going beautifully, and Dr. Sidman is well pleased with how it is all progressing.

That means we are, too. 

Jim and I have been reading online medical journals detailing the procedure.  I understand generally what they are saying, while he is of course grasping the intricacies of the papers and translating them for me.  

Now, picture my legs getting rubbery.  

As in, "all was well until Sara fainted on the waiting room floor".  Okay, I didn't faint, but it made me feel terrible.

So now that we have a vague understanding of all the flaps that will be created and joined together, we are moving right along to Scrabble.  Which Jim will soundly beat me.  I'm already complaining about my letters...doesn't this sound fun?! 

Oh...I've been rebuked.  I can't type anything else until I've played a word.  Here are my letters: n c b e u e a .  Any suggestions? :)

ready to suture

The nurse just called from the OR to let us know that Dr. Sidman has prepped Emma's mouth and will shortly being the sutures to draw her cleft closed.

He has two layers or levels of repairs to make.  The first is to the sub-mucus layer, which is the floor of her nasal cavity.  Secondly, he will repair the roof of her mouth and suture together the skin that will become what you would see if you looked into her beautiful mouth.  

JIm's dad's aortic valve is grafted (artery repaired) and they are now beginning the valve replacement.  It is so weird to have these going hand-in-hand and sending texts and fielding phone calls from UVA's hospital to ours here in Minneapolis.

Thanks for following along with us.  Your love and care is so very dear to us.  

Marilee, I thought of Emma's long journey this morning and the love and care she received for so long from all of her friends at LWB.  This is your journey, too, and we celebrate along with you the joy of a child coming home and completing the good work and care that you all initiated and began in her life.  THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts.  You are her family, too.  :)

Love from Children's Hospital,

Sara

in surgery!

Surgery has started. 

Emma Kate did beautifully.  Momentary fear, and many more moments of snuggles and laughter.  

Our surgeon, Dr. Sidman, is a prince of a man.  Her anesthesiologist is so kind and made the call to have us keep face masks off as Emma went under anesthesiology so that she would be able to clearly see us and feel less anxious.  

Anne-Marie came and prayed over Emma (and us).  What a gift.  Made my heart beat a bit steadier.

Dr. Sidman laid out what to expect today and tonight.  He told us that this is usually a very hard night, and the worst one.  Palate surgery can create a very uncomfortable child who now has to learn to breathe differently, whose mouth has been completely changed even as to them there was nothing wrong, etc.  This was a good word and gave us some very helpful context for what we might face tonight. 

We would love your prayers for a different story for Emma's night, too!  We are boldly praying that Emma feel a supernatural comfort and peace, both physically and emotionally.  That God regulate and create new breathing patterns instantaneously for Emma.  That her mouth feel familiar and that the newness would be a gift, not a discomfort and/or a terror.  

Jim's dad is also in surgery right now.  He is having an aortic valve replaced and another repaired.  We don't have any updates yet.

JIm and I now wait in the waiting area.  We will update as we hear things...the nurse said they will let us know each hour how things are proceeding.

In the words of the Lord to Joshua, and the lyrics of one of Emma's fave. songs,

"Have I not commanded you? 

Be strong and courageous. 

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, 

for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

 - Joshua 1:9

We are here.  Right here.  Waiting with the Lord, even as He brings to pass this wonderful redemption he has ordained for our beloved daughter.  He is here and we are, all of us, with Him who is with us, too.

Blessed be HIS name, this good day.

and we are off (palate surgery)

 “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, 

   for he shields him all day long, 

   and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”

- Deut. 33:12

We are off to hospital this morning, keenly aware of the presence and steady, faithfulness of the Lord with us.  

God gave me the above verse while we waited for Emma.  We poured it in prayer over her from afar, knowing the Lord was not only near her but with her.  And in the praying, the Lord ministered not only to His beloved, Emma Katherine YuXiao, He ministered to me.

This morning we again entrust Emma to His care, and the security of His arms.

Thank you, each of you, for praying for us and upholding our Emma to her Father.  We are so very grateful for your prayers, and the love you are showering on our family.  Your emails, texts and calls have meant SO MUCH to me.  To us.

