Miracles

Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of The Lord -James 5:14

On Sunday I was talking to a friend about the possibility of having to get a gtube for Judah. She said ,"Don't plan for it,  Lets pray for him! " and she did. She prayed healing over him and that he would be able to swallow. He wasn't swallowing at all just food running down his throat. I know our God is a God of restoration and healing and "repay you for the years the locusts have eaten" (Joel 2:25)

We had our swallow study and he was swallowing. He was doing amazing there. He swallowed thin liquids, thick and everything in between. I watched in amazement each bite go down. He held it in his mouth a while but then down it went. 

Then it was time to drink from a cup. He couldn't do it since we picked him up at the orphanage. He has gotten liquids by syringe only for weeks. We tried open cups, sippy cups, straw cups, nothing worked. The speech therapist at the swallow study brought out a honey bear cup. He refused it from her but I don't give up. So I put it in his mouth past his teeth and then I squeezed it because she said to. Then I thought...this kid has been force fed all his life lets let him have some control. So I told him to do it himself. He did. He then sprayed his eye, then his other eye, cause we need to be equal. But the amazing thing was...he was drinking! 

He has had one peed diaper a day at most. Some days nothing.  That night he had a full peed diaper. Then the next day he drank 5 of those honey bear cup fills. More peed diapers, and not just a little pee but soaked! God is so good. Each day He heals Judah more and more. Last night he was even laughing and spinning on the floor in a circle mimicking his big sister. He is coming back to life. 

Be blessed

Judah

Void test

Today was a very long day. 8 hours at the hospital. A long long day! But an informative one.

First up we had an appointment for a void test called BCUG. We got to the hospital around 8:30. Again I am really enjoying the valet parking for free. Nice touch guys! We got Judah registered and then went down to do the test. I took Misha with me because we are not leaving them with sitters and because we had an appointment with ortho for both kids an hour after the void test.

We got in there and the lady asks Judah to state his full name. I kinda chuckled.  He can't do that and doesn't really understand English. He's completely on verbal. So i would be answering all questions for him. Well then we got to how sucky the test was going to be and how I needed to be in there with him. She found someone willing to take Misha for the duration of the test. So I told her he has pan hypopit and showed her the meds and emergency meds Justin case he went into crisis. She went as white as a ghost. She didn't know what to do. I assured her he would be fine....probably, but just in case, here's the meds. They ask what to do if he freaked out and needed me. I said he probably would be fine.  Guess what...he was :) they showered him with toys and bubbles and he gibbered to them. They had no clue he was almost 6 yrs old. But anyways back to Judah.

The test did suck. They weren't lying. First they cathed him and he screamed. Then they filled him with fluid and took pics and he stimmed. Then they took out the cath to get him to pee so they could take an X-ray. He didn't pee. So they pushed and he peed a tiny bit, enough for the pic so that was good. Then they needed him empty. So they waited. Then they poured warm water over him, waited some more, then more water, then pushed, nothing. I told him in English and Bulgarian the best I could, "pee on table or get tubed." It didn't matter he wouldn't or couldn't go.

They cathed him to empty him but he fought. He fought and screamed and stimmed. Do you know what it is like watching a child in pain refusing to open his mouth to scream or cry? Just noises deep inside and tears running down his red face. And the head banging violently from side to side back and forth never stopping. I healed him best I could and prayed peace over him. I prayed God would speak to Him and tell him what was happening and that I wasn't trying to kill him. 

3 catheters and 2 more people trying later and he was still not going. We got him dressed and they said to walk around, get him relaxed and then maybe he will go. He didn't. We went back a hour later and still nothing. So they told us we could go. 

We had lunch at the hospital and Judah had half a bowl of soup and 30ml of pedilite by syringe. Not even a trickle. I called the doctor and she said if after the swallow study he hadn't gone we would be heading straight to the ER. Sigh.

Be blessed

Change of address part ll

I wanted to be completely certain that this is where God wanted us.  So the day of the  appointment to see the house I was praying all day. Specifically about the house. 

I ask that God would show up at the house. That He would let me know some way, some how if this was right. I said ,"Lord, I don't know how You can show me, maybe lower the deposit or maybe the landlord says we can move in before we buy it. I really don't know. Somehow show us Lord." 

Paul really liked the outside of the house when we went past. I wasn't convinced, but like I said Holy Spirit was stirring my heart.  So we got Misha and Judah and left the rest with the sitter.

We got to the house and were warmly welcomed by an older woman in a Texas ranger shirt. We said hello and she immediately told me how beautiful Judah was. :) she remarked on his hair and wanting to run her fingers through it. Everyone loves Judah's dark hair. When I walked into the livingroom I felt such a homey feeling. This then moved us into the adoption talk and I found out she did missions work and the house was used in part for some missions. 

There were hardwood floors. I prayed for hardwood. We looked all around. When we had seen half of this house I thought..that's it? But then she said now lets go over to the other half. Wow! At the end of the long haul Paul looked at me and said, "I don't know what you're thinking, but.." I cut him off, "I love it!!!! I really do! I love it!!" He said really? He did too. 

All of the little petty things I would have once said no way too I found charming. God was working with my heart. So we started talking price. It had a for sale and for rent sign. We let her know we were pre approved and wanting to buy it. 

she said that since we wanted to buy it we could move in until we closed and she lowered the rent and security deposit!! Can you believe it? The two things I ask God to show me if this was our home. God is so good. 

When we got in the car to leave she said,"I have such a good feeling about this...can I hug you?!" Yes! Yes you can..and we hugged. 

Paul and I didn't know how we would come up with the security deposit and the rent and money to move. When we got home there was an email waiting from the lady who showed us the house. She once again thanked us and said how happy she was we met. Paul ask her if we could spilt the deposit give half now and half at the end of next month and she said yes. Not only that she said we could go over and get the keys right then! 

God was clearly in this move. We got the keys, showed the kids, and they were all so happy. Even Judah was peaceful and smiling in this house. I counted about 50x but the number never changed, there were 7 bedrooms! How amazing! I ask God for 6. My Papa loves me so much more than the birds and takes care of me so well. 

Be blessed

Change of address part 1

As some of y'all know, the house we are living in has been giving us some trouble. There isn't really good functional space. The landlord and his wife are divorcing and she comes to the house or drives by several times a week. It's getting nasty. 

A few days before we left for Bulgaria we got a nice little get out now letter in the mail. The ex wife had her lawyer send us a letter saying we had 3 days to get out. RUDE. Not to mention illegal especially since we have a contract allowing us 90 days from written notice. We sent her attorney back a letter with the law written in it not just a scare tactic. But we knew, we needed out.

So once home in our free time (did you just laugh so hard you spit out your water or was that jus me?) we went house hunting. We wanted to be done with landlords and wanted to buy only three was a problem. In America when you buy your stuff with cash not credit it is considered a bad thing. Only in America can debt be good and get you things, lol. Our credit score was not good because we didn't have credit, debt, etc. Without compromising our morals we did some things to help our score go up.

A week ago the landlord finally said "you got 90 days...or buy it." Tis was not the house or neighborhood we wanted to live in the rest of our lives we knew that much. So we hunted. 

One day we headed out to a house. When we went in the smell over took us. There were feces and vomit all over the already nasty rugs. Furniture and trash were in every room. I can't even explain how disgusting. I ran from there, lit my flip flops on fire(not really, just a whole bottle of hand sanatsizer all over them)and needed to shower. We drove past another house and then we went to a third house that we just wanted to see outside because we didn't have an appointment. 

It was a small yellow brick house in an old neighborhood. I hated it! Paul loved it! He wanted to contact the people to set up an appointment, but he saw I hated it. We went home and that was the end of it. 

A few days past and I was on the phone with a friend. I started to tell her about our house hunting. I began to talk about the yellow brick house and God was stirring something in my heart. My wise friend told me basically I could of looked at a mansion after the feces pit and not liked it. I wasn't in the correct frame of mind after that. She was right. Plus there was a nudging in my Spirit. What if that house was our answer to prayer, or a blessing? Would my less than graceful attitude make my whole family miss out on a blessing?

I email my husband and told him to get us an appoint,eat for the little yellow house. He was so excited. And after I said that we had more great news we were pre qualified for a mortgage. Then before our appointment for the house we were pre approved  for a mortgage for the exact amount of purchase price of that yellow house, which was for sale or rent. The amount we would need to put down as a down payment for the loan was the amount Paul was getting from a retirement thing his old job needed to close out. 

What was God doing?

Unexpected Medical day

I was cooking dinner. I filled the pot with water, butter and corn on the cob. I turned the stove on. The kids were all playing and all was well. Then I heard a pop. I went to investigate and that's when I saw it. AJ was in the glass door on her trike. Then in a spilt second I watched the entire glass door fall on my daughter. 

She jumped up and ran to me. Glass and blood was everywhere. I knew in an instant I needed to call 911. I had one kid grab paper towels and another kid call 911. Cherry, our tender hearted one was a wreck. I told her to keep Misha and Noah in the other room. I've never seen anything like it. I put paper towels on her head but didnt know if there was glass in her head and was afraid to push down too hard. Blood soaked my shirt, bra, paper towels and floor. 

The 911 operator told me to get a towel and hold it there. I had never seen so much blood. Some of the kids were trying to come into the room but the gls was everywhere. My 9yr old was holding Misha crying. When AJ heard the fire truck she said,"mom turn me so I can see the fire truck! Hurry mom! I wanna see!" That crazy girl.  The fire truck and ambulance was arriving, thank God. Longest 10 minutes of my life. They came in and started assessing her. They sat us on the steps. I think I went into shock. I was numb. 

The bleeding had stopped by that point, thank you Lord. There was a female paramedic who took AJ to the bathroom to get cleaned up. I lost it when I saw my husband walk literally through the door. He was holding his helmet, had just gotten home from work. There was no way to call him because he was on his scooter and couldn't answer. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him. He had a fire truck, ambulance and tons of people outside his house and a door broke and blood everywhere. 

They took down all the info and said she needed to go to the Children's hospital for stitches. Because the bleeding had stopped they didn't need to take her by ambulance, we could drive her. The firemen cleaned the glass up, vacuumed, swept both inside and put and then cleaned all the blood. They gave AJ a toy dog and then they left. I am so grateful to them. I didn't have to clean up all that blood or glass with 8 kids running around. 

Paul took her to the hospital while I stayed with the rest of the kids. She got 6 staples in her head which just about my me pass out. She didn't cry when getting them. They numbed her up before hand. She took it all in stride. I just feel so blessed. this could have been so much worse. The doctor even said that. 

She has cuts on her arms and hands, some needed glued and staples in her head but she is running around not letting anything stop her. I, on the other hand, want to wrap her in bubble wrap. She is causing a old many gray hairs. Lol. I am so beyond grateful for the protection God gave her.

Be blessed

Medical week day 3

I have made the same trip to an from the hospital everyday this week so far. One time I am going to do it without my GPS. Haha. Today it was just Misha who went. We saw endo. 

Misha is always so bubbly and happy. We valet parked got out and he was just a chipper lil dude. The hospital is bright and colorful. 

We got right in to see Endo. She spent almost the entire 3.5 hours we were there with us. Apparently what Misha has is Pan Hypopit. He doesn't have a pituitary gland and that affects so much.  Still even with Pan Hypopit he is very small. She said his bone age was not 18 months like we thought, but that of a 6 month old. The Dr said he is the most severely delayed bone age she has ever seen in her life. Wow! 

Misha needs an MRI and lots more medical appointments. He will need to be on one drug round the clock for life. We are praying the medical will betaken care of. Each bill comes in higher than the last but God is faithful. 

I will update again when I have more time but for now please just keep praying for us.

Be blessed

Medical week day 2

Today we spent 3 hours at the hospital. It was ultrasounds and X-rays.  Judah stimmed a lot but he did really well. Misha was his happy bubbly self. And as usual I talked the ultra sound techs ears off. She learned a lot about Bulgarian adoptions and orphan care. You never know if a seed you plant will take root. But I do know there is power in their testimony. 

While we were waiting for the orders for the x rays to come through we caught a little bit of a program going on in the hospital. A man brought in a lemur from Madagascar. She was super cute and we learned a bit about her species. 

The X-rays went pretty fast. They did really well.

The doctor called with the results

Judah has a bone age of 8.5 yrs. the dr felt this was good because he needs some work done and this gives us more hope at him being able to walk and have strength and hold things because his bone age isn't older. 

He was not deficient in any vitamins or nutrients. That made me feel very good. 

He does have some abnormalities with his kidneys. We expected as much. His kidneys are small which could be because of all the infections he has had in his life. He needs to have a test done where he ingests dye and then they X-ray him in real time when he voids. That will be Monday.  Then we follow up with nephrology. 

Misha did not get his lab work back but his X-ray showed his bone growth to be at about an 18 month age. We are not sure if that is due completely to being an orphan or if his pituitary dwarfism has something todo with that. We see endo next and will find out more. 

Be blessed  

My quiver full

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Psalm 127:3-5

Be blessed