The aroma of Christ to us.  Thank you!

Jim's father, Dave, is also undergoing open heart surgery this morning.  May I please ask you to add him to your prayers?  Odd timing to have both scheduled on the very same day.  We keep smiling at the sweetness of having heart surgery on Valentine's Day.  

We will update the blog as the day progresses to keep you all in the loop!  Surgery is at 8:30am.  It takes about two hours.

So much will change for dear Emma in such a short time.  

We have explained over and over what is coming.  She's felt the roof of my mouth, her own mouth, looked in mirrors...and now it is time.  I don't think she really understands, and how could she?  

I'm worried for her in the way a mother worries, and we are so excited for her as this marks in our minds the beginning of a new part of her homecoming and settling in.  This is some of God's incredible provision for her.  We are praying it feels that way to her, too!  Truly asking for that miracle for her.

Happy Valentine's Day, sweet friends!

Praying you each feel the holding grace of our God who loves you beyond measure, and holds you steady and strong in His mighty grasp.  

(pictures found here)

surgery preparation

In the form of much soup making.  Roasted vegetable, soup,  roasted balsamic squash and fennel soup, potato soup, roasted tomato basil soup...

black bean soup...

Emma and I have been busy.  Oven-filled aromas of roasting produce, pots simmering with garlic laced goodness.  It has been a soup factory here in anticipation of two weeks{ish} of a liquid diet.

Determined we are to dine on healthful, savory food.  Emma may only be able to drink, and she can surely delight in flavorful options that satisfy her tastebuds and fuel her body.  It has been such fun to fill our freezer together with good, wholesome food.

This afternoon we procured a refrigerator filled with:

and

Honestly, I think I might prefer a liquid diet for two weeks!

Emma has her American Girl doll outfitted for a hospital stay, with accompanying crutches, arm brace and leg braces, bandaids, jammies and even slippers!  These items will be a bit more poignantly appropriate for our April and May surgeries, however we packed them now, too!

We have a little play doctor kit, and it is all tucked away, stethoscope and all.  Emma will be ready to host any visitors in doctorly style. :)  Prepare yourselves!

Her pink blanket from JennJenn and KTG is freshly laundered and awaiting snuggles along with her beloved "Baby be Blessed doll" from Christine.  

My dearest mom arrives on Sunday.  She will stay with us through the week.  We are so very blessed by her willingness to come yet again this year to uphold us.  I am so looking forward to time together once Emma and I are back home from hospital on Wednesday.  I miss her very much.  And I expect a week very much at home, snuggling and tending, loving and tenderly nursing little Emma.

She is scared about her palate, and doesn't completely understand what is going to happen.  That in and of itself lends fear to the equation.  I see her trusting us, and I fervently pray she is able to continue to trust us and lean on us even in post-surgery pain.  

She is so very dear.  

The last weeks have been just amazing.  She is so amazing.  We pray God uses each and every encounter and moment in the week to come to continue His good work in our midst.  He does all things well.

Please pray for Emma, if the Lord brings her to mind.  For her sake we ask for your prayers on her behalf in all that is to come on Monday and beyond.

"He tends his flock like a shepherd: 

He gathers the lambs in his arms 

and carries them close to his heart."

- Isaiah 40:11a

Hello? Hello? I can hear!

Emma Kate's ears are clear!

She is the recipient of ear tubes, placed this morning at Children's Hospital.

Surgery was at 9am, and we were home by 10:30.

One more procedure complete.  We are moving right along.

She did so well.  Repeating over and over, "Ears all better!".

Now we count the days.  February 4th is her major surgery.  On that day, she will have multiple repairs.

• Her cleft palate will be closed
• Fingers on her left hand will have bands removed and some webbing released
• Toes on her left foot will be separated and repaired 
• the large constriction band on her left calf will be removed and her calf reconstructed!

It is a "combo" surgery where they do multiple things at once instead of separating them out into individual surgeries.  The doctors we've consulted with are unanimous in their opinions to go this route.  

We would surely appreciate your prayers for our Emma.  It is a lot to happen all at once